NUTS-3 FRK12 · France
Cantal
Cantal generates €4.2bn of GDP across 143.8k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 33.6/100 sits in the lower tier of EU regions, led by livability and market access. Its economy has grown +3.3%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 2.8pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for clean environment (94.7th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (33.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable40 → 36 EU percentile since 1995 (-4 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)
Air quality94
Energy cost88
Talent & skills65
Resilience63
Quality of life59
Cost advantage56
Connectivity40
Governance38
Labour market37
Economic base28
Digital readiness27
Growth momentum24
Freight intensity21
Industrial base18
Demographic outlook14
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)
33.6
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth24
Livability59.3
Market access26
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)
63
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability87
Labour stability69
Diversification55
Demographic stability41
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)
39.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density74
Airport access19
Market access26
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)
64.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary73
Lifelong learning77
Knowledge workers67
Scientists & engineers42
Young tertiary attainment (25–34), adult lifelong learning, knowledge-worker share and scientists & engineers — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = deeper talent pool. Experimental.
Clean-Air Score · air-quality livability (experimental)
94.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.54.4 µg/m³
PM107.8 µg/m³
NO26.4 µg/m³
PM2.5, PM10 & NO2 annual means from official monitoring networks, inverted (lower pollution = higher) and EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = cleaner air; ground-level ozone is shown separately. Experimental.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
59.3
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy36
Jobs33.5
Education69.5
Health73.5
Safety57.7
Connectivity50.5
Environment94.7
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
24
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+3.3%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+2.4%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.9 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.4 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.1%
CAGR
Employment rate
+2.8 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 · 32.3%Diversified · HHI 2221
Agriculture 4.6%Industry 13%Construction 7.8%Trade · transport · ICT 17.2%Finance · real estate · prof. 25%Public · health · education 32.3%
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)
€4,215M2024
0.4% 1y 3.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 25
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€3,749M2025
0.8% 1y 1.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 27
Population
143,8432025
0.1% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 27
Unemployment rate
6.3%2025
20.3% 1y 2.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 70
Employment
58,7002024
0.3% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Productivity / employee
€73,1782025
1.9% 1y 3.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 32
Gross value added
€3,755M2024
0.3% 1y 3.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 25
All indicators · 88 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€3,755M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€173M
2024 · EU pctl 55
GVA — industry (B–E)
€487M
2024 · EU pctl 13
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€359M
2024 · EU pctl 15
GVA — construction (F)
€294M
2024 · EU pctl 32
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€647M
2024 · EU pctl 22
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€23,400
2023 · EU pctl 44 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
27,000 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 28
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€29,300
2024 · EU pctl 36
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€10,591M
2024 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€1,415M
2024 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€23,857M
2024 · EU pctl 36 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€670M
2024 · EU pctl 40
GVA — information & communication (J)
€39M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€941M
2024 · EU pctl 33
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,215M
2024 · EU pctl 40
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,749M
2025 · EU pctl 27
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€73,178
2025 · EU pctl 32
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€960M
2025 · EU pctl 25
Labour market
Employment, total persons
58,700
2024 · EU pctl 22
Self-employed persons
11,100
2024 · EU pctl 39
Employment in manufacturing (C)
5,400
2024 · EU pctl 13
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
77.2%
2025 · EU pctl 46 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
19.6%
2025 · EU pctl 71 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
6.3%
2025 · EU pctl 70
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
63,000
2025 · EU pctl 22
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
9,534
2023 · EU pctl 38
Enterprise births
901
2023 · EU pctl 41
Enterprise deaths
868
2023 · EU pctl 46
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.1%
2023 · EU pctl 66
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
2.0%
2023 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
3.8%
2025 · EU pctl 40 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.3%
2023 · EU pctl 58 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
40.4%
2025 · EU pctl 72 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
46.9%
2025 · EU pctl 73 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
15.9%
2025 · EU pctl 77 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
26.3%
2025 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
7.9%
2025 · EU pctl 42 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
93.9%
2025 · EU pctl 27 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,071,497
2025 · EU pctl 55
Mobility
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
933
CURRENT · EU pctl 51
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
2,411 kt
2025 · EU pctl 15
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
649
CURRENT · EU pctl 74
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
19 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 36 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
90
CURRENT · EU pctl 81
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)
80,749
2025 · EU pctl 23
Population aged 65+
44,339
2025 · EU pctl 37
Population aged under 15
18,755
2025 · EU pctl 26
Median age of population
52.2 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 94
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
54.9%
2025 · EU pctl 98
Crude rate of total population change
-1.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 38
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
6.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 69
Crude birth rate
6.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 23
Crude death rate
14.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 84
Live births
929
2024 · EU pctl 22
Deaths
2,056
2024 · EU pctl 34
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
78.1%
2025 · EU pctl 98
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.50
2024 · EU pctl 71
Population density (persons per km²)
25 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 5
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
117,374
2100 · EU pctl 24
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
660 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 86 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
871 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 23 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
230 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 0
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
15.3 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 38
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
227 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 53
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
699 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 44
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
64 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 83 · 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)
1,044 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 96
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 13
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
72 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 65
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
20 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 96
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
8
2024 · EU pctl 2
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
6
2024 · EU pctl 12
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
66
2024 · EU pctl 90
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
12.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 21
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.7%
2021 · EU pctl 15
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other France regions