Occitanie is as big as Ireland and is the second largest region in European France. Its 6.1 million inhabitants are spread unevenly between the cities of Toulouse and Montpellier, a densely populated coast and rural areas at risk of depopulation. Its GDP per capita is 18% below the national average. However, it has the biggest trade surplus of any region in France (EUR 7.7 billion in 2022) thanks to its thriving aviation sector, which includes 770 companies and employs 75 000 people.