NUTS-3 HR021 · Croatia
Population
98,2662025
GDP
€1,467M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
7.4%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
68.4%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
2,634.8 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
HR021 · HR026
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Bjelovarsko-bilogorska županija (Opportunity 28). Runner-up: Vukovarsko-srijemska županija (24).
Strengths
Cost advantage (93) · Growth momentum (74)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Talent & skills (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Strengths
Cost advantage (93) · Growth momentum (72)
Red flags
Economic base (EU bottom 15%)
Labour market (EU bottom 15%)
Talent & skills (EU bottom 15%)
Governance (EU bottom 15%)
Why you might not pick Bjelovarsko-bilogorska županija
Economic base (EU bottom 15%); Labour market (EU bottom 15%); Talent & skills (EU bottom 15%); Governance (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Labour market (EU pctl 9) — Vukovarsko-srijemska županija may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
Bjelovarsko-bilogorska županija 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
27.9
24.2
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
33.8
34.0
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
15.1
16.1
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
26.7
18.3
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
12.5
12.5
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
73.6
71.8
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
4.0% 5y
3.1% 5y
Population
1.2% 5y
1.5% 5y
Unemployment rate
8.9% 5y
9.3% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€14,933
€13,530
Population density
37 /km²
56 /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)
€1,217M
€1,535M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€284M
€120M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€246M
€250M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€221M
€161M
GVA — construction (F)
€78M
€114M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€126M
€288M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€10,300
€10,300
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
20,900 PPS
18,900 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€15,000
€13,500
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€3,386M
€3,386M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€560M
€560M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€7,231M
€7,231M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€77M
€209M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€11M
€17M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€191M
€296M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€293M
€468M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€1,154M
€1,456M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€38,521
€36,309
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€371M
€468M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
40,630
54,370
Self-employed persons
6,240
9,220
Employment in manufacturing (C)
8,440
8,420
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
68.1%
68.1%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
24.7%
24.7%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
7.4%
7.3%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
40,600
57,200
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
3,653
4,813
Enterprise births
409
696
Enterprise deaths
175
305
3-year enterprise survival rate
6.3%
6.4%
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP ·N2
0.5%
0.5%
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
3.4%
3.4%
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE) ·N2
0.3%
0.3%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
20.5%
20.5%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
31.9%
31.9%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
4.9%
4.9%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
18.1%
18.1%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
5.2%
5.2%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
64,363
163,202
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
476 /1k
476 /1k
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
3,177 kt
2,860 kt
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
20
55
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
18 km/1000km²
18 km/1000km²
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
20
40
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
65
80
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)
59,921
84,500
Population aged 65+
24,456
33,627
Population aged under 15
13,889
18,670
Median age of population
47.1 yrs
47.2 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
40.8%
39.8%
Crude rate of total population change
-7.4 /1k
-10.3 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
-0.9 /1k
-2.7 /1k
Crude birth rate
9.2 /1k
8.5 /1k
Crude death rate
15.7 /1k
16.1 /1k
Live births
907
1,174
Deaths
1,549
2,210
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
64.0%
61.9%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.81
1.67
Population density (persons per km²)
38 /km²
58 /km²
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
30.0%
30.0%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
77.2 yrs
77.2 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
28.6%
28.6%
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants ·N2
561 /100k
561 /100k
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,784 /100k
1,784 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
308 /100k
308 /100k
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
7.1 /100k
2.2 /100k
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
4.0 /100k
3.6 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
85.9 /100k
69.5 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
153 /100k
116 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
92 /M
92 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.72
0.72
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.30
0.30
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.43
0.43
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.11
0.11
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.73
0.73
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.126/kWh
€0.126/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.048/kWh
€0.048/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
139 m
85 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
26 days/yr
34 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
58 days/yr
57 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
7 days/yr
3 days/yr