NUTS-3 DEA51 · Germany
Population
358,6762025
GDP
€15,967M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
4.7%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
77.5%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
146 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
DEA51 · DEA1A
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Bochum, Kreisfreie Stadt (Opportunity 63). Runner-up: Wuppertal, Kreisfreie Stadt (61). Contrarian pick: Wuppertal, Kreisfreie Stadt — leads the set on Connectivity (EU pctl 77).
Strengths
Connectivity (77) · Economic base (62)
Red flags
Long-run slide: down 20 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Why you might not pick Bochum, Kreisfreie Stadt
Its weakest dimension is Industrial base (EU pctl 24) — Wuppertal, Kreisfreie Stadt may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Bochum, Kreisfreie Stadt · Manufacturing → Wuppertal, Kreisfreie Stadt · Office → Wuppertal, Kreisfreie Stadt · Residential → Bochum, 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
63.3
61.0
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
35.0
58.8
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
45.2
44.1
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
—
35.7
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
75.3
77.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
28.0
43.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
35.8
30.0
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
0.2% 5y
1.2% 5y
Population
0.4% 5y
0.2% 5y
Unemployment rate
3.1% 5y
3.0% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€44,516
€40,617
Population density
2,456 /km²
2,138 /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)
€14,584M
€13,289M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€3M
€6M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,971M
€3,031M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,633M
€2,639M
GVA — construction (F)
€581M
€427M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€3,084M
€2,431M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€26,700
€27,100
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
39,900 PPS
36,100 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€44,800
€40,600
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€29,556M
€40,936M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€4,134M
€5,526M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€86,336M
€145,544M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€3,895M
€3,643M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€5,051M
€3,751M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€13,443M
€12,234M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€84,305
€85,884
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,127M
€2,280M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
200,060
178,760
Self-employed persons
13,820
14,340
Employment in manufacturing (C)
17,870
28,870
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
77.4%
76.8%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
9.5%
8.1%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.7%
4.8%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
179,200
183,100
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
11,924
12,711
Enterprise births
1,095
1,078
Enterprise deaths
1,071
1,211
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.0%
4.3%
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
1.1%
1.0%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
27.3%
31.8%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
32.4%
35.9%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
9.7%
9.6%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
18.7%
22.3%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
7.2%
8.7%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
746,674
410,838
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
603 /1k
567 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
7,354 kt
4,785 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,470
1,655
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
410
462
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
27
28
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
6
4
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
232,063
230,512
Population aged 65+
80,338
75,601
Population aged under 15
46,275
52,080
Median age of population
44.0 yrs
43.4 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
34.6%
32.8%
Crude rate of total population change
4.6 /1k
-1.1 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
9.1 /1k
2.1 /1k
Crude birth rate
8.2 /1k
8.8 /1k
Crude death rate
12.7 /1k
12.1 /1k
Live births
2,923
3,163
Deaths
4,534
4,323
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
54.6%
55.4%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.23
1.40
Population density (persons per km²)
2,468 /km²
2,133 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
351,460
365,575
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
24.6%
23.6%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
80.1 yrs
80.4 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
19.6%
16.5%
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,106 /100k
1,075 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
256 /100k
254 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.1 /100k
1.7 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
68.1 /100k
117 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
558 /100k
419 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,884 /100k
2,343 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
23 /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)
111 m
291 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
8 days/yr
5 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
41 days/yr
49 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
4 days/yr
5 days/yr