NUTS-3 BE255 · Belgium
Arr. Oostende
Arr. Oostende generates €7.2bn of GDP across 161.3k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 61.6/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic growth. Its economy has grown +6.9%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 2.7pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (84th EU percentile) and weakest for digital connectivity (35.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run riser53 → 68 EU percentile since 1995 (+15 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 & skills82
Connectivity72
Economic base72
Energy cost69
Resilience68
Growth momentum64
Quality of life63
Labour market51
Governance49
Demographic outlook45
Digital readiness26
Freight intensity24
Industrial base22
Cost advantage4
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)
61.6
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth64.4
Livability63
Market access73
Economic scale46
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)
68
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability56
Labour stability90
Diversification57
Demographic stability69
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)
72.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density45
Airport access99
Market access73
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)
82.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary84
Lifelong learning85
Knowledge workers87
Scientists & engineers73
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)
63
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy84
Jobs69.5
Education68.5
Health82
Safety38.7
Connectivity35.5
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
64.4
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+6.9%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+5.4%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.5 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+1.4 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.4%
CAGR
Employment rate
+2.7 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-0.3 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. · 27.2%Diversified · HHI 2208
Agriculture 0.8%Industry 22.8%Construction 6.8%Trade · transport · ICT 19.7%Finance · real estate · prof. 27.2%Public · health · education 22.6%
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)
€7,164M2024
2.7% 1y 6.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 46
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€6,079M2025
0.9% 1y 3.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 46
Population
161,2842025
0.5% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 32
Unemployment rate
3.0%2025
11.1% 1y 1.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 14
Employment
53,9002024
0.0% 1y 0.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 19
Productivity / employee
€137,1142025
3.2% 1y 7.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 96
Gross value added
€6,484M2024
2.7% 1y 7.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 46
All indicators · 82 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€6,484M
2024 · EU pctl 46
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€55M
2024 · EU pctl 23
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,478M
2024 · EU pctl 46
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€682M
2024 · EU pctl 29
GVA — construction (F)
€440M
2024 · EU pctl 48
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,280M
2024 · EU pctl 45
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€31,200
2024 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
39,700 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 72
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€44,500
2024 · EU pctl 74
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€16,710M
2023 · EU pctl 59 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€2,304M
2023 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€29,133M
2024 · EU pctl 44 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€1,030M
2024 · EU pctl 53
GVA — information & communication (J)
€51M
2024 · EU pctl 30
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,764M
2024 · EU pctl 57
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,468M
2024 · EU pctl 49
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€6,079M
2025 · EU pctl 46
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€137,114
2025 · EU pctl 96
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,954M
2025 · EU pctl 54
Labour market
Employment, total persons
53,900
2024 · EU pctl 19
Self-employed persons
11,800
2024 · EU pctl 40
Employment in manufacturing (C)
4,900
2024 · EU pctl 11
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
76.2%
2025 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
11.7%
2025 · EU pctl 42 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.0%
2025 · EU pctl 14
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
72,500
2025 · EU pctl 27
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.7%
2023 · EU pctl 56 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
3.9%
2025 · EU pctl 42 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.4%
2023 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
42.7%
2025 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
51.3%
2025 · EU pctl 84 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
18.6%
2025 · EU pctl 85 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
30.9%
2025 · EU pctl 87 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
10.4%
2025 · EU pctl 73 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
93.7%
2025 · EU pctl 26 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
3,456,234
2024 · EU pctl 81
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
512 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 23 · 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.
580
CURRENT · EU pctl 38
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
2,850 kt
2025 · EU pctl 18
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
360
CURRENT · EU pctl 45
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
59 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
4
CURRENT · EU pctl 0
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
CURRENT · EU pctl 50
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
93,568
2025 · EU pctl 29
Population aged 65+
47,025
2025 · EU pctl 40
Population aged under 15
20,691
2025 · EU pctl 30
Median age of population
50.5 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 87
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
50.3%
2025 · EU pctl 94
Crude rate of total population change
5.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 76
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
11.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 88
Crude birth rate
7.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 44
Crude death rate
13.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 78
Live births
1,203
2024 · EU pctl 33
Deaths
2,164
2024 · EU pctl 36
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
72.4%
2025 · EU pctl 93
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.52
2024 · EU pctl 75
Population density (persons per km²)
551 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 84
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
130,417
2100 · EU pctl 28
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
634 /100k
2025 · EU pctl 82 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
849 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 14 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
205 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 15 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 47
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
59.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 86
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
263 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 60
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,849 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 89
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
43 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 48 · 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)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 18
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
20 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 14
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 20
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
28.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 49
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
4.8%
2021 · EU pctl 66
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions