Paris
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France's capital Paris is the political, cultural and economic heart of the so-called "Grande Nation", despite its increasing decentralization. The actual historical city center is bordered by the ring-shaped 35 km long city highway, the Périphérique. This is the busiest urban highway in Europe and is part of the Île-de-France. The Île-de-France is made up of 8 départements (equivalent to Austrian municipal districts) and, along with Lyon and Grenoble, is France's leading economic region and the largest urban economic area in the EU.
Paris is, contrary to the cliché, not only one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but also a hub for European and international trade, with metropolitan charm and the highest urban density in Europe. The economic, political and cultural metropolis of Île-de-France is one of the top business locations and innovation hubs in the world.
Paris is the headquarters of renowned French as well as international companies and world market leaders, with highly qualified research centers and competence centers, international trade fairs and congresses. In addition, the city has an excellent transport infrastructure - not only to all regions of France, but also to numerous European business centers. Paris thus offers business people from all over the world optimal exchange opportunities.
Innovation and especially start-ups have a high priority in France. France is number 3 in the world for VC. With a myriad of startup camps, including "Station F", which is one of the largest in the world, Paris is also a leader in this area.
Paris embodies the French lifestyle par excellence and is also the capital of gastronomy, fashion, luxury, culture and French savoir-vivre.
Population: approximately 2,15 million inhabitants in the immediate city center; approximately 7,05 million in the so-called Grand Paris and a total of approximately 12,278 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Ile-de-France; the region has the highest population density in Europe (2,4 % of the European population).
Area: 105,4 km² (Paris city center), 762 km² Grand Paris and 12.012 km² Metropole Ile-de-France (2 % of the area of France)
- GDP (2019): 649 billion euro (number 1 in EU).
- GDP per capita (2015): 55.227 euro - Paris is among the richest EU regions
- Most important export region of France with 20.4 % of total French exports
- 86,7 % of value added in Ile-de-France is generated by the tertiary sector
- The city of Paris counts 2 million jobs, 7 % of the French and 32 % of the Ile-de-France metropolitan area, with 60 % of active people not residing in Paris. 520.000 companies are located in Paris. 8 out of 10 employees are employed in the private sector.
- First-class transport and IT infrastructure, multiple public mobility options, bicycle, e-scooter, e-scooter, bus, metro and RER network (RER roughly corresponds to Austrian S-Bahn or regional trains and connects in particular the suburbs with the city center).
- Regional and international train station hubs with a wide range of trains.
- Currently implementing the future investment "Le GRAND PARIS EXPRESS" as the largest urban development project in Europe. A total of 35,6 billion €, including 7 billion euro in provisions for risks and contingencies, has been earmarked for the construction of the Grand Paris Express.
- Largest airport hub in Europe: three international airports (Roissy-Charles de Gaulle (north), Orly (south) with 108 million passengers per year and Le Bourget (private planes), connect Paris to most major European cities in less than two hours.
- The very well-developed network of national and European connections by high-speed trains make it possible to meet face-to-face with business contacts in other major French, British and European cities in a very short time.
- Greater Paris offers cost-effective, -efficient and resilient multimodal supply chains, including Europe's largest airport for air freight, the best road network in Europe, 111 freight stations and with 70 ports and six multimodal platforms spread over 500 km of waterways, the region is not only France's first river port, but also the second largest river platform in Europe. The Paris metropolitan area is number one in France in terms of logistics activities.
- 1.281.852 companies in the Ile-de-France metropolis include a dense network of SMEs in all sectors and a high number of technology companies ranging from start-ups to large international corporations, of which 520.000 companies are located in the city of Paris, representing 8,5 % of France's total.
- center of France
- With its highly skilled workforce, Paris and its surrounding areas are home to 34 % of France's managers.
- Second largest industrial region in France with 430.000 employees in the manufacturing sector at 45.000 industrial sites.
- The Paris region is the European leader in aerospace, business aviation, propulsion and equipment. It hosts the major aerospace companies and employs 95.000 people.
- It is #2 in Europe in the automotive industry and invests heavily in innovative and sustainable mobility solutions.
- In the pharmaceuticals sector, the region ranks #4 in Europe, and is a leader in cutting-edge health and biotechnologies. The entire value chain is represented here, from research, innovation, evaluation, production to commercialization.
- "Eating like God in France", the regional food industry ranks 2nd in Europe and employs over 50.000 people. The largest fresh produce market in the world - Rungis International Market - is located in the south of Paris and is used internationally.
- In the fast-growing chemical sector, it is the top region in Europe, with some 4.200 companies and over 50.000 employees.
- The urban core of Paris itself has 2 million employees (7 % of France's workforce, i.e. 32 % of the workforce in the Ile-de-France region)
- The 6,4 million employees in the Ile-de-France metropolitan area are mainly employed in the tertiary sector (87,9 %), in industry (7,3 %), in construction (4,8 %) but also in agriculture.
- 92.9 % of the employees are white-collar workers.
- Paris is the seat of numerous international organizations such as UNESCO, OCDE, OIF, OIV, OIE, ESA, etc.
- Cosmopolitan and multicultural city and region par excellence. Greater Paris is France's top export region, accounting for 20,4 % of total French exports.
- The Greater Paris region exported 97.312 million EUR worth of goods in 2018. The main export products include automotive industry products, aerospace industry products, pharmaceutical products, leather and goods, clothing. The main export markets are the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Italy.
- As a hotspot for foreign investment in Europe, the region recorded a 12 % increase in this sector in 2020. Preferred sectors for industrial projects are pharmaceutical industry 24 %, food industry 15 %, automotive industry 15 %, recycling industry 13 %, followed by construction industry (7 %), electronic industry (5 %), mechanical industry (5 %), machine tools (4 %), optics (4 %), mobility (4 %) cosmetics (2 %) and textile industry (2 %). Top foreign investors come from Europe with 34 %, followed by the USA, Canada, Turkey and China.
- La Défense, the modern business district in the west of Paris, is a headquarters of numerous headquarters of international companies in the field of energy, insurance, banking and industry.
- Paris attracts numerous top companies from all over the world, counts 409 settled international companies and 16.678 branches of foreign groups.
- The Ile-de-France metropolitan area is a research and technology hotspot with one of the highest concentrations of R&D and employees at the European level. It hosts innovative sectors and specialties with high-profile high-tech clusters and research centers.
- It is the leading region in Europe in terms of R&D capacity and spending, with more than 165.500 international and national researchers (40,9 % France-wide) engaged in public and private research and cumulatively around 40 % of research spending.
- Paris and Ile-de-France are Europe's largest and most diverse talent pool, with a broad educational spectrum.
- The metropolis boasts the largest concentration of students in higher education in Europe, with three academies accounting for over 23 % of universities, 25 % of engineering schools, and 22 % of business schools in the country.
- Paris, as a city of culture and art, history, French lifestyle and shopping is the top destination of the world city tourism and is the world leader in business tourism also focusing on the numerous organized international trade shows, conferences and seminars. Paris, with 700.000 m² of exhibition space, ranks first in Europe in every respect: number of trade fairs organized, number of exhibitors and number of visitors at trade fairs with more than 200 exhibitors. On the world market (trade fairs with more than 500 exhibitors), Paris ranks first in number of trade fairs and number of visitors and fifth in number of exhibitors.
- Paris Convention Centre, with an area of 72.000 m² and a capacity of 35.000 people, is the largest convention center in Europe.
- Over the period 2019 - 2023, the preparation and organization of the Olympic Games (2024) mobilizes 150.000 direct jobs, including 11.700 in the construction sector, 60.000 in tourism, 78.300 in the organization.
- 34 % of stays in Paris are business and mixed trips with 17,1 million nights. The metropolis' income from tourism generates 20,5 million EUR (2019). Paris counts 65 % of foreign tourists in France.
- In 2018, Paris and region had 700.500 students enrolled, or 27 % of France's total student population. More than half of these study at the Paris Academy.