NUTS-3 DEA1C · Germany
Population
490,9102025
GDP
€27,193M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
4.8%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
76.8%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
404.9 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
DEA1C · DEA1D
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Mettmann (Opportunity 72). Runner-up: Rhein-Kreis Neuss (67). Contrarian pick: Rhein-Kreis Neuss — leads the set on Freight intensity (EU pctl 73).
Why you might not pick Mettmann
Its weakest dimension is Demographic outlook (EU pctl 24) — Rhein-Kreis Neuss may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Rhein-Kreis Neuss · Manufacturing → Rhein-Kreis Neuss · Office → Mettmann · Residential → Rhein-Kreis Neuss.
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
71.8
66.9
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
51.8
54.0
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
53.2
48.8
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
50.0
42.7
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
82.3
80.3
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
43.8
43.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
46.8
37.8
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
0.6% 5y
1.0% 5y
Population
0.2% 5y
0.2% 5y
Unemployment rate
2.7% 5y
5.9% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€55,393
€46,922
Population density
1,212 /km²
791 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 84 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€24,838M
€19,590M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€25M
€115M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€4,969M
€6,088M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€4,632M
€3,636M
GVA — construction (F)
€1,344M
€748M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€8,011M
€4,555M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€27,100
€27,100
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
49,500 PPS
41,800 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€55,600
€47,000
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€40,936M
€40,936M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€5,526M
€5,526M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€145,544M
€145,544M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€6,869M
€4,592M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€3,620M
€3,491M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€22,867M
€18,035M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€109,705
€103,935
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€4,261M
€3,360M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
261,580
217,750
Self-employed persons
22,240
18,810
Employment in manufacturing (C)
47,380
30,070
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
76.8%
76.8%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
8.1%
8.1%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.8%
4.8%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
239,600
226,900
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
21,212
18,296
Enterprise births
1,855
1,715
Enterprise deaths
1,894
1,677
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.2%
4.2%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.6%
1.6%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
4.6%
4.6%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
1.0%
1.0%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
31.8%
31.8%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
35.9%
35.9%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
9.6%
9.6%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
22.3%
22.3%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
8.7%
8.7%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
825,599
611,273
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
567 /1k
567 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
9,338 kt
18,126 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
2,250
1,869
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
458
409
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
15
15
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
5
6
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
301,646
285,681
Population aged 65+
120,560
105,197
Population aged under 15
68,704
66,199
Median age of population
48.1 yrs
46.8 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
40.0%
36.8%
Crude rate of total population change
2.3 /1k
-0.7 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
8.0 /1k
3.3 /1k
Crude birth rate
7.7 /1k
7.8 /1k
Crude death rate
13.3 /1k
11.9 /1k
Live births
3,754
3,584
Deaths
6,523
5,434
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
62.7%
60.0%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.42
1.42
Population density (persons per km²)
1,217 /km²
808 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
437,531
443,069
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
23.6%
23.6%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
80.4 yrs
80.4 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
16.5%
16.5%
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,075 /100k
1,075 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
254 /100k
254 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
0.4 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
52.7 /100k
43.9 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
403 /100k
425 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,217 /100k
1,319 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
22 /M
22 /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)
121 m
50 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
9 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
39 days/yr
37 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
5 days/yr
2 days/yr