NUTS-3 DEA12 · Germany
Population
502,2702025
GDP
€20,262M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
4.8%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
76.8%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
232.4 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
DEA12 · DEA41
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt (Opportunity 63). Runner-up: Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt (63). Contrarian pick: Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt — leads the set on Freight intensity (EU pctl 78).
Strengths
Freight intensity (78) · Connectivity (77)
Red flags
Long-run slide: down 12 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Why you might not pick Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt
Its weakest dimension is Cost advantage (EU pctl 25) — Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt · Manufacturing → Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt · Office → Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt · Residential → Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt.
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
62.7
62.9
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
45.5
51.8
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
42.2
54.4
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
24.7
45.3
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
76.7
64.7
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
43.8
36.3
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
28.4
39.2
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
0.1% 5y
0.4% 5y
Population
0.1% 5y
0.2% 5y
Unemployment rate
7.0% 5y
5.1% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€40,341
€54,443
Population density
2,161 /km²
1,273 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 84 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€18,508M
€16,490M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€7M
€16M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€3,994M
€2,696M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€3,224M
€2,172M
GVA — construction (F)
€670M
€556M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€4,490M
€3,811M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€27,100
€28,000
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
35,900 PPS
48,500 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€40,300
€54,500
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€40,936M
€18,145M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€5,526M
€5,057M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€145,544M
€52,413M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€4,653M
€4,091M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€4,693M
€5,320M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€17,039M
€15,215M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€92,214
€85,362
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,175M
€3,456M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
231,870
222,640
Self-employed persons
14,560
14,000
Employment in manufacturing (C)
34,050
26,550
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
76.8%
80.3%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
8.1%
6.8%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.8%
3.7%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
257,400
188,600
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
13,102
11,744
Enterprise births
1,320
946
Enterprise deaths
1,374
973
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.5%
4.0%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.6%
1.8%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
4.6%
4.4%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
1.0%
1.3%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
31.8%
30.9%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
35.9%
33.6%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
9.6%
9.3%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
22.3%
21.1%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
8.7%
8.3%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
484,672
572,732
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
567 /1k
632 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
21,403 kt
7,272 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,553
1,455
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
309
439
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
17
45
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
6
5
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
324,014
216,817
Population aged 65+
102,578
67,444
Population aged under 15
75,678
47,344
Median age of population
43.1 yrs
42.2 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.7%
31.1%
Crude rate of total population change
-1.8 /1k
0.3 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.1 /1k
2.2 /1k
Crude birth rate
9.2 /1k
9.4 /1k
Crude death rate
13.1 /1k
11.3 /1k
Live births
4,611
3,108
Deaths
6,563
3,761
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
55.0%
52.9%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.48
1.37
Population density (persons per km²)
2,349 /km²
1,280 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
537,792
349,734
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
23.6%
24.1%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
80.4 yrs
81.2 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
16.5%
16.9%
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,075 /100k
1,001 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
254 /100k
234 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.6 /100k
0.9 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
93.6 /100k
108 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
813 /100k
407 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,122 /100k
2,106 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
22 /M
38 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.78
1.78
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.56
1.56
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.58
1.58
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.82
1.82
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.53
0.53
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.161/kWh
€0.161/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.055/kWh
€0.055/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
28 m
112 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
8 days/yr
7 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
33 days/yr
46 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
2 days/yr