NUTS-3 NL131 · Netherlands
Population
197,1102025
GDP
€8,788M2024
Unemployment· NUTS-2 source
3.6%2025
Employment· NUTS-2 source
83.2%2025
Active firms· FR-only
—
Cadastral parcels· FR-only
—
Area
1,064.2 km²
TerraSight · Compare
2 regions side-by-side
NL131 · NL132
Decision brief
Download brief (PDF)mandate-neutral · ranked by overall opportunity
Best overall fit: Noord-Drenthe (Opportunity 64). Runner-up: Zuidoost-Drenthe (60). Contrarian pick: Zuidoost-Drenthe — leads the set on Air quality (EU pctl 83).
Strengths
Digital readiness (98) · Governance (91)
Red flags
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%)
Industrial base (EU bottom 15%)
Strengths
Digital readiness (98) · Governance (91)
Red flags
Long-run slide: down 14 EU ranks in real GDP per head since 1995 (relative decline, not absolute)
Why you might not pick Noord-Drenthe
Demographic outlook (EU bottom 15%); Industrial base (EU bottom 15%). Its weakest dimension is Demographic outlook (EU pctl 9) — Zuidoost-Drenthe may suit a mandate that weights that higher.
How robust is this recommendation?
The leader depends on the mandate: Logistics → Noord-Drenthe · Manufacturing → Zuidoost-Drenthe · Office → Noord-Drenthe · Residential → Zuidoost-Drenthe.
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
63.7
60.4
Resilience Indexdiversification, stability, buffers
69.0
65.3
Quality of Lifeprosperity, health, safety, environment
57.7
61.4
Clean AirPM2.5 / PM10 / NO₂ inverted
—
83.0
Connectivitytransit + air + market access
68.7
65.0
Talent & Human Capitalskills, learning, knowledge workers
70.5
70.5
Growth Momentumrecent GDP / employment trajectory
70.2
60.0
Trajectories · 2012–latest
Real GDP (2020 prices)
2.5% 5y
2.4% 5y
Population
0.5% 5y
0.4% 5y
Unemployment rate
1.1% 5y
0.5% 5y
Derived comparisons
GDP per capita
€44,586
€40,704
Population density
185 /km²
186 /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)
€7,887M
€6,268M
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€287M
€387M
GVA — industry (B–E)
€815M
€1,345M
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€582M
€1,057M
GVA — construction (F)
€390M
€373M
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,238M
€1,114M
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
€25,600
€25,600
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
38,300 PPS
35,000 PPS
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€44,600
€40,800
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy) ·N2
€4,520M
€4,520M
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C) ·N2
€407M
€407M
Compensation of employees (total wage bill) ·N2
€10,176M
€10,176M
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€663M
€477M
GVA — information & communication (J)
€128M
€67M
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,800M
€1,122M
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€2,683M
€1,492M
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€7,070M
€5,619M
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€95,232
€93,873
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,923M
€1,528M
Labour market
Employment, total persons
96,500
77,800
Self-employed persons
17,600
14,700
Employment in manufacturing (C)
4,700
7,700
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source) ·N2
85.6%
85.6%
Youth unemployment rate (15–24) ·N2
7.4%
7.4%
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.6%
3.6%
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
103,600
91,800
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
20,102
16,308
Enterprise births
1,532
1,283
Enterprise deaths
989
835
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.9%
6.0%
Innovation & R&D
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total) ·N2
3.8%
3.8%
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64 ·N2
36.3%
36.3%
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool) ·N2
40.2%
40.2%
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks) ·N2
24.6%
24.6%
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force) ·N2
26.2%
26.2%
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force) ·N2
10.7%
10.7%
Digital
Households with internet access ·N2
100.0%
100.0%
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
3,483,104
3,133,900
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants ·N2
571 /1k
571 /1k
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
661
738
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
6,066 kt
5,218 kt
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²) ·N2
55 km/1000km²
55 km/1000km²
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
335
430
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
17
39
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
2
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
118,075
104,593
Population aged 65+
50,358
43,641
Population aged under 15
28,677
23,353
Median age of population
48.2 yrs
48.5 yrs
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
42.6%
41.7%
Crude rate of total population change
5.3 /1k
2.9 /1k
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
9.6 /1k
7.4 /1k
Crude birth rate
7.7 /1k
8.2 /1k
Crude death rate
12.0 /1k
12.6 /1k
Live births
1,521
1,400
Deaths
2,356
2,167
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
66.9%
64.1%
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.59
1.60
Population density (persons per km²)
186 /km²
186 /km²
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
130,627
139,305
Social
At risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) ·N2
13.3%
13.3%
Life expectancy at birth ·N2
81.4 yrs
81.4 yrs
At-risk-of-poverty rate (regional) ·N2
12.2%
12.2%
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate) ·N2
1,044 /100k
1,044 /100k
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate) ·N2
264 /100k
264 /100k
Safety & crime
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
16.3 /100k
14.0 /100k
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
120 /100k
141 /100k
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
840 /100k
835 /100k
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants ·N2
55 /M
55 /M
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.77
1.77
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.72
1.72
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.73
1.73
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.92
1.92
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.63
0.63
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.142/kWh
€0.142/kWh
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.039/kWh
€0.039/kWh
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
13 m
36 m
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
4 days/yr
3 days/yr
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
38 days/yr
39 days/yr
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
3 days/yr