Rhône-Alpes Economy

In the last decade, the economy of the French region Rhône-Alpes has known a general increase.

Rhône-Alpes is a prosperous region, its economy second in size only to Île-de-France in France. This can be attributed to the diversity of the production in different sectors.

• Industry, in particular:
  • Light engineering and high-tech
  • Mechanical engineering in the area of Annecy
  • Special machining in the area of Cluses
• Services, in particular:
  • High-tech industries & nanotechnology, especially in Grenoble
  • Tourism with the Alps (for skiing), Lyon and Grenoble (for culture) and the Ardèche (adventure sports/camping) particularly popular
  • Education, with major universities in Lyon and Grenoble

In the past mining, especially coal mining was an important sector, particularly around Saint-Étienne, although this has declined.

It should be noted that the area of the region that lies close to Switzerland has an economy linked to that of Geneva. Indeed, this area forms a hinterland for the Geneva hub.

Nevertheless some branches of the regions economy (such as industry, property building or tourism) have had problems with providing new jobs or even with keeping pre-existing employment.

But on the whole, the general economic trend of the Rhône-Alpes region is quite similar to the economic situation of France.

Rhône-Alpes has an unemployment rate of 6.2%.

This region also offers financial and physical support for people in need such as elderly people, disabled people, unemployed people...

More documents, info and useful contacts on Rhône-Alpes's economy:

http://www.insee.fr/fr/regions/rhone-alpes/default.asp?page=conjoncture/conjoncture.htm

http://www.rhone-alpes.cci.fr/economie/RAE/index.php