NUTS-3 DED2F · Germany
Population
243,9962025
GDP
€6,986M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
4.7%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
84.2%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
1,651 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
DED2F · DED52
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Leipzig (Opportunity 55). Runner-up: Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge (47). Contrarian pick: Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge — leads the set on Labour market (EU pctl 92).
#1Leipzig
Strengths
Freight intensity (89) · Connectivity (71)
Red flags
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick Leipzig
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Demographic outlook (EU pctl 8) — Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Leipzig · Manufacturing → Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge · Office → Leipzig · Residential → Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge.
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
46.7
54.6
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
55.0
56.3
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
60.7
56.6
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
73.7
70.7
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
48.3
69.0
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
29.0
49.8
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
0.1% 5y
1.5% 5y
Population
0.1% 5y
0.2% 5y
Unemployment rate
15.4% 5y
9.3% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€28,632
€32,606
Population density
148 /km²
158 /km²
Parcels per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
Firms per 1k pop
FR-only
FR-only
All indicators · 82 metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€6,381M
€7,747M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€169M
€179M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,585M
€2,243M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,388M
€1,033M
GVA — construction (F)
€606M
€861M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€945M
€1,349M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€25,500
€24,700
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
25,400 PPS
29,100 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€28,500
€32,600
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€12,678M
€9,129M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€2,549M
€1,577M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€35,145M
€24,874M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,141M
€1,308M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,935M
€1,807M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€5,911M
€7,286M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€72,107
€86,847
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,419M
€1,740M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
102,740
102,850
Self-employed persons
10,760
11,480
Employment in manufacturing (C)
21,240
16,350
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
83.8%
80.7%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.7%
5.3%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
114,700
125,700
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
8,993
9,467
Enterprise births
502
553
Enterprise deaths
688
804
3-year enterprise survival rate
2.7%
2.5%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
2.5%
2.1%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
7.3%
6.2%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
1.8%
1.2%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
36.9%
39.7%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
40.8%
47.1%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
8.1%
12.6%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
24.8%
27.1%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
9.6%
9.4%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,847,761
505,400
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
533 /1k
478 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
6,585 kt
13,689 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
2,412
1,866
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
989
717
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
28
32
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)
140,262
151,973
Population aged 65+
70,450
72,946
Population aged under 15
33,284
35,208
Median age of population
51.0 yrs
51.1 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
50.2%
48.0%
Crude rate of total population change
-4.7 /1k
-2.2 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.4 /1k
6.6 /1k
Crude birth rate
5.2 /1k
5.1 /1k
Crude death rate
14.3 /1k
13.9 /1k
Live births
1,276
1,317
Deaths
3,497
3,617
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
74.0%
71.2%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.33
1.26
Population density (persons per km²)
149 /km²
162 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
224,054
211,286
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
17.6%
20.6%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
82.1 yrs
81.4 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
14.9%
17.4%
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,076 /100k
1,076 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
222 /100k
239 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.8 /100k
0.8 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
20.8 /100k
26.9 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
240 /100k
355 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
625 /100k
823 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
42 /M
35 /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)
262 m
144 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
8 days/yr
10 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
68 days/yr
57 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
2 days/yr