ÎLE-DE-FRANCE - Economy
The Île-de-France tops the table of French regions for per capita GDP. In 2000 the GDP of Île-de-France amounted to 395 milliard Euro, i.e. 28% of national GDP. GDP per inhabitant was 35 950 Euro in 2000; this is 43% higher than the average for metropolitan France.
The considerable number of company head offices in the Île-de-France, particularly those of the largest concerns, is further evidence of the attraction of the capital. Ile-de-France is the top region in terms of business start-ups, accounting for 23.3% of the national total in 2001. However only half of these are at least five years old, which positions the region second to last in regards to business survival.
The lle-de-France has the highest value-added of all the French regions for each sector of economic activity with the exception of agriculture. The contribution of the agricultural production of the region to the national economy is falling, amounting to 1.8% in 2000. Although industry has seen its share of regional value-added shrink, in 2000 it still made up 20.2% of the national total. Construction contributed 20.2% of the national total. Market services contributed 36.0% and non-market services 21.7%.
Agriculture is basically confined to the east of the region and plays a very minor role in the region's economy in terms of value-added (0.2% in 2000). Farming in the region is highly intensive and large scale. The size of the farms is the largest in France, with the average size of a farm covering 89 ha and 58% of all holdings covering 50 or more ha.
Île-de-France remains the top industrial region
Industry has a lower profile in the Île-de-France than in other regions of France. In 2000 it accounted for 15% of regional value-added as against the national figure of 21%. Nevertheless, Île-de-France remains the top industrial region in terms of its contribution to the nation´s value added for industry (20%), and the value of the production of consumer goods is more than in the provinces. The production of consumer goods sectors made up 26.6% gross value added generated by the region's industry, whereas national average share in the industrial value added generated by the consumers goods sector was 14.9% in 2000. The region's production of the capital goods (29.5%) and energy (18.8%) are also above the national average.
The key branches of industry in the Île-de-France are electronics, the car industry and the printing, press and publishing sector. The region leads the field in high-technology, computers, Pharmaceuticals and aircraft construction. These industries are clustered around research centres and educational establishments, and the contacts that exist between enterprises and the universities facilitate the taking up of innovations and the recruitment of management and technical staff. Industrial investment is the highest in all the country. Ile-de-France accounted for 14% of total investment in industry over the period 1994 to 1999.
Services dominate the economy
The services sector is the real powerhouse of the regional economy. The attraction of Paris and the high level of urbanization in the region are at the root of the major development of the services sector. In 2000, 81.5% of the region's value-added fell to the services sector.
In 2000 market services accounted for two thirds of the value added of the region, whereas market services accounted for less that half at the level of the provincial average. Broken down by sector, wholesale and retail accounted for a smaller share (10.9%) of gross value added of total services than in the rest of the country. The share of value added of financial intermediation and real estate (23.9%), transport (6.2%), services to businesses (29.9%), and personal services (10.1%) were all above the national average. Social and collective services made up 19% of the total value added of services, compared to the province average share of 32%.
As would be expected the capacity of hotels in Ile-de-France in terms of bedrooms is the highest in France. With 129 706 bedrooms for 2 182 hotels Ile-de-France has an average of 59 bedrooms per hotel, compared to 29 in the region of Rhone-Alpes, which has the highest number of hotels in France. In 2000 Ile-de-France accounted for 30% of nights spent in hotels of metropolitan France, this is by far the highest share, with Provence-Alpes-Cote d´Azur ranking second with 12.6%.
In 2001 there were more than 6.1 million vehicles registered in Ile-de-France, of which 85.2% were private cars. The number of private cars in 2001 increased by 4.3% compared to 1990. In 2000 the road network of the region had 1 414 km of national roads, and 594 km of motorway.
In 2001 the air passenger traffic from Ile-de-France amounted to nearly 71 million passengers departing and arriving, accounting for more than half total air passenger traffic of France. The airfreight cargo handled in the region amounted to 1.1 million tons, accounting for more than two thirds of total air cargo of France. The rail network of Île-de-France carried 81.4 million passengers and 14.1 million tons of freight.
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