NUTS-3 BE236 · Belgium
Arr. Sint-Niklaas
Arr. Sint-Niklaas generates €13bn of GDP across 267.5k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 71.1/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +6.4%/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 (29th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run riser67 → 79 EU percentile since 1995 (+13 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
Resilience82
Economic base81
Energy cost69
Connectivity68
Demographic outlook67
Quality of life64
Growth momentum55
Digital readiness53
Labour market50
Governance49
Freight intensity42
Industrial base32
Air quality29
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)
71.1
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth55
Livability64.4
Market access95
Economic scale70
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)
81.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability76
Labour stability83
Diversification77
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)
68
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density45
Airport access64
Market access95
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)
28.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.59.1 µg/m³
PM1016.5 µg/m³
NO221 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)
64.4
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy87.5
Jobs51.5
Education90.5
Health77
Safety66
Connectivity49
Environment29
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
55
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+6.4%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+5.5%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.9 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.9 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. · 24.8%Diversified · HHI 2095
Agriculture 1.1%Industry 20.9%Construction 10.5%Trade · transport · ICT 24.7%Finance · real estate · prof. 24.8%Public · health · education 17.9%
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)
€13,182M2024
3.1% 1y 6.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 70
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€11,143M2025
0.9% 1y 2.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 69
Population
267,4962025
0.7% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 53
Unemployment rate
4.2%2025
23.5% 1y 9.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 48
Employment
109,8002024
0.4% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 47
Productivity / employee
€123,8082025
3.2% 1y 6.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 94
Gross value added
€11,931M2024
3.1% 1y 6.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 70
All indicators · 84 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€11,931M
2024 · EU pctl 70
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€137M
2024 · EU pctl 48
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,491M
2024 · EU pctl 65
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,545M
2024 · EU pctl 58
GVA — construction (F)
€1,257M
2024 · EU pctl 85
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€2,952M
2024 · EU pctl 75
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)
44,000 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 81
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€49,500
2024 · EU pctl 83
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)
€1,113M
2024 · EU pctl 57
GVA — information & communication (J)
€194M
2024 · EU pctl 55
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€2,955M
2024 · EU pctl 74
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€2,139M
2024 · EU pctl 63
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€11,143M
2025 · EU pctl 69
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€123,808
2025 · EU pctl 94
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,586M
2025 · EU pctl 76
Labour market
Employment, total persons
109,800
2024 · EU pctl 47
Self-employed persons
19,600
2024 · EU pctl 57
Employment in manufacturing (C)
12,300
2024 · EU pctl 37
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)
4.2%
2025 · EU pctl 48
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
131,600
2025 · EU pctl 52
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)
342,091
2024 · EU pctl 22
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.
953
CURRENT · EU pctl 52
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
6,700 kt
2025 · EU pctl 47
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
356
CURRENT · EU pctl 45
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.
42
CURRENT · EU pctl 36
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)
167,282
2025 · EU pctl 53
Population aged 65+
55,727
2025 · EU pctl 47
Population aged under 15
44,487
2025 · EU pctl 62
Median age of population
42.5 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 15
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
33.3%
2025 · EU pctl 29
Crude rate of total population change
7.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 85
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
6.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 69
Crude birth rate
9.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 94
Crude death rate
9.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 14
Live births
2,610
2024 · EU pctl 65
Deaths
2,462
2024 · EU pctl 41
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.9%
2025 · EU pctl 55
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.63
2024 · EU pctl 90
Population density (persons per km²)
578 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 84
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
268,260
2100 · EU pctl 59
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
32.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 67
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
245 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 57
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,133 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 69
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)
3 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 2
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
6 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 35
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
29 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 20
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 14
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.
21
2024 · EU pctl 89
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
84.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 85
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
1.9%
2021 · EU pctl 37
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions