Top ten healthiest places to live in France listed in new study

Occitanie is the healthiest place to live in France according to a new study, with seven of the top ten departments being in the region. Only one of the top ten is not in the south.

The study analysed data from all the departments in France according to eight criteria: Access to green spaces, sport centres, walking trails, ‘healthy’ shops, public baths, ‘unhealthy’ shops, pollution and overall wellbeing.

Read more: The five best places to live in France, according to new ranking

Where are the healthiest departments to live in France?

The access to services was aggregated per 100,000 residents, which skews the results somewhat: Lozère is the least populous department in France with 75,700 inhabitants (in 2019), and so rates highly here.

The only department that is not in the south of France is Jura (Bourgogne-Franche-Comté).

However, this study by health teleconsultation company Zava does not account for area. Aveyron, as well as the top rated department, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, are relatively large, meaning that access to amenities can vary widely.

It also does not account for social life or access to care. Indeed, several of these departments contain areas that are deemed medical deserts due to a lack of access to medical professionals.

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