NUTS-3 EL526 · Greece
Population
154,7282025
GDP
€2,138M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
11.7%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
69.1%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
3,974.4 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
EL526 · EL515
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Σέρρες (Opportunity 27). Runner-up: Θάσος, Καβάλα (22). Contrarian pick: Θάσος, Καβάλα — leads the set on Cost advantage (EU pctl 88).
#1Σέρρες
Strengths
Cost advantage (83) · Energy cost (58)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Strengths
Cost advantage (88) · Freight intensity (75)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick Σέρρες
Economic base (EU bottom 15%); Labour market (EU bottom 15%); Freight intensity (EU bottom 15%); Governance (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Economic base (EU pctl 3) — Θάσος, Καβάλα may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
Σέρρες 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
27.0
21.9
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
38.3
17.0
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
36.2
23.8
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
17.5
48.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
37.3
21.3
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
53.8
48.8
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
3.3% 5y
5.1% 5y
Population
0.2% 5y
1.1% 5y
Unemployment rate
8.8% 5y
9.4% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€13,820
€17,809
Population density
39 /km²
58 /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)
€1,866M
€1,941M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€284M
€89M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€250M
€379M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€176M
€264M
GVA — construction (F)
€41M
€64M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€549M
€642M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€12,400
€11,100
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
16,200 PPS
21,100 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€13,200
€17,100
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€5,199M
€1,728M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€548M
€170M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€11,333M
€3,128M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€229M
€260M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€18M
€26M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€325M
€405M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€417M
€362M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€1,944M
€2,061M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€45,505
€41,424
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€419M
€555M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
51,120
58,180
Self-employed persons
24,920
21,160
Employment in manufacturing (C)
3,980
5,310
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
70.7%
67.7%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
23.3%
23.8%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
11.7%
10.5%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
67,300
53,300
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
10,142
11,836
Enterprise births
670
852
Enterprise deaths
473
482
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.6%
4.1%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.5%
1.2%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
3.7%
1.9%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
1.5%
1.1%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
36.4%
28.0%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
44.3%
42.5%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
5.5%
4.6%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
21.3%
16.6%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
7.9%
6.3%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
327,525
2,799,896
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
474 /1k
412 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,972 kt
5,119 kt
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
24 km/1000km²
17 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
82
17
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
1
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
92,207
76,189
Population aged 65+
44,687
32,960
Population aged under 15
17,834
15,768
Median age of population
50.2 yrs
49.8 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
48.5%
43.3%
Crude rate of total population change
19.6 /1k
-8.8 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
32.6 /1k
-0.3 /1k
Crude birth rate
5.0 /1k
6.5 /1k
Crude death rate
17.9 /1k
15.1 /1k
Live births
766
817
Deaths
2,750
1,889
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
67.8%
64.0%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.12
1.36
Population density (persons per km²)
40 /km²
60 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
128,532
105,356
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
33.0%
31.6%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
81.7 yrs
80.4 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
24.2%
26.8%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
451 /100k
435 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,185 /100k
1,154 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
244 /100k
245 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
0.0 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
3.3 /100k
2.4 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
62.6 /100k
20.6 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
173 /100k
146 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
50 /M
73 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.56
0.56
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.42
0.42
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.49
0.49
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.32
0.32
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.24
0.24
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.143/kWh
€0.143/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.039/kWh
€0.039/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
84 m
230 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
71 days/yr
24 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
21 days/yr
20 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
6 days/yr
12 days/yr