NUTS-3 BE231 · Belgium
Arr. Aalst
Arr. Aalst generates €10bn of GDP across 307.9k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 67.2/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +5.6%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 1.7pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for education (90.5th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (46.7th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable42 → 45 EU percentile since 1995 (+3 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)
Talent & skills91
Connectivity71
Resilience71
Energy cost69
Quality of life64
Demographic outlook63
Digital readiness53
Growth momentum50
Labour market50
Governance49
Economic base38
Industrial base27
Freight intensity22
Cost advantage6
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)
67.2
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth50.4
Livability64.3
Market access93
Economic scale61
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)
71
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability68
Labour stability83
Diversification42
Demographic stability91
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)
71.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density55
Airport access66
Market access93
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)
90.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary91
Lifelong learning88
Knowledge workers96
Scientists & engineers88
Young tertiary attainment (25–34), adult lifelong learning, knowledge-worker share and scientists & engineers — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = deeper talent pool. Experimental.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
64.3
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy66
Jobs51.5
Education90.5
Health77
Safety46.7
Connectivity54
Environment—
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
50.4
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.6%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.4%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.2 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.9%
CAGR
Employment rate
+1.7 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+1.5 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: Finance · real estate · prof. · 31.6%Diversified · HHI 2301
Agriculture 0.4%Industry 13.8%Construction 9.8%Trade · transport · ICT 18.3%Finance · real estate · prof. 31.6%Public · health · education 26.1%
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)
€10,350M2024
0.3% 1y 5.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 61
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€8,749M2025
0.9% 1y 2.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 61
Population
307,8732025
0.9% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 59
Unemployment rate
4.1%2025
24.2% 1y 8.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 45
Employment
95,5002024
0.1% 1y 1.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 42
Productivity / employee
€111,7622025
3.2% 1y 5.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 90
Gross value added
€9,368M2024
0.2% 1y 5.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 61
All indicators · 82 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€9,368M
2024 · EU pctl 61
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€42M
2024 · EU pctl 18
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,288M
2024 · EU pctl 41
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,103M
2024 · EU pctl 45
GVA — construction (F)
€915M
2024 · EU pctl 78
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,717M
2024 · EU pctl 57
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€30,800
2024 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
30,100 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 38
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€33,800
2024 · EU pctl 47
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€20,203M
2023 · EU pctl 63 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€2,558M
2023 · EU pctl 55 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€37,875M
2024 · EU pctl 57 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€1,358M
2024 · EU pctl 63
GVA — information & communication (J)
€248M
2024 · EU pctl 61
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€2,961M
2024 · EU pctl 74
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€2,445M
2024 · EU pctl 68
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€8,749M
2025 · EU pctl 61
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€111,762
2025 · EU pctl 90
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€2,815M
2025 · EU pctl 68
Labour market
Employment, total persons
95,500
2024 · EU pctl 42
Self-employed persons
22,300
2024 · EU pctl 61
Employment in manufacturing (C)
9,200
2024 · EU pctl 26
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
76.7%
2025 · EU pctl 41 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
16.6%
2025 · EU pctl 59 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.1%
2025 · EU pctl 45
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
151,900
2025 · EU pctl 60
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
3.4%
2023 · EU pctl 87 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
5.7%
2025 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
2.7%
2023 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
48.8%
2025 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
56.4%
2025 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
20.5%
2025 · EU pctl 88 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
35.9%
2025 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
11.9%
2025 · EU pctl 88 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
95.7%
2025 · EU pctl 53 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
240,497
2024 · EU pctl 14
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
475 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 15 · 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.
1,379
CURRENT · EU pctl 67
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
5,236 kt
2025 · EU pctl 38
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
448
CURRENT · EU pctl 55
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
66 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 90 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
40
CURRENT · EU pctl 34
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
4
CURRENT · EU pctl 90
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
193,125
2025 · EU pctl 59
Population aged 65+
65,741
2025 · EU pctl 56
Population aged under 15
49,007
2025 · EU pctl 65
Median age of population
43.9 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 26
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
34.0%
2025 · EU pctl 32
Crude rate of total population change
8.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 89
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
9.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 85
Crude birth rate
9.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 83
Crude death rate
10.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 24
Live births
2,749
2024 · EU pctl 68
Deaths
3,086
2024 · EU pctl 52
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.4%
2025 · EU pctl 52
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.52
2024 · EU pctl 75
Population density (persons per km²)
648 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 86
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
293,209
2100 · EU pctl 64
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
566 /100k
2025 · EU pctl 70 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
867 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 22 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
222 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 68
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
44.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 79
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
226 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 53
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
930 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 59
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
38 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 33 · 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)
63 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 18
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 33
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
34 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 24
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 20
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
21.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 39
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
3.9%
2021 · EU pctl 59
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions