Lyon counts 1.2 million inhabitants, over 570,000 private sector jobs in 50,000 companies, 20,000 new entrepreneurs and 7200 company start-ups or transfers annually. The Lyon metropolitan area also has 110,000 students, 10,000 researchers in over 500 laboratories and a level of R&D investment currently growing by 40%. There are 4 million square meters (over 43 million sq. ft.) of office space in Lyon, a GDP of 50 billion euros and exports worth 9.7 billion euros - these are just a few of the figures you'll find that prove Lyon's economic strength.