NUTS-3 EL653 · Greece
Population
226,3762025
GDP
€4,080M2023
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
8.3%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
74.1%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
6,656.7 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
EL653 · EL611
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Λακωνία, Μεσσηνία (Opportunity 30). Runner-up: Καρδίτσα, Τρίκαλα (24). Contrarian pick: Καρδίτσα, Τρίκαλα — leads the set on Cost advantage (EU pctl 86).
Strengths
Demographic outlook (86) · Cost advantage (84)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Connectivity (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Strengths
Cost advantage (86) · Freight intensity (76)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%)
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Connectivity (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Air quality (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick Λακωνία, Μεσσηνία
Economic base (EU bottom 15%); Connectivity (EU bottom 15%); Governance (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Connectivity (EU pctl 7) — Καρδίτσα, Τρίκαλα may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Καρδίτσα, Τρίκαλα · Manufacturing → Καρδίτσα, Τρίκαλα · Office → Λακωνία, Μεσσηνία · Residential → Λακωνία, Μεσσηνία.
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
29.5
23.7
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
33.5
29.8
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
31.4
28.8
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
—
1.5
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
6.5
4.5
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
17.0
21.8
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
52.4
44.8
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
4.2% 5y
3.0% 5y
Population
0.7% 5y
0.9% 5y
Unemployment rate
6.2% 5y
18.1% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€18,021
€13,633
Population density
34 /km²
37 /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)
€3,560M
€2,645M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€665M
€217M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€510M
€458M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€394M
€329M
GVA — construction (F)
€106M
€76M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€748M
€517M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€12,100
€11,700
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
20,600 PPS
16,400 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€16,700
€13,300
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€1,939M
€2,244M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€94M
€354M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€3,179M
€4,089M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€631M
€377M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€28M
€21M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€835M
€598M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€696M
€778M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,571M
€2,775M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€37,867
€31,454
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€926M
€700M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
117,070
105,020
Self-employed persons
50,920
51,670
Employment in manufacturing (C)
4,620
6,530
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
74.4%
65.7%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
28.5%
16.0%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
8.2%
6.2%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
105,700
91,900
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
19,539
16,528
Enterprise births
1,272
1,156
Enterprise deaths
580
600
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.8%
4.3%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
1.1%
1.1%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
1.1%
1.1%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
0.7%
1.1%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
25.8%
31.4%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
41.7%
37.9%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
2.6%
5.3%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
14.4%
17.9%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
5.7%
6.9%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
3,246,258
769,520
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
208 /1k
395 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
3,261 kt
9,345 kt
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
19 km/1000km²
17 km/1000km²
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
164
156
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
0
0
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
136,374
130,612
Population aged 65+
63,451
65,601
Population aged under 15
26,551
26,101
Median age of population
50.4 yrs
51.3 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
46.5%
50.2%
Crude rate of total population change
-3.4 /1k
-6.5 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.9 /1k
3.6 /1k
Crude birth rate
6.4 /1k
5.5 /1k
Crude death rate
14.7 /1k
15.6 /1k
Live births
1,442
1,229
Deaths
3,340
3,485
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
66.0%
70.2%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.39
1.21
Population density (persons per km²)
34 /km²
37 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
204,276
150,123
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
38.1%
30.5%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
81.8 yrs
82.2 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
30.1%
25.0%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
239 /100k
608 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,000 /100k
1,115 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
219 /100k
240 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.4 /100k
0.5 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
0.9 /100k
2.7 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
99.5 /100k
18.8 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
376 /100k
71.5 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
88 /M
53 /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)
324 m
129 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
91 days/yr
87 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
22 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
6 days/yr
11 days/yr