HAUTE-NORMANDIE - Economy
A varied and modern economy
The relief and hydrography of the region encouraged during the 19th century the development of the textile and paper industries. Several refineries were established in the region before the war. A substantial petrochemical pole developed around this axis. It produces a third of France's production of refined products. During the 1960s the car industry was set up, followed by other decentralised activities, such as the electronic, pharmaceutical, and perfume industries. This diverse set of industries generated a considerable network of subcontracting. Finally during the 1980s two nuclear power plants were constructed, Paluel and Penly, which produce more than 10% of France's electricity. Upper Normandy is thus a place favoured by big industrial groups whose headquarters are often situated in the capital. This means that Upper Normandy is highly dependent on the Paris region.
In 2000 Upper Normandy accounted for 2.9% of the GDP of France. In absolute terms the region only ranks in 13th position on the national scale, but in terms of GDP per inhabitant it ranks fourth with 22 909 Euro per inhabitant.
In 2000, the contribution of the region's industry represented 4.9% of France's gross value added of the industrial sector, ranking the region the sixth largest contributor. This is due to the large number of energy-related activities in the region, its oil refineries and the production of electricity from nuclear energy. In 2000 the energy sector accounted for 36.4% of Upper Normandy's industrial value added. The policy of decentralisation pursued in the 1960s brought a large number of establishments to the region, even though their headquarters very often remained in Paris: these included Hermès (perfumes), Renault (cars), Sanofi (pharmaceuticals), Télémécanique (electronics), SEP (aeronautics), etc. These different units supplemented the traditional structure made up of production units in mechanical engineering, shipbuilding and textiles. The region's industry is well integrated into international and national markets. A lot of subcontracting work is carried out in Upper Normandy for large client companies in the region or the Ile-de-France. The three major characteristics of industry in the region are diversity, dependency and internationalisation.
In 2000 the production of the intermediate goods and capital goods sectors made up the second and third largest shares of the gross value added generated by the region's industry (28.7% and 19.3% respectively). The production of consumer goods in the regional industrial value added was the lowest of France, after Corsica: 8.6%. Despite a diverse agricultural sector and the proximity of the Paris region, the agri-food industry is much less developed in the other provincial regions. It accounted for only 7%, compared to the average for the provinces of 13.8%. Finally, the share of industry in terms its contribution to the value added of Upper Normandy is greater in 2000 (34.9%) than it was in 1995 (30.6%).
The value added generated by the construction industry contributed 2.9% of the nation's construction valued added in 2000. On the regional scale the construction industry accounted for 4.5% of Upper Normandy's GDP.
Agriculture's contribution to the region's value added is slowing diminishing, accounting for 2.1 in 2000 compared to 2.9% in 1995. On the national scale it contributed 2.2% of the nation's agricultural value added in 2000.
In agriculture, Upper Normandy enjoys many natural advantages. The land supports two types of production: cattle farming and cereal crops. The cattle are raised for milk production, mainly in the valleys of Seine-Maritime. Cereal crops are grown on the plateaux, particularly in Eure. In 2000 41% of the agricultural land was used for cereal growing and 22% of the land was pasture. 54% of the farms are geared to livestock farming, and the region has 3.5% of the nation's cattle herd. Cereals are the main crops grown, particularly wheat. The region accounted for 5.5% of France's wheat production and 10.4% of its protein crop in 2000. The region is Europe's leading producer of flax, which is the only fibre plant grown in France.
Moreover the dynamism of the industrial and agricultural sectors goes hand in hand with the region's harbour activities. The autonomous harbours of Havre and Rouen rank in second and sixth place among the French ports.
In 2000 the region's market services sector contributed 2.3% of France's gross value added of market services. The share of market services in terms of its contribution to the value added of Upper Normandy is smaller in 2000 (40.3%) than it was in 1995 (41.8%). Compared to other regions, the value added generated by transport is much larger: 9.6% of all services value added in 2000. Consequently the value added generated by other service activities is lower than the national average, except for the wholesale and retail trade sector (13.8%), which is roughly the same.
The importance of transport services is well reflected in volume handled. With over 91.6 million tons of goods in 2000, Upper Normandy handled the second largest volume of martime freight in France. With 10.5 million tons of freight the rail network of Upper Normandy took fifth place on the national scale.
In 2001 there were more than 1 million vehicles registered in Upper Normandy, of which 84.5% were private cars. The number of private cars in 2001 increased by 5.6% compared to 1990. In 2000 the road network of the region had 730 km of national roads, and 337 km of motorway.
Close to Paris Upper Normandy has many attractions to offer tourists for long weekends and holidays. In terms of hotel capacity and night spent Upper Normandy accounted for roughly 1.4% of the total for metropolitan France. Upper-Normandy has very few camping sites.
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