NUTS-3 BE233 · Belgium
Arr. Eeklo
Opportunity55Momentum48Resilience80Quality of life65vs nearest peer: Bezirk Verviers — Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft →
Arr. Eeklo generates €3.3bn of GDP across 89.9k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 54.6/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +5.3%/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 clean environment (35th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable39 → 49 EU percentile since 1995 (+10 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
Resilience80
Connectivity70
Energy cost69
Quality of life65
Industrial base59
Demographic outlook53
Digital readiness53
Labour market50
Governance49
Growth momentum48
Economic base47
Air quality34
Freight intensity16
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)
54.6
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth47.6
Livability64.7
Market access89
Economic scale17
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)
79.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability79
Labour stability83
Diversification66
Demographic stability90
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)
70.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density67
Airport access55
Market access89
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.
Clean-Air Score · air-quality livability (experimental)
33.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.59.3 µg/m³
PM1016.6 µg/m³
NO215.2 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)
64.7
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy70.5
Jobs51.5
Education90.5
Health77
Safety68.7
Connectivity60
Environment35
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
47.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.3%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.1%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.3 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.2 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. · 30.2%Diversified · HHI 2157
Agriculture 3%Industry 20.9%Construction 8.3%Trade · transport · ICT 15.5%Finance · real estate · prof. 30.2%Public · health · education 22.1%
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)
€3,260M2024
4.4% 1y 5.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 17
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€2,756M2025
0.9% 1y 2.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 17
Population
89,8872025
0.3% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 11
Unemployment rate
4.1%2025
28.1% 1y 8.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 45
Employment
30,9002024
0.0% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 5
Productivity / employee
€108,8072025
3.2% 1y 6.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 88
Gross value added
€2,951M2024
4.5% 1y 5.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 17
All indicators · 84 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€2,951M
2024 · EU pctl 17
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€87M
2024 · EU pctl 33
GVA — industry (B–E)
€617M
2024 · EU pctl 18
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€571M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — construction (F)
€245M
2024 · EU pctl 26
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€459M
2024 · EU pctl 13
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)
32,400 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 47
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€36,300
2024 · EU pctl 54
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)
€371M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — information & communication (J)
€39M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€892M
2024 · EU pctl 30
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€652M
2024 · EU pctl 16
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€2,756M
2025 · EU pctl 17
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€108,807
2025 · EU pctl 88
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€887M
2025 · EU pctl 22
Labour market
Employment, total persons
30,900
2024 · EU pctl 5
Self-employed persons
7,600
2024 · EU pctl 26
Employment in manufacturing (C)
5,500
2024 · EU pctl 13
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)
44,200
2025 · EU pctl 11
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)
95,485
2024 · EU pctl 4
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.
512
CURRENT · EU pctl 35
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,276 kt
2025 · EU pctl 6
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
570
CURRENT · EU pctl 67
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.
50
CURRENT · EU pctl 45
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
3
CURRENT · EU pctl 75
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
56,244
2025 · EU pctl 12
Population aged 65+
20,487
2025 · EU pctl 10
Population aged under 15
13,156
2025 · EU pctl 14
Median age of population
45.1 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 39
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
36.4%
2025 · EU pctl 49
Crude rate of total population change
3.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
5.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 60
Crude birth rate
8.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 59
Crude death rate
10.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 33
Live births
724
2024 · EU pctl 15
Deaths
960
2024 · EU pctl 8
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.8%
2025 · EU pctl 54
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.41
2024 · EU pctl 53
Population density (persons per km²)
269 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 72
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
78,271
2100 · EU pctl 13
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
0.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 0
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
29.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 62
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
221 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 52
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
968 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 61
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)
2 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 2
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 31
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
29 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 21
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 26
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
17
2024 · EU pctl 64
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
15
2024 · EU pctl 68
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
39.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 62
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.7%
2021 · EU pctl 15
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions