NUTS-3 BG414 · Bulgaria
Population
109,8862025
GDP
€1,004M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
1.9%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
81.5%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
2,396.5 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
BG414 · BG425
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Перник (Opportunity 31). Runner-up: Кърджали (25). Contrarian pick: Кърджали — leads the set on Cost advantage (EU pctl 99).
#1Перник
Strengths
Freight intensity (97) · Cost advantage (87)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
#2Кърджали
Strengths
Cost advantage (99) · Demographic outlook (85)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick Перник
Economic base (EU bottom 15%); Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%); Governance (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Governance (EU pctl 0) — Кърджали may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Перник · Manufacturing → Перник · Office → Перник · Residential → Кърджали.
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
31.2
25.2
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
33.5
53.3
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
38.4
22.8
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
39.0
18.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
65.0
29.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
67.2
70.8
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
5.2% 5y
2.5% 5y
Population
0.7% 5y
1.7% 5y
Unemployment rate
11.5% 5y
0.6% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€9,135
€8,146
Population density
46 /km²
46 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 86 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€876M
€1,062M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€31M
€123M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€205M
€324M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€168M
€266M
GVA — construction (F)
€75M
€56M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€190M
€146M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€11,300
€6,700
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
14,700 PPS
13,300 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€9,100
€8,200
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€9,359M
€2,738M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€686M
€682M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€21,611M
€5,794M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€132M
€127M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€7M
€6M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€177M
€162M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€199M
€251M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€747M
€1,026M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€30,496
€25,016
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€233M
€315M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
43,610
64,500
Self-employed persons
11,290
26,890
Employment in manufacturing (C)
8,120
12,990
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
76.5%
69.9%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
6.6%
14.6%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
1.9%
3.2%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
52,800
65,700
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
5,461
5,257
Enterprise births
587
558
Enterprise deaths
736
670
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.5%
5.7%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.3%
0.4%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
10.2%
3.2%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
1.6%
0.5%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
44.5%
29.3%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
48.4%
36.6%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
5.4%
6.8%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
32.4%
21.0%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
11.7%
7.5%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
95.9%
92.3%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
38,499
122,348
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
525 /1k
457 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
8,043 kt
1,138 kt
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
15 km/1000km²
9 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
45
71
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
2
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
66,878
90,707
Population aged 65+
29,096
40,483
Population aged under 15
13,912
18,288
Median age of population
49.4 yrs
51.2 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
43.5%
44.6%
Crude rate of total population change
-10.4 /1k
19.7 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.4 /1k
28.6 /1k
Crude birth rate
6.1 /1k
6.3 /1k
Crude death rate
20.9 /1k
15.2 /1k
Live births
674
927
Deaths
2,306
2,250
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
64.3%
64.8%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.39
1.50
Population density (persons per km²)
46 /km²
47 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
58,281
222,015
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
19.8%
34.4%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
77.0 yrs
76.1 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
13.6%
25.6%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
792 /100k
924 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
2,069 /100k
2,023 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
194 /100k
240 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
4.5 /100k
0.7 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
9.9 /100k
1.4 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
34.2 /100k
4.8 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
295 /100k
91.4 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
40 /M
80 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.07
-0.07
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.25
0.25
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.10
-0.10
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.14
-0.14
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.33
0.33
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.135/kWh
€0.135/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.041/kWh
€0.041/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
884 m
241 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
12 days/yr
44 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
109 days/yr
44 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
7 days/yr