NUTS-3 BE344 · Belgium
Population
66,6342025
GDP
€2,444M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
6.7%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
73%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
1,352.4 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
BE344 · BE341
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Arr. Neufchâteau (Opportunity 46). Runner-up: Arr. Arlon (40). Contrarian pick: Arr. Arlon — leads the set on Connectivity (EU pctl 77).
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)
Why you might not pick Arr. Neufchâteau
Its weakest dimension is Labour market (EU pctl 17) — Arr. Arlon may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
Arr. Neufchâteau 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
46.0
39.9
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
65.8
61.0
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
53.2
37.6
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
98.3
—
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
66.7
77.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
70.8
70.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
50.6
45.8
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
2.8% 5y
1.6% 5y
Population
0.9% 5y
1.0% 5y
Unemployment rate
4.2% 5y
5.6% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€36,670
€31,066
Population density
49 /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)
€2,212M
€1,880M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€62M
€12M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€243M
€238M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€212M
€204M
GVA — construction (F)
€275M
€75M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€442M
€377M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€27,500
€27,500
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
32,700 PPS
27,800 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€36,700
€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)
€268M
€328M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€38M
€9M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€485M
€467M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€705M
€712M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€2,050M
€1,742M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€93,672
€104,020
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€661M
€562M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
26,900
20,600
Self-employed persons
5,200
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)
6.5%
6.7%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
30,900
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)
871,758
118,922
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
523 /1k
523 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,714 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.
1,340
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).
2,011
876
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
73
32
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
1
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
42,432
45,259
Population aged 65+
12,713
10,580
Population aged under 15
11,489
11,027
Median age of population
40.6 yrs
39.5 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
30.0%
23.4%
Crude rate of total population change
3.9 /1k
7.7 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.2 /1k
5.8 /1k
Crude birth rate
10.1 /1k
10.1 /1k
Crude death rate
10.5 /1k
8.2 /1k
Live births
671
670
Deaths
695
547
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
57.0%
47.7%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.61
1.51
Population density (persons per km²)
49 /km²
209 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
59,390
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
31.6 /100k
66.3 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
360 /100k
506 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
868 /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)
452 m
372 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
3 days/yr
5 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
66 days/yr
59 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
5 days/yr
5 days/yr