NUTS-3 CH053 · Switzerland
Population
56,7052025
GDP
€3,877M2022
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
3.3%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
84.8%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
245.7 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
CH053 · CH051
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Appenzell Ausserrhoden (Opportunity 62). Runner-up: Glarus (57).
Strengths
Digital readiness (98) · Labour market (96)
Red flags
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
#2Glarus
Strengths
Digital readiness (98) · Labour market (96)
Red flags
Flood: 25% of population in the 100-year floodplain
Why you might not pick Appenzell Ausserrhoden
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Freight intensity (EU pctl 5) — Glarus may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Glarus · Manufacturing → Glarus · Office → Appenzell Ausserrhoden · Residential → Appenzell Ausserrhoden.
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
- Flood defences, return-period design and insurance for flagged regions
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
61.7
57.3
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
75.0
78.8
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
82.3
81.2
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
79.3
65.3
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
71.5
71.5
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
56.4
52.0
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
1.9% 5y
2.4% 5y
Population
0.5% 5y
0.9% 5y
Unemployment rate
0.0% 5y
4.7% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€68,377
€75,910
Population density
231 /km²
62 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 64 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€3,642M
€3,021M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€39M
€16M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,257M
€1,023M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€627M
€498M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€290M
€212M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,587M
€2,976M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€148,351
€148,437
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,144M
€949M
Labour market
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
86.0%
86.0%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
5.4%
5.4%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.1%
3.3%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
31,900
24,200
Innovation & R&D
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
4.5%
4.5%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
40.8%
40.8%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
44.4%
44.4%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
24.4%
24.4%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
23.5%
23.5%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
10.6%
10.6%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
100.0%
100.0%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
191,630
301,075
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
589 /1k
589 /1k
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
482
311
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
424 kt
1,118 kt
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
23 km/1000km²
23 km/1000km²
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
850
734
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
40
67
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
2
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
35,479
26,992
Population aged 65+
12,302
9,213
Population aged under 15
8,924
6,166
Median age of population
44.9 yrs
44.4 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
34.7%
34.1%
Crude rate of total population change
3.7 /1k
7.5 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.6 /1k
8.7 /1k
Crude birth rate
8.5 /1k
8.0 /1k
Crude death rate
9.5 /1k
9.2 /1k
Live births
482
338
Deaths
535
389
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.8%
57.0%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.49
1.34
Population density (persons per km²)
233 /km²
62 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
56,443
45,302
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
16.2%
16.2%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
83.9 yrs
83.9 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
13.4%
13.4%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
487 /100k
487 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
861 /100k
861 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
192 /100k
192 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
0.0 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
5.3 /100k
9.5 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
320 /100k
354 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
890 /100k
989 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
34 /M
34 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
2.03
2.03
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.76
1.76
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.78
1.78
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
2.09
2.09
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
1.03
1.03
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
845 m
983 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
1 days/yr
0 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
96 days/yr
121 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
22 days/yr
30 days/yr