NUTS-3 ES706 · Spain
Population
22,5602025
GDP
€443M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
13.5%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
67.7%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
369.2 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
ES706 · ES703
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: El Hierro (Opportunity 31). Runner-up: La Gomera (28).
Strengths
Demographic outlook (99) · Energy cost (95)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Connectivity (EU bottom 15%)
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Industrial base (EU bottom 15%)
Strengths
Energy cost (95) · Digital readiness (78)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Industrial base (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick El Hierro
Economic base (EU bottom 15%); Labour market (EU bottom 15%); Connectivity (EU bottom 15%); Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%); Industrial base (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Industrial base (EU pctl 2) — La Gomera may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
El Hierro 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
28.0
30.5
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
29.3
35.5
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
49.0
47.4
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
34.7
—
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
22.5
2.5
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
38.8
38.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
57.0
73.4
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
5.2% 5y
4.7% 5y
Population
0.7% 5y
1.5% 5y
Unemployment rate
10.2% 5y
10.1% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€19,637
€19,336
Population density
61 /km²
45 /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)
€415M
€218M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€15M
€12M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€20M
€16M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€9M
€6M
GVA — construction (F)
€33M
€15M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€146M
€57M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€15,300
€15,300
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
22,200 PPS
22,200 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€19,800
€19,800
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€8,461M
€8,461M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€298M
€298M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€28,532M
€28,532M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€79M
€41M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€123M
€78M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€422M
€221M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€61,048
€57,958
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€79M
€41M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
7,800
4,300
Self-employed persons
1,400
800
Employment in manufacturing (C)
100
100
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
73.1%
73.1%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
29.5%
29.5%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
13.4%
13.3%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
11,200
6,000
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
1,419
718
Enterprise births
118
85
Enterprise deaths
100
63
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.7%
2.9%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
0.6%
0.6%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
2.1%
2.1%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
0.4%
0.4%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
36.3%
36.3%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
43.7%
43.7%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
13.1%
13.1%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
17.6%
17.6%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
5.8%
5.8%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
97.3%
97.3%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
881,293
151,519
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
609 /1k
609 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
134 kt
119 kt
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
39 km/1000km²
39 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
65
148
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
0
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
15,119
7,981
Population aged 65+
5,447
2,752
Population aged under 15
1,994
1,260
Median age of population
50.3 yrs
47.8 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
36.0%
34.5%
Crude rate of total population change
2.4 /1k
17.4 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
6.3 /1k
20.7 /1k
Crude birth rate
4.3 /1k
5.0 /1k
Crude death rate
8.2 /1k
8.3 /1k
Live births
96
60
Deaths
185
99
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
49.2%
50.3%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
0.79
0.85
Population density (persons per km²)
61 /km²
45 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
17,373
17,593
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
31.2%
31.2%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
82.9 yrs
82.9 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
22.9%
22.9%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
290 /100k
290 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
826 /100k
826 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
214 /100k
214 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
0.0 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
8.5 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
71.1 /100k
59.4 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
88.9 /100k
161 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
31 /M
31 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.14
1.14
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.84
0.84
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.96
0.96
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.78
0.78
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.16
0.16
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.106/kWh
€0.106/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.048/kWh
€0.048/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
1,179 m
876 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
1 days/yr
3 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
0 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
1 days/yr
1 days/yr