NUTS-3 FRF32 · France
Population
178,2052025
GDP
€4,780M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
7.8%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
73.1%2025
Active firms
34,0072026
Cadastral parcels
539,6272026
Area
6,236.4 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
FRF32 · FRC23
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Meuse (Opportunity 38). Runner-up: Haute-Saône (38). Contrarian pick: Haute-Saône — leads the set on Air quality (EU pctl 72).
#1Meuse
Strengths
Energy cost (88) · Freight intensity (73)
Red flags
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%)
Long-run slide: down 15 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Strengths
Energy cost (88) · Air quality (72)
Red flags
Growth momentum (EU bottom 15%)
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick Meuse
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%); Long-run slide: down 15 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute). Its weakest dimension is Demographic outlook (EU pctl 10) — Haute-Saône may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
Meuse leads under all four archetype mandates — the recommendation is weight-stable.
Phase-2 diligence checklist
- Site-level grid connection capacity and power pricing (beyond country-grain energy data)
- Local incentives, tax regimes and permitting timelines
- Workforce depth for your specific roles (the talent pillar is a proxy)
- Real-estate availability, rents and land — public pan-EU data stops at the Nordics
This is a mandate-neutral read. To weight the pillars to your thesis, run these regions through the Site Screener — it ranks all 1,211 regions under your weights and exports the full PDF. First-pass macro screening, not investment advice.
Composite intelligence · 0–100 EU-percentile scores
Opportunity Indexscale + growth + access + structure
38.1
37.8
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
51.3
59.3
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
42.5
47.9
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
64.0
71.7
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
48.7
33.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
54.3
61.5
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
35.8
12.2
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
0.8% 5y
0.6% 5y
Population
0.5% 5y
0.2% 5y
Unemployment rate
2.2% 5y
8.0% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€26,823
€26,284
Population density
29 /km²
43 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
3,028
3,103
Firms per 1k pop
191
199
All indicators · 88 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€4,264M
€5,442M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€252M
€219M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€844M
€1,280M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€766M
€1,208M
GVA — construction (F)
€298M
€318M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€548M
€720M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€22,600
€22,700
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
24,600 PPS
24,100 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€26,700
€26,100
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€16,068M
€8,575M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€1,764M
€1,453M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€37,107M
€19,541M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€685M
€1,035M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€18M
€27M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,026M
€1,451M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,296M
€1,454M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€4,238M
€5,431M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€76,959
€78,701
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,071M
€1,407M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
63,300
78,900
Self-employed persons
7,800
10,500
Employment in manufacturing (C)
8,500
14,400
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
72.3%
73.5%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
24.8%
19.5%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
7.8%
8.1%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
75,900
99,400
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
8,969
13,017
Enterprise births
1,122
1,632
Enterprise deaths
906
1,321
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.2%
5.7%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.2%
2.7%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
2.1%
5.5%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
0.8%
1.3%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
35.9%
37.8%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
48.6%
44.2%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
10.9%
14.7%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
24.9%
26.5%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
6.7%
7.8%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
93.7%
95.6%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
334,198
333,731
Mobility
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
7,108 kt
5,787 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,344
539
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
20 km/1000km²
13 km/1000km²
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
754
233
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
89
108
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
0
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
104,578
135,767
Population aged 65+
45,997
59,470
Population aged under 15
27,630
36,581
Median age of population
47.0 yrs
47.5 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
44.0%
43.8%
Crude rate of total population change
-6.0 /1k
-2.9 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
-1.2 /1k
0.8 /1k
Crude birth rate
7.3 /1k
7.7 /1k
Crude death rate
12.1 /1k
11.3 /1k
Live births
1,297
1,784
Deaths
2,164
2,625
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
70.4%
70.7%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.52
1.65
Population density (persons per km²)
29 /km²
43 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
134,226
180,628
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
20.8%
19.4%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
81.7 yrs
82.3 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
15.8%
15.1%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
566 /100k
506 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
946 /100k
853 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
240 /100k
228 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.1 /100k
0.9 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
21.8 /100k
15.9 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
410 /100k
310 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,219 /100k
1,136 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
51 /M
64 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.46
1.46
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.27
1.27
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.02
1.02
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.39
1.39
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.02
0.02
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.107/kWh
€0.107/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.053/kWh
€0.053/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
208 m
213 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
13 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
47 days/yr
49 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
5 days/yr
5 days/yr