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MONEY

The towns in France where people have the most (and least) money to spend

A new report reveals that levels of disposable income in France are 40 percent higher than the European average. But it goes without saying that people in some areas are more flush than others. Here's a look at the towns in France where people have the most cash to flash.

Published: 7 November 2018 17:08 CET
The towns in France where people have the most (and least) money to spend
Photo: AFP
People in France has an average spending power of €20,038, according to a new report by by marketing research company Gfk.
 
This puts the country 13th on the European spending power ranking for 2018, with the average European having €14,292 left to spend each year after having paid their taxes.
 
The report also showed that the regions in France where residents have the highest levels of disposable income are the greater Paris region of Ile-de-France and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, close to the Swiss border in the centre and south east of the country. 
 
All top ten spots in France were taken by towns in these two regions.
 
At the top of the list for spending power in France (see table below) was Boulogne-Billancourt, a town in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, with inhabitants of this district having a per capita purchasing power of €30,310 — more than twice the European average. 
 
Interestingly, Boulogne-Billancourt was also recently revealed to be one of the places in France where property prices were among the most expensive in France. 
 
READ ALSO:
Table: GfK
 
Coming in second, with an average disposable income of €29,823 was Gex in the Ain department of eastern France which lies 5 km from the Swiss border and 16 km from Geneva. 
 
Taking third spot was Paris where according to the report residents have an average disposable income of €29,433. 
 
Following in fourth position was Saint-Julien-en-Genevois in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region (€28,254), the fifth spot was taken by Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the Yvelines department in the western suburb of Paris (€27,705), sixth was Nanterre (€26,892) in the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris and coming in seventh was another town in Yvelines, Rambouillet (€26,524). 
 
To make up the rest of the top ten were Versailles (€26,218), which is also located in Yvelines, Thonon-les-Bains (€26,184) in the Haute-Savoie department and Anthon (€25,395) in the southern suburbs of Paris. 
 
However naturally there were towns in France at the other end of the spectrum. 
 
In the map below, the places in France with the most spending power are coloured in dark red while the ones coloured in the deeper shade of green are the places with the least purchasing power.
 
Map: GfK
 
At the other end of the scale from the towns mentioned above are Vervins, a town in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France, Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France and Saint Denis in the northern suburbs of Paris. 
 
Saint Denis came bottom of the list for purchasing power, according to the report, with an average purchasing power per inhabitant of €14,696 or €5,300 less than the national average.
 
The Paris suburb is notorious for its high level of unemployment and poverty and was this week earmarked by one of the biggest US banks JP Morgan as one of the deprived areas in France that will benefit from a $30 million pot over five years in a bid to teach people job skills and expand small businesses.
 
And, which countries came ahead of France?
 
At 13th France was a fairly long way off claiming the top spot even though the average of French people spending power grew by €500 in one year which compared to an average rise of €355 across Europe.
 
The top spot went to Liechtenstein where people have an average spending power of a whopping €65,438 followed by Switzerland where folks have an average purchasing power of €40,456 (see table below for the top ten). 
 
 
Germany came in eighth (€22,949) while the United Kingdom, which came 11th with an average spending power of €20,572, was pushed out of the top ten by Finland this year. 
 
A total of 17 countries considered by the study have above-average per capita purchasing power while 25 countries fell below the European average.

Member comments

  1. I say, steady on!!! Your population statistics are completely haywire! Boulogne Billancourt where I have lived now for over 50 years has a population of 117,000 and not the +300,000 you give. A quick check has shown that, apart from Paris, most of the other population statistics are also grossly over the mark. Sorry to be a stickler.

  2. It would be nice when you publish an article to be able to click on maps, graphs, etc. and be able to enlarge them…

  3. The population statistics came from the Gfk report not from The Local. Perhaps someone should tell them?

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HEALTH

The different ways you can make a doctor’s appointment in France

Booking a medical appointment in France can be time-consuming – especially if you are new to the country and are looking for an English-speaking doctor.

Published: 13 May 2024 16:52 CEST
The different ways you can make a doctor's appointment in France

You do not need a carte vitale to book a doctor’s appointment in France – anyone who needs medical help while in the country is entitled to it, but you may not be entitled to any reimbursement if you are not part of the social security system.

Booking a GP’s appointment can be as simple as phoning up your friendly neighbourhood GP, or using an online service such as Doctolib. 

It helps a lot, if you have a médecin traitant – an attending GP, who adds you (and your family, if they can) to their list of patients. 

READ ALSO Explained: How to register with a doctor in France

It is not always easy to find one. Some parts of the country are short of GPs, which means doctors’ lists can fill up very quickly. But it is important that anyone who lives in France is registered with a named GP, especially if they have a carte vitale.

As well as being the main point of contact between patients and the medical profession in all its guises, it is financially responsible to be registered with a GP in France.

Reimbursement on consultations is typically 70 percent through the French healthcare system, but just 30 percent for anyone without a declared doctor. Meanwhile, top-up mutuelle health insurance companies usually require you to declare a médecin traitant and if you don’t, you may not be able to receive reimbursements on certain treatments.

Bear in mind, it is your responsibility to register with a local médecin traitant. But, even after you have done so, you can still make an appointment with any doctor, anywhere in France, and arrange specialist treatment, if you need it. 

READ ALSO 5 things to know about visiting a doctor in France

How do you go about making a GP appointment in France?

There are several options.

Some health centres – more often in larger towns and cities – operate a walk-in policy. But expect waits to be lengthy. Do not, however, assume that your GP operates a system like this.

You can phone for an appointment. This is another very common method. Your GP will have their own system for making appointments – which may even include something that looks, to the uninitiated, very much like a casual walk-in policy. 

Some may have an assistant to deal with booking appointments and other administration. Others may deal with appointments themselves, and may – for example – operate some sort of triage system based on voice messages from patients. 

What about online booking systems?

And many practitioners are now attached to websites, such as Doctolib. As of 2023, about half of all GP appointments in France were made using Doctolib.

READ ALSO How to use: French medical website Doctolib

Be aware that other online booking systems are available. Doctolib is one of the best known, but your GP may be attached to another system, like the health ministry approved site ‘LeMedecin.Fr’.

This website also has a feature where you can take an immediate online consultation with whatever doctor is available at that moment. By clicking ‘Consultez en vidéo maintenant’ you will be connected to the next doctor who is free. This option may involve an additional charge between €5-10 on top of the price of the consultation, and you will be expected to pay when booking.

If you have any trouble with either of these websites, you can go through the list of registered generalists per département on the ‘Ameli’ website. If you use this option, you will need to call the doctor to see if they are open or available for appointments.

In terms of wait times, online systems have helped to significantly reduce the delay between booking and getting an appointment.

According to a 2023 study by Doctolib, about half of all GP appointments were available within three days from the time of booking on their platform.

Similarly, you can use online platforms to check the medical professional’s qualifications and languages spoken, as well as filter based on the doctor’s English abilities. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt because not every medical professional with English listed on their Doctolib page speaks fluent English. 

An increasing number of doctorsoffer video consultations, known as télémédecine in France. This allows professionals – particularly those in more rural areas – to diagnose less serious conditions remotely. This type of consultation is usually only available from those medical practices that are attached to online booking systems. 

Some pharmacies have also begun offering walk-in télémedicine consults, using ‘Medadom’ machines. More information here.

What about specialists?

In France, you book your own consultations with specialists, even if you are referred by a doctor (your GP may offer a recommendation, but won’t always). The good news is that many specialists do use online booking services. Those that do not usually have assistants to take care of the appointments.

READ ALSO: Urgent care: How to get non-emergency medical treatment in France

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