NUTS-3 BE241 · Belgium
Arr. Halle-Vilvoorde
Arr. Halle-Vilvoorde generates €42bn of GDP across 674.8k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 77.4/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +5.7%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 2.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (95.5th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (37th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader86 → 90 EU percentile since 1995 (+4 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 base93
Talent & skills93
Connectivity77
Demographic outlook73
Energy cost69
Quality of life68
Resilience57
Growth momentum53
Digital readiness51
Governance49
Air quality46
Labour market39
Freight intensity16
Industrial base10
Cost advantage2
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)
77.4
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth53.4
Livability68.3
Market access95
Economic scale93
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)
56.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability45
Labour stability89
Diversification3
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)
77.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density53
Airport access84
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)
93
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary95
Lifelong learning86
Knowledge workers98
Scientists & engineers93
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)
46
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.9 µg/m³
PM1015.6 µg/m³
NO211.5 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)
68.3
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy95.5
Jobs37
Education95
Health91
Safety60
Connectivity52
Environment47.3
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
53.4
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.7%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.8%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.9 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.1 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.9%
CAGR
Employment rate
+2.1 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+1.6 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: Trade · transport · ICT · 42.4%Moderately concentrated · HHI 3170
Agriculture 0.3%Industry 7.4%Construction 4.3%Trade · transport · ICT 42.4%Finance · real estate · prof. 34.2%Public · health · education 11.4%
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)
€42,335M2024
3.9% 1y 5.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 93
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€36,776M2025
0.9% 1y 4.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 93
Population
674,7722025
0.7% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 87
Unemployment rate
5.5%2025
31.0% 1y 7.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 64
Employment
307,1002024
1.2% 1y 1.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 86
Productivity / employee
€142,1672025
3.2% 1y 6.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 96
Gross value added
€38,319M2024
3.9% 1y 5.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 93
All indicators · 85 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€38,319M
2024 · EU pctl 93
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€98M
2024 · EU pctl 37
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,826M
2024 · EU pctl 70
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,417M
2024 · EU pctl 73
GVA — construction (F)
€1,665M
2024 · EU pctl 91
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€16,236M
2024 · EU pctl 97
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€32,200
2024 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
56,100 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 93
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€62,900
2024 · EU pctl 94
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€16,879M
2023 · EU pctl 60 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€800M
2023 · EU pctl 18 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€32,835M
2024 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€3,608M
2024 · EU pctl 86
GVA — information & communication (J)
€3,230M
2024 · EU pctl 92
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€13,110M
2024 · EU pctl 95
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€4,384M
2024 · EU pctl 84
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€36,776M
2025 · EU pctl 93
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€142,167
2025 · EU pctl 96
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€10,967M
2025 · EU pctl 95
Labour market
Employment, total persons
307,100
2024 · EU pctl 86
Self-employed persons
59,000
2024 · EU pctl 90
Employment in manufacturing (C)
16,400
2024 · EU pctl 48
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
74.4%
2025 · EU pctl 29 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
19.7%
2025 · EU pctl 71 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
5.5%
2025 · EU pctl 64
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
318,200
2025 · EU pctl 86
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
5.2%
2023 · EU pctl 92 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
7.4%
2025 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
4.4%
2023 · EU pctl 99 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
56.7%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
57.8%
2025 · EU pctl 95 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
19.0%
2025 · EU pctl 86 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
39.9%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
13.4%
2025 · EU pctl 93 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
95.6%
2025 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,501,796
2024 · EU pctl 62
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
720 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
9,498 kt
2025 · EU pctl 62
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
2,891
CURRENT · EU pctl 88
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
83 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
428
CURRENT · EU pctl 53
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
22
CURRENT · EU pctl 16
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)
422,385
2025 · EU pctl 87
Population aged 65+
131,701
2025 · EU pctl 85
Population aged under 15
120,686
2025 · EU pctl 91
Median age of population
41.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 11
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.2%
2025 · EU pctl 18
Crude rate of total population change
6.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 82
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
5.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 56
Crude birth rate
9.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 90
Crude death rate
8.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 8
Live births
6,304
2024 · EU pctl 91
Deaths
5,667
2024 · EU pctl 79
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.8%
2025 · EU pctl 54
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.59
2024 · EU pctl 87
Population density (persons per km²)
710 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 86
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
626,465
2100 · EU pctl 86
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
376 /100k
2025 · EU pctl 40 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
810 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 7 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
196 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 6 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 45
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
49.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 82
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
472 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 87
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,061 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
26 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 10 · 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)
33 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 10
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
6 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 35
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
33 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 23
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 5
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
16
2024 · EU pctl 58
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 44
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)
38.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 61
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
3.2%
2021 · EU pctl 51
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions