NUTS-3 BE235 · Belgium
Arr. Oudenaarde
Arr. Oudenaarde generates €5.0bn of GDP across 128.9k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 58.8/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +5.8%/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 jobs (51.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable58 → 57 EU percentile since 1995 (-1 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
Connectivity73
Quality of life69
Energy cost69
Resilience63
Economic base56
Digital readiness53
Demographic outlook50
Labour market50
Governance49
Growth momentum48
Industrial base35
Freight intensity9
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)
58.8
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth48.2
Livability69.1
Market access88
Economic scale30
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)
63.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability36
Labour stability83
Diversification52
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)
73
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density75
Airport access56
Market access88
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)
69.1
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy75
Jobs51.5
Education90.5
Health77
Safety56.3
Connectivity64
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
48.2
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.8%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.2%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.5 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.2 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.7%
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 2238
Agriculture 1.4%Industry 15%Construction 8.8%Trade · transport · ICT 22.1%Finance · real estate · prof. 31.6%Public · health · education 21%
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)
€5,008M2024
2.4% 1y 5.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 30
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€4,233M2025
0.9% 1y 3.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 31
Population
128,9222025
0.5% 1y 0.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Unemployment rate
4.3%2025
26.5% 1y 9.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 50
Employment
45,8002024
0.4% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 14
Productivity / employee
€112,7492025
3.2% 1y 7.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 91
Gross value added
€4,533M2024
2.4% 1y 6.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 31
All indicators · 82 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€4,533M
2024 · EU pctl 31
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€62M
2024 · EU pctl 25
GVA — industry (B–E)
€681M
2024 · EU pctl 21
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€626M
2024 · EU pctl 27
GVA — construction (F)
€400M
2024 · EU pctl 44
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,004M
2024 · EU pctl 36
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)
34,700 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 56
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€38,900
2024 · EU pctl 61
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)
€548M
2024 · EU pctl 34
GVA — information & communication (J)
€60M
2024 · EU pctl 32
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,434M
2024 · EU pctl 48
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€952M
2024 · EU pctl 30
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€4,233M
2025 · EU pctl 31
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€112,749
2025 · EU pctl 91
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,362M
2025 · EU pctl 37
Labour market
Employment, total persons
45,800
2024 · EU pctl 14
Self-employed persons
12,000
2024 · EU pctl 41
Employment in manufacturing (C)
7,000
2024 · EU pctl 18
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)
4.3%
2025 · EU pctl 50
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
63,500
2025 · EU pctl 22
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)
275,044
2024 · EU pctl 16
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
475 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 15 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,402 kt
2025 · EU pctl 7
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
858
CURRENT · EU pctl 49
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
666
CURRENT · EU pctl 75
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.
48
CURRENT · EU pctl 44
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)
80,707
2025 · EU pctl 23
Population aged 65+
28,131
2025 · EU pctl 19
Population aged under 15
20,084
2025 · EU pctl 28
Median age of population
44.5 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 32
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
34.9%
2025 · EU pctl 38
Crude rate of total population change
5.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 76
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
6.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Crude birth rate
9.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 83
Crude death rate
10.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 30
Live births
1,154
2024 · EU pctl 30
Deaths
1,344
2024 · EU pctl 16
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.7%
2025 · EU pctl 54
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.58
2024 · EU pctl 85
Population density (persons per km²)
304 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 75
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
112,108
2100 · EU pctl 22
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
0.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 57
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
24.9 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 56
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
258 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 59
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
653 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 41
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)
66 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 19
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 29
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
31 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 22
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 24
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
31.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 54
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
3.8%
2021 · EU pctl 57
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions