Breton Cuisine - Economy

Economy

Brittany, apart from some areas such as Lorient, Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, was never heavily industrialised. Today, fishing and agriculture remain important activities. Brittany has more than 40,000 agricultural exploitations, mostly oriented towards cattle, pig and poultry breeding, and cereals and vegetables production. The number of exploitations tends to diminish, but as a result, they are merged into very large estates. Brittany is the first producer in France for vegetables (green beans, onions, artichokes, potatoes, tomatoes...). Cereals are mostly grown for cattle feeding. Wine, especially muscadet, is made in a small region south of Nantes. Brittany is the first region in France for fishing. The activity employs around 9,000 people, and more than 60 firms work in fish and seafood processing.

Although relatively new, the Breton industry has been constantly growing since 1980. Food processing (meat, vegetables..) represents a third of the industrial jobs, but other activities are also important for the local economy. Shipbuilding, both commercial and military, is implanted in Saint-Nazaire (Chantiers de l'Atlantique), Lorient and Brest, Airbus has plants in Saint-Nazaire and Nantes and Peugeot has a large factory in Rennes. Brittany is the second French region for telecommunication and the fifth for electronics, two activities mainly developed in Rennes, Lannion and Brest. Tourism is particularly important for the seacoast and Brittany is one of the most visited regions in France.

The unemployment rate in Brittany is lower than in other French regions and it is usually around 6 or 7% of the active population. Because of the global financial crisis started in 2007, unemployment has arisen to 8.7% in the Region Brittany and 8.4% in Loire-Atlantique in late 2012. However, these results remain under the French national rate (9.9% at the same period). Some activities, such as construction, industry, catering or transport, usually have difficulties to find employees.

In 2009, Region Brittany's gross domestic product reached 82 billion euros. It was the seventh richest region in France and it produced 4.4% of the national GDP. The Breton GDP per capita was around 25,739 euros in 2009. It was lower than the French result, 29,897 euros, but higher than the European one, 23,500 euros. The GDP of the Loire-Atlantique département is around 26 billion euros, and the GDP of the five historical Breton départements would be at around 108 billion euros.