NUTS-3 CH012 · Switzerland
Population
371,2882025
GDP
€22,579M2022
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
7.8%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
76.8%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
5,224.3 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
CH012 · CH023
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Solothurn (Opportunity 73). Runner-up: Valais / Wallis (71). Contrarian pick: Valais / Wallis — leads the set on Digital readiness (EU pctl 96).
Why you might not pick Solothurn
Its weakest dimension is Growth momentum (EU pctl 50) — Valais / Wallis may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Solothurn · Manufacturing → Solothurn · Office → Valais / Wallis · Residential → Solothurn.
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
70.5
72.6
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
78.0
80.5
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
68.2
73.5
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
58.7
67.7
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
88.8
77.5
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
55.6
50.0
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
2.8% 5y
2.9% 5y
Population
1.4% 5y
1.0% 5y
Unemployment rate
7.4% 5y
3.4% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€60,813
€74,612
Population density
71 /km²
365 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 66 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€21,209M
€20,310M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€210M
€86M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€4,908M
€4,881M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€3,465M
€4,913M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,972M
€1,331M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€20,891M
€20,006M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€188,659
€158,470
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€6,661M
€6,379M
Labour market
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
79.2%
85.6%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
14.7%
8.5%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
7.7%
4.5%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
191,500
163,900
Innovation & R&D
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
5.7%
7.1%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
46.4%
41.3%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
51.5%
45.4%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
27.8%
26.3%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
29.2%
25.2%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
12.0%
11.8%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
99.3%
99.0%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
8,697,998
546,585
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
507 /1k
556 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
15,017 kt
10,615 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
3,633
1,242
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
979
429
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
36 km/1000km²
40 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
110
40
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
0
2
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
241,161
185,842
Population aged 65+
77,451
61,566
Population aged under 15
52,676
42,384
Median age of population
43.8 yrs
44.4 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
32.1%
33.1%
Crude rate of total population change
14.8 /1k
10.2 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
14.5 /1k
11.0 /1k
Crude birth rate
8.3 /1k
8.3 /1k
Crude death rate
7.9 /1k
9.1 /1k
Live births
3,047
2,406
Deaths
2,929
2,629
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
54.0%
55.9%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.27
1.34
Population density (persons per km²)
71 /km²
367 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
491,380
321,845
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
24.5%
19.1%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
84.6 yrs
83.8 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
19.0%
16.1%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
422 /100k
378 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
719 /100k
825 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
180 /100k
193 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.4 /100k
0.0 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
9.0 /100k
16.7 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
326 /100k
849 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
971 /100k
2,596 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
29 /M
30 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
2.03
2.03
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.76
1.76
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.78
1.78
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
2.09
2.09
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
1.03
1.03
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
2,126 m
487 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
8 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
235 days/yr
84 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
17 days/yr
9 days/yr