NUTS-3 BE345 · Belgium
Population
55,2442025
GDP
€1,315M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
6.7%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
73%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
776.5 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
BE345 · BE341
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Arr. Arlon (Opportunity 40). Runner-up: Arr. Virton (39). Contrarian pick: Arr. Virton — leads the set on Air quality (EU pctl 96).
Strengths
Connectivity (77) · Talent & skills (71)
Red flags
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Long-run slide: down 34 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Strengths
Air quality (96) · Demographic outlook (82)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Long-run slide: down 16 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Why you might not pick Arr. Arlon
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%); Long-run slide: down 34 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute). Its weakest dimension is Freight intensity (EU pctl 4) — Arr. Virton may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Arr. Arlon · Manufacturing → Arr. Virton · Office → Arr. Virton · Residential → Arr. Virton.
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
39.3
39.9
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
54.5
61.0
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
50.8
37.6
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
96.3
—
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
72.0
77.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
70.8
70.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
39.2
45.8
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
1.9% 5y
1.6% 5y
Population
0.4% 5y
1.0% 5y
Unemployment rate
5.7% 5y
5.6% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€23,806
€31,066
Population density
71 /km²
208 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 85 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€1,190M
€1,880M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€26M
€12M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€234M
€238M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€210M
€204M
GVA — construction (F)
€72M
€75M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€163M
€377M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€27,500
€27,500
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
21,200 PPS
27,800 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€23,800
€31,200
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€2,495M
€2,495M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€243M
€243M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€4,990M
€4,990M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€227M
€328M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€2M
€9M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€314M
€467M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€382M
€712M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€1,103M
€1,742M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€97,581
€104,020
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€356M
€562M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
13,900
20,600
Self-employed persons
2,900
2,100
Employment in manufacturing (C)
1,900
1,900
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
72.8%
72.8%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
15.3%
15.3%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
6.6%
6.7%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
25,900
32,900
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
0.6%
0.6%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
3.9%
3.9%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
0.1%
0.1%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
43.6%
43.6%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
46.4%
46.4%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
14.9%
14.9%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
27.4%
27.4%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
9.3%
9.3%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
93.7%
93.7%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
230,691
118,922
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
523 /1k
523 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
172 kt
498 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
764
586
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
35 km/1000km²
35 km/1000km²
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
1,383
876
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
50
32
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
1
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
35,657
45,259
Population aged 65+
10,409
10,580
Population aged under 15
9,178
11,027
Median age of population
41.2 yrs
39.5 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
29.2%
23.4%
Crude rate of total population change
0.5 /1k
7.7 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.4 /1k
5.8 /1k
Crude birth rate
8.6 /1k
10.1 /1k
Crude death rate
10.4 /1k
8.2 /1k
Live births
476
670
Deaths
577
547
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
54.9%
47.7%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.43
1.51
Population density (persons per km²)
71 /km²
209 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
56,179
61,126
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
15.4%
15.4%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
80.6 yrs
80.6 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
11.9%
11.9%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
390 /100k
390 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,045 /100k
1,045 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
235 /100k
235 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
1.5 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
14.5 /100k
66.3 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
436 /100k
506 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
632 /100k
1,180 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
93 /M
93 /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)
371 m
372 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
5 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
60 days/yr
59 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
7 days/yr
5 days/yr