NUTS-3 DEA41 · Germany
Population
331,6052025
GDP
€18,054M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
3.7%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
81.7%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
260.5 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
DEA41 · DEA12
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt (Opportunity 63). Runner-up: Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt (63). Contrarian pick: Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt — leads the set on Freight intensity (EU pctl 78).
Strengths
Freight intensity (78) · Connectivity (77)
Red flags
Long-run slide: down 12 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Why you might not pick Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt
Its weakest dimension is Cost advantage (EU pctl 25) — Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt · Manufacturing → Duisburg, Kreisfreie Stadt · Office → Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt · Residential → Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt.
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
62.9
62.7
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
51.8
45.5
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
54.4
42.2
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
45.3
24.7
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
64.7
76.7
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
36.3
43.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
39.2
28.4
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
0.4% 5y
0.1% 5y
Population
0.2% 5y
0.1% 5y
Unemployment rate
5.1% 5y
7.0% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€54,443
€40,341
Population density
1,273 /km²
2,161 /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)
€16,490M
€18,508M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€16M
€7M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,696M
€3,994M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,172M
€3,224M
GVA — construction (F)
€556M
€670M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€3,811M
€4,490M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€28,000
€27,100
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
48,500 PPS
35,900 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€54,500
€40,300
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€18,145M
€40,936M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€5,057M
€5,526M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€52,413M
€145,544M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€4,091M
€4,653M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€5,320M
€4,693M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€15,215M
€17,039M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€85,362
€92,214
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,456M
€3,175M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
222,640
231,870
Self-employed persons
14,000
14,560
Employment in manufacturing (C)
26,550
34,050
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
80.3%
76.8%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
6.8%
8.1%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.7%
4.8%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
188,600
257,400
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
11,744
13,102
Enterprise births
946
1,320
Enterprise deaths
973
1,374
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.0%
4.5%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.8%
1.6%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
4.4%
4.6%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
1.3%
1.0%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
30.9%
31.8%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
33.6%
35.9%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
9.3%
9.6%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
21.1%
22.3%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
8.3%
8.7%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
572,732
484,672
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
632 /1k
567 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
7,272 kt
21,403 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,455
1,553
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
439
309
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
45
17
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)
216,817
324,014
Population aged 65+
67,444
102,578
Population aged under 15
47,344
75,678
Median age of population
42.2 yrs
43.1 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.1%
31.7%
Crude rate of total population change
0.3 /1k
-1.8 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.2 /1k
2.1 /1k
Crude birth rate
9.4 /1k
9.2 /1k
Crude death rate
11.3 /1k
13.1 /1k
Live births
3,108
4,611
Deaths
3,761
6,563
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
52.9%
55.0%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.37
1.48
Population density (persons per km²)
1,280 /km²
2,349 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
349,734
537,792
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
24.1%
23.6%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
81.2 yrs
80.4 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
16.9%
16.5%
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,001 /100k
1,075 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
234 /100k
254 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.9 /100k
0.6 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
108 /100k
93.6 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
407 /100k
813 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,106 /100k
2,122 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
38 /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)
112 m
28 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
8 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
46 days/yr
33 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
3 days/yr