NUTS-3 DE272 · Germany
Population
46,1932025
GDP
€2,060M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
2.7%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
84.3%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
40.3 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
DE272 · DEG05
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Kaufbeuren, Kreisfreie Stadt (Opportunity 46). Runner-up: Weimar, Kreisfreie Stadt (38).
Strengths
Labour market (93) · Economic base (73)
Red flags
Cost advantage (EU bottom 15%)
Long-run slide: down 13 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Strengths
Labour market (67) · Connectivity (63)
Red flags
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Long-run slide: down 13 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Why you might not pick Kaufbeuren, Kreisfreie Stadt
Cost advantage (EU bottom 15%); Long-run slide: down 13 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute). Its weakest dimension is Cost advantage (EU pctl 10) — Weimar, Kreisfreie Stadt may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
Kaufbeuren, Kreisfreie Stadt 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
46.4
38.0
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
71.8
48.0
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
60.3
50.9
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
—
50.3
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
66.3
62.7
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
40.5
28.5
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
41.4
38.0
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
0.9% 5y
1.1% 5y
Population
0.8% 5y
0.2% 5y
Unemployment rate
0.7% 5y
10.5% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€44,586
€36,934
Population density
1,146 /km²
785 /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)
€1,881M
€2,225M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€3M
€3M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€318M
€268M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€287M
€209M
GVA — construction (F)
€178M
€66M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€287M
€323M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€30,100
€25,200
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
40,100 PPS
33,100 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€45,000
€37,200
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€20,600M
€14,609M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€3,395M
€3,167M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€49,117M
€42,299M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€431M
€546M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€665M
€1,020M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€1,757M
€2,057M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€81,161
€130,668
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€469M
€469M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
26,560
34,940
Self-employed persons
2,140
3,110
Employment in manufacturing (C)
3,810
2,600
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
83.6%
80.5%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
4.4%
7.7%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
2.7%
3.5%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
25,900
33,900
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
1,723
2,396
Enterprise births
119
150
Enterprise deaths
135
211
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.6%
2.5%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.4%
2.6%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
4.6%
4.7%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
1.0%
1.3%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
34.1%
30.4%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
38.8%
35.6%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
7.1%
8.1%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
22.4%
19.9%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
9.1%
7.3%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
99,877
758,113
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
639 /1k
568 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
991 kt
371 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
175
294
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
379
446
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
—
32 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
31
26
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
3
2
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
28,781
41,065
Population aged 65+
10,686
16,294
Population aged under 15
6,726
8,595
Median age of population
44.7 yrs
45.3 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
37.1%
39.7%
Crude rate of total population change
2.6 /1k
6.5 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
6.1 /1k
13.4 /1k
Crude birth rate
8.8 /1k
5.9 /1k
Crude death rate
12.2 /1k
12.7 /1k
Live births
406
386
Deaths
565
838
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
60.5%
60.6%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.48
0.97
Population density (persons per km²)
1,153 /km²
783 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
40,719
60,666
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
14.5%
23.4%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
82.1 yrs
80.7 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
11.4%
17.4%
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
989 /100k
1,212 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
211 /100k
228 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
2.2 /100k
0.0 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
15.2 /100k
58.0 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
91.2 /100k
536 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
851 /100k
1,853 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
39 /M
46 /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)
707 m
224 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
4 days/yr
8 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
95 days/yr
61 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
9 days/yr
2 days/yr