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2 regions side-by-side

DE501 · BE234

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NUTS-3 DE501 · Germany
Population
586,2712025
GDP
€35,482M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
5.1%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
74.7%2025
Active firms· FR-only
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
Area
322.2 km²
NUTS-3 BE234 · Belgium
Population
583,6062025
GDP
€38,769M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
4.2%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
78.8%2025
Active firms· FR-only
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
Area
951.2 km²

Decision brief

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

Best overall fit: Arr. Gent (Opportunity 75). Runner-up: Bremen, Kreisfreie Stadt (61). Contrarian pick: Bremen, Kreisfreie Stadt — leads the set on Demographic outlook (EU pctl 77).

Strengths
Economic base (94) · Talent & skills (91)
Red flags
Cost advantage (EU bottom 15%)
Strengths
Economic base (92) · Demographic outlook (77)
No red flags
Why you might not pick Arr. Gent
Cost advantage (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Cost advantage (EU pctl 6) — Bremen, Kreisfreie Stadt may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: LogisticsBremen, Kreisfreie Stadt · ManufacturingBremen, Kreisfreie Stadt · OfficeArr. Gent · ResidentialArr. Gent.
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
60.6
74.8
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
52.5
68.5
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
44.9
63.0
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
42.0
31.0
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
67.3
65.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
57.0
90.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
37.6
53.2

Trajectories · 2012–latest

Real GDP (2020 prices)
1.5% 5y
3.6% 5y
Population
0.7% 5y
0.7% 5y
Unemployment rate
14.4% 5y
9.2% 5y

Derived comparisons

GDP per capita
€60,522
€66,430
Population density
1,819 /km²
614 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only

All indicators · 89 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)

Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€32,410M
€35,091M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€7M
€262M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€8,036M
€5,778M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€7,020M
€4,743M
GVA — construction (F)
€1,036M
€1,919M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€8,685M
€7,836M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€25,000
€30,800
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
54,400 PPS
59,400 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€61,100
€66,700
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€5,830M
€20,203M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€1,216M
€2,558M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€22,387M
€37,875M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€3,057M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€1,960M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€7,560M
€10,925M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€7,086M
€8,370M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€30,569M
€32,773M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€97,625
€121,123
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€5,179M
€10,546M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
382,500
330,100
Self-employed persons
21,570
52,200
Employment in manufacturing (C)
50,800
38,500
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
75.4%
76.7%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
16.6%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
5.1%
4.2%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
298,300
298,100
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
19,642
Enterprise births
1,890
Enterprise deaths
1,880
3-year enterprise survival rate
6.3%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
2.8%
3.4%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
5.3%
5.7%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
2.2%
2.7%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
32.3%
48.8%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
39.9%
56.4%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
11.0%
20.5%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
23.9%
35.9%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
9.9%
11.9%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
95.7%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
2,385,851
1,909,350
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
427 /1k
475 /1k
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,495
2,728
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
24,772 kt
12,496 kt
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
255
467
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
169 km/1000km²
66 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
8
56
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
3
4
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
381,409
378,871
Population aged 65+
120,883
115,997
Population aged under 15
83,979
88,738
Median age of population
42.1 yrs
41.2 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.7%
30.6%
Crude rate of total population change
3.3 /1k
8.5 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
6.1 /1k
8.1 /1k
Crude birth rate
8.9 /1k
9.4 /1k
Crude death rate
11.7 /1k
8.9 /1k
Live births
5,185
5,434
Deaths
6,845
5,182
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
53.7%
54.0%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.32
1.33
Population density (persons per km²)
1,888 /km²
618 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
640,815
599,180
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
35.4%
12.1%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
79.7 yrs
83.0 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
27.5%
6.1%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
566 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,054 /100k
867 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
253 /100k
222 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.4 /100k
0.7 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
191 /100k
62.0 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
1,236 /100k
408 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
3,985 /100k
2,131 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
17 /M
38 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.78
1.31
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.56
1.41
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.58
1.34
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.82
1.58
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.53
0.25
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.161/kWh
€0.130/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.055/kWh
€0.046/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
3 m
7 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
6 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
44 days/yr
29 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
2 days/yr