NUTS-3 BE224 · Belgium
Arr. Hasselt
Arr. Hasselt generates €22bn of GDP across 436k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 73.1/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +5.3%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 3.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for health (85th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (37.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader82 → 82 EU percentile since 1995 (0 ranks)
Yearly EU-wide percentile of real GDP per head (ARDECO regional accounts, constant 2020 prices, derived over population). 50 = the EU median that year; percentiles are scale-free, so decades are directly comparable. See the backtest for what long-run prosperity ranks do — and don't — anticipate.
Mandate pillar profile · EU percentiles (screener dimensions)
Economic base84
Connectivity80
Talent & skills78
Energy cost69
Resilience65
Quality of life61
Growth momentum52
Freight intensity51
Governance49
Digital readiness46
Air quality41
Industrial base30
Labour market25
Cost advantage22
Each bar is this region's EU percentile on a screener pillar (higher = better for siting; cost & energy are inverted so cheap scores high). These are the exact weights you tune in the Site Screener.
Opportunity Index · composite triage (experimental)
73.1
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth52.2
Livability61
Market access96
Economic scale83
Equal-weighted mean of four EU-percentile pillars (deliberately orthogonal: growth=trend, livability=quality, market=distance-weighted demand proxy, scale=absolute GDP). Experimental — a screening triage, not investment advice.
Resilience Index · downside / risk lens (experimental)
64.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability56
Labour stability80
Diversification41
Demographic stability82
Inverse of GDP-growth & unemployment volatility (since 2008, incl. 2009/2020 shocks), economic diversification (inverse HHI) and population stability — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher withstands downturns better. Experimental.
Connectivity Index · transit · air · market access (experimental)
80
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density69
Airport access75
Market access96
Public-transport stop density, proximity to a major airport, and gravity access to surrounding economic mass — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = better-connected. Experimental.
Talent & Human Capital Index · skills base (experimental)
78.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary80
Lifelong learning71
Knowledge workers82
Scientists & engineers80
Young tertiary attainment (25–34), adult lifelong learning, knowledge-worker share and scientists & engineers — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = deeper talent pool. Experimental.
Clean-Air Score · air-quality livability (experimental)
41.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.9 µg/m³
PM1017.5 µg/m³
NO212 µg/m³
PM2.5, PM10 & NO2 annual means from official monitoring networks, inverted (lower pollution = higher) and EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = cleaner air; ground-level ozone is shown separately. Experimental.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
61
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy81
Jobs37.5
Education70
Health85
Safety54
Connectivity57.5
Environment42.3
Equal-weighted percentile across 6 pillars vs all EU NUTS-3; lower-is-better indicators (crime, unemployment, mortality) inverted. Experimental — regional screening only.
Growth momentum · trend analytics
52.2
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.3%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.2%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.3 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.7%
CAGR
Employment rate
+3.1 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.8 pp
5-yr change
Compound annual growth to the latest available year vs all EU NUTS-3; GDP is nominal EUR (“vs country avg” removes most national inflation). Screening signal, not a forecast.
Economic structure · gross value added by sector
Dominant: Public · health · education · 26.9%Diversified · HHI 2303
Agriculture 0.6%Industry 15.4%Construction 6.1%Trade · transport · ICT 24.3%Finance · real estate · prof. 26.8%Public · health · education 26.9%
Share of total GVA (latest year). HHI = sum of squared sector shares ×10,000; higher means a more concentrated, single-sector-dependent economy (more cyclicality risk).
Trends · 2009–2024
GDP (current prices)
€22,146M2024
2.7% 1y 5.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 83
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€18,687M2025
0.9% 1y 2.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 82
Population
436,0402025
0.6% 1y 0.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 73
Unemployment rate
4.4%2025
15.8% 1y 3.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 52
Employment
213,6002024
0.1% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 75
Productivity / employee
€106,9242025
3.2% 1y 5.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 87
Gross value added
€20,045M2024
2.7% 1y 5.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 83
All indicators · 83 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€20,045M
2024 · EU pctl 83
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€120M
2024 · EU pctl 43
GVA — industry (B–E)
€3,085M
2024 · EU pctl 73
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,455M
2024 · EU pctl 74
GVA — construction (F)
€1,220M
2024 · EU pctl 85
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€4,863M
2024 · EU pctl 85
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€28,300
2024 · EU pctl 78 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
45,400 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 84
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€50,900
2024 · EU pctl 84
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€9,890M
2023 · EU pctl 33 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€1,527M
2023 · EU pctl 32 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€19,341M
2024 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€1,821M
2024 · EU pctl 73
GVA — information & communication (J)
€857M
2024 · EU pctl 83
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€5,372M
2024 · EU pctl 84
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€5,386M
2024 · EU pctl 88
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€18,687M
2025 · EU pctl 82
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€106,924
2025 · EU pctl 87
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€6,038M
2025 · EU pctl 88
Labour market
Employment, total persons
213,600
2024 · EU pctl 75
Self-employed persons
34,700
2024 · EU pctl 75
Employment in manufacturing (C)
22,000
2024 · EU pctl 60
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
73.0%
2025 · EU pctl 22 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
9.6%
2025 · EU pctl 35 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.4%
2025 · EU pctl 52
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
201,600
2025 · EU pctl 71
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.9%
2023 · EU pctl 63 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
4.5%
2025 · EU pctl 56 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.4%
2023 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
41.5%
2025 · EU pctl 77 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
49.2%
2025 · EU pctl 80 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
14.6%
2025 · EU pctl 71 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
28.6%
2025 · EU pctl 82 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
10.9%
2025 · EU pctl 80 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
95.0%
2025 · EU pctl 46 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,202,546
2024 · EU pctl 57
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
545 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
2,603
CURRENT · EU pctl 87
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
12,548 kt
2025 · EU pctl 72
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
44 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 84 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
597
CURRENT · EU pctl 69
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
31
CURRENT · EU pctl 25
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
5
CURRENT · EU pctl 96
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
273,829
2025 · EU pctl 73
Population aged 65+
98,414
2025 · EU pctl 73
Population aged under 15
63,797
2025 · EU pctl 73
Median age of population
44.7 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 34
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
35.9%
2025 · EU pctl 45
Crude rate of total population change
6.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 81
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
8.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 76
Crude birth rate
7.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 53
Crude death rate
9.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 17
Live births
3,453
2024 · EU pctl 74
Deaths
4,168
2024 · EU pctl 67
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.2%
2025 · EU pctl 50
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.34
2024 · EU pctl 40
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
463 /100k
2025 · EU pctl 47 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
843 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
196 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 6 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 36
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
28.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 61
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
237 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 55
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
807 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 51
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
46 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.31
2022 · EU pctl 40
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.41
2022 · EU pctl 52
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.34
2022 · EU pctl 49
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.58
2022 · EU pctl 52
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.25
2022 · EU pctl 18
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.130/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 31
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.046/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 14
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
41 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 12
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 47
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
35 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 26
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 20
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
18
2024 · EU pctl 70
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
12
2024 · EU pctl 47
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
53
2024 · EU pctl 46
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
80.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 83
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
1.1%
2021 · EU pctl 23
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions