NUTS-3 FRJ21 · France
Ariège
Ariège generates €4.3bn of GDP across 156.6k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 39.6/100 sits in the lower tier of EU regions, led by livability and market access. Its economy has grown +3.8%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 4.7pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for education (91.5th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (23.7th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable42 → 32 EU percentile since 1995 (-10 ranks)
Yearly EU-wide percentile of real GDP per head (ARDECO regional accounts, constant 2020 prices, derived over population). 50 = the EU median that year; percentiles are scale-free, so decades are directly comparable. See the backtest for what long-run prosperity ranks do — and don't — anticipate.
Mandate pillar profile · EU percentiles (screener dimensions)
Talent & skills92
Energy cost88
Resilience60
Cost advantage55
Quality of life53
Digital readiness48
Labour market41
Growth momentum40
Governance38
Connectivity34
Demographic outlook26
Industrial base24
Economic base23
Freight intensity4
Each bar is this region's EU percentile on a screener pillar (higher = better for siting; cost & energy are inverted so cheap scores high). These are the exact weights you tune in the Site Screener.
Opportunity Index · composite triage (experimental)
39.6
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth39.6
Livability52.7
Market access41
Economic scale25
Equal-weighted mean of four EU-percentile pillars (deliberately orthogonal: growth=trend, livability=quality, market=distance-weighted demand proxy, scale=absolute GDP). Experimental — a screening triage, not investment advice.
Resilience Index · downside / risk lens (experimental)
59.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability82
Labour stability68
Diversification24
Demographic stability65
Inverse of GDP-growth & unemployment volatility (since 2008, incl. 2009/2020 shocks), economic diversification (inverse HHI) and population stability — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher withstands downturns better. Experimental.
Connectivity Index · transit · air · market access (experimental)
34.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density34
Airport access28
Market access41
Public-transport stop density, proximity to a major airport, and gravity access to surrounding economic mass — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = better-connected. Experimental.
Talent & Human Capital Index · skills base (experimental)
91.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary91
Lifelong learning84
Knowledge workers94
Scientists & engineers98
Young tertiary attainment (25–34), adult lifelong learning, knowledge-worker share and scientists & engineers — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = deeper talent pool. Experimental.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
52.7
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy34
Jobs34.5
Education91.5
Health91.5
Safety23.7
Connectivity41
Environment—
Equal-weighted percentile across 6 pillars vs all EU NUTS-3; lower-is-better indicators (crime, unemployment, mortality) inverted. Experimental — regional screening only.
Growth momentum · trend analytics
39.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+3.8%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.1%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.7 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.3%
CAGR
Employment rate
+4.7 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.9 pp
5-yr change
Compound annual growth to the latest available year vs all EU NUTS-3; GDP is nominal EUR (“vs country avg” removes most national inflation). Screening signal, not a forecast.
Economic structure · gross value added by sector
Dominant: Public · health · education · 33.5%Diversified · HHI 2446
Agriculture 1.7%Industry 14.9%Construction 6.3%Trade · transport · ICT 14.4%Finance · real estate · prof. 29.2%Public · health · education 33.5%
Share of total GVA (latest year). HHI = sum of squared sector shares ×10,000; higher means a more concentrated, single-sector-dependent economy (more cyclicality risk).
Trends · 2009–2024
GDP (current prices)
€4,292M2024
2.7% 1y 3.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 25
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€3,873M2025
0.8% 1y 2.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 28
Population
156,5862025
0.3% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 31
Unemployment rate
6.4%2025
3.2% 1y 3.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 70
Employment
58,3002024
1.4% 1y 1.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Productivity / employee
€75,0382025
1.9% 1y 3.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 35
Gross value added
€3,826M2024
2.1% 1y 4.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 25
All indicators · 85 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€3,826M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€64M
2024 · EU pctl 26
GVA — industry (B–E)
€570M
2024 · EU pctl 16
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€419M
2024 · EU pctl 17
GVA — construction (F)
€242M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€552M
2024 · EU pctl 18
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€23,600
2023 · EU pctl 45 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
25,300 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 23
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€27,500
2024 · EU pctl 32
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€27,134M
2024 · EU pctl 76 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€3,274M
2024 · EU pctl 71 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€63,709M
2024 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€831M
2024 · EU pctl 46
GVA — information & communication (J)
€23M
2024 · EU pctl 14
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,118M
2024 · EU pctl 39
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,280M
2024 · EU pctl 42
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,873M
2025 · EU pctl 28
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€75,038
2025 · EU pctl 35
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€957M
2025 · EU pctl 25
Labour market
Employment, total persons
58,300
2024 · EU pctl 22
Self-employed persons
10,500
2024 · EU pctl 36
Employment in manufacturing (C)
6,500
2024 · EU pctl 16
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
76.9%
2025 · EU pctl 44 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
15.9%
2025 · EU pctl 57 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
6.4%
2025 · EU pctl 70
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
69,800
2025 · EU pctl 25
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
13,089
2023 · EU pctl 49
Enterprise births
1,548
2023 · EU pctl 55
Enterprise deaths
1,440
2023 · EU pctl 60
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.5%
2023 · EU pctl 78
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
4.1%
2023 · EU pctl 90 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
7.1%
2025 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
2.7%
2023 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
47.9%
2025 · EU pctl 93 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
56.4%
2025 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
18.2%
2025 · EU pctl 84 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
33.7%
2025 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
14.7%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
95.4%
2025 · EU pctl 48 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,154,304
2025 · EU pctl 56
Mobility
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
349
CURRENT · EU pctl 30
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,081 kt
2025 · EU pctl 4
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
223
CURRENT · EU pctl 34
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
14 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 27 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
77
CURRENT · EU pctl 72
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
CURRENT · EU pctl 15
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
89,857
2025 · EU pctl 27
Population aged 65+
44,680
2025 · EU pctl 37
Population aged under 15
22,049
2025 · EU pctl 32
Median age of population
49.7 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 82
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
49.7%
2025 · EU pctl 94
Crude rate of total population change
2.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 61
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
8.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 81
Crude birth rate
6.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 23
Crude death rate
12.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Live births
1,024
2024 · EU pctl 25
Deaths
1,978
2024 · EU pctl 31
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
74.3%
2025 · EU pctl 96
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.41
2024 · EU pctl 53
Population density (persons per km²)
32 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 9
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
135,122
2100 · EU pctl 30
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
564 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 69 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
780 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 3 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
211 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 26 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.3 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 78
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
16.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 40
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
366 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 77
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,260 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 74
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
60 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 77 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.46
2022 · EU pctl 44
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.27
2022 · EU pctl 39
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.02
2022 · EU pctl 37
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.39
2022 · EU pctl 43
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.02
2022 · EU pctl 0
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.107/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 12
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.053/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 44
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
1,278 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 98
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
1 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 10
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
103 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 88
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
13 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 89
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
18.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 34
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
6.0%
2021 · EU pctl 73
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other France regions