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BE32A · BE32C

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NUTS-3 BE32A · Belgium
Population
130,8722025
GDP
€3,823M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
9%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
65.3%2025
Active firms· FR-only
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
Area
669.9 km²
NUTS-3 BE32C · Belgium
Population
109,2212025
GDP
€3,369M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
9%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
65.3%2025
Active firms· FR-only
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
Area
355.3 km²

Decision brief

Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity

Best overall fit: Arr. Ath (Opportunity 49). Runner-up: Arr. Soignies (49). Contrarian pick: Arr. Soignies — leads the set on Connectivity (EU pctl 78).

Strengths
Connectivity (75) · Energy cost (69)
Red flags
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Strengths
Connectivity (78) · Energy cost (69)
Red flags
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Long-run slide: down 38 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Why you might not pick Arr. Ath
Labour market (EU bottom 15%); Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Labour market (EU pctl 5) — Arr. Soignies may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
Arr. Ath leads under all four archetype mandates — the recommendation is weight-stable.
Phase-2 diligence checklist
  • Site-level grid connection capacity and power pricing (beyond country-grain energy data)
  • Local incentives, tax regimes and permitting timelines
  • Workforce depth for your specific roles (the talent pillar is a proxy)
  • Real-estate availability, rents and land — public pan-EU data stops at the Nordics

This is a mandate-neutral read. To weight the pillars to your thesis, run these regions through the Site Screener — it ranks all 1,211 regions under your weights and exports the full PDF. First-pass macro screening, not investment advice.

Composite intelligence · 0–100 EU-percentile scores

Opportunity Indexscale + growth + access + structure
49.3
48.6
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
56.5
56.3
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
39.7
36.3
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
75.0
77.7
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
65.0
65.0
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
50.4
53.0

Trajectories · 2012–latest

Real GDP (2020 prices)
2.1% 5y
1.5% 5y
Population
0.4% 5y
0.7% 5y
Unemployment rate
1.4% 5y
1.2% 5y

Derived comparisons

GDP per capita
€29,208
€30,848
Population density
195 /km²
307 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only

All indicators · 80 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)

Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€3,460M
€3,050M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€71M
€42M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€572M
€686M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€514M
€605M
GVA — construction (F)
€227M
€199M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€705M
€463M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€24,300
€24,300
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
26,000 PPS
27,600 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€29,200
€30,900
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€8,772M
€8,772M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€1,340M
€1,340M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€23,931M
€23,931M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€507M
€410M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€35M
€27M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€926M
€878M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€959M
€781M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,244M
€2,860M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€99,285
€107,534
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€800M
€705M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
39,700
32,300
Self-employed persons
9,200
7,000
Employment in manufacturing (C)
4,900
5,000
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
65.6%
65.6%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
23.6%
23.6%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
9.0%
8.9%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
55,400
46,200
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.6%
1.6%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
5.0%
5.0%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
0.7%
0.7%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
37.3%
37.3%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
40.9%
40.9%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
10.7%
10.7%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
28.5%
28.5%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
10.6%
10.6%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
94.9%
94.9%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
120,055
36,886
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
498 /1k
498 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,275 kt
3,198 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,010
595
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
772
545
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
75 km/1000km²
75 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
47
24
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
4
3
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
83,946
70,062
Population aged 65+
26,697
21,183
Population aged under 15
20,229
17,976
Median age of population
43.6 yrs
42.1 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.8%
30.2%
Crude rate of total population change
2.4 /1k
5.4 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.2 /1k
6.2 /1k
Crude birth rate
8.2 /1k
9.1 /1k
Crude death rate
10.0 /1k
9.9 /1k
Live births
1,068
989
Deaths
1,312
1,073
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
55.9%
55.9%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.39
1.48
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
24.8%
24.8%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
80.0 yrs
80.0 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
14.5%
14.5%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
603 /100k
603 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,129 /100k
1,129 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
251 /100k
251 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.8 /100k
1.8 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
44.4 /100k
93.9 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
336 /100k
445 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
673 /100k
805 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
42 /M
42 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.31
1.31
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.41
1.41
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.34
1.34
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.58
1.58
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.25
0.25
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.130/kWh
€0.130/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.046/kWh
€0.046/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
54 m
92 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
5 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
33 days/yr
36 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
2 days/yr