NUTS-3 BE257 · Belgium
Arr. Tielt
Arr. Tielt generates €5.6bn of GDP across 96.3k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 60.2/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic growth. Its economy has grown +6.2%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 2.7pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (93.5th EU percentile) and weakest for clean environment (24th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader81 → 87 EU percentile since 1995 (+7 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)
Industrial base92
Economic base91
Talent & skills82
Freight intensity79
Resilience69
Energy cost69
Connectivity67
Growth momentum64
Quality of life60
Labour market51
Governance49
Demographic outlook38
Digital readiness26
Air quality23
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)
60.2
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth64
Livability59.9
Market access82
Economic scale35
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)
69.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability58
Labour stability90
Diversification52
Demographic stability77
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)
67.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density53
Airport access67
Market access82
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.
Clean-Air Score · air-quality livability (experimental)
23
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 2/3 pollutants
PM2.510.4 µg/m³
PM1018.9 µg/m³
NO2—
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)
59.9
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy93.5
Jobs69.5
Education68.5
Health82
Safety42.3
Connectivity39.5
Environment24
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
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+6.2%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+5.1%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.7 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.6%
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: Industry · 34.4%Diversified · HHI 2239
Agriculture 4.6%Industry 34.4%Construction 10.5%Trade · transport · ICT 15.7%Finance · real estate · prof. 23.4%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)
€5,622M2024
3.8% 1y 6.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 35
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€4,770M2025
0.9% 1y 2.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 35
Population
96,2532025
0.5% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 13
Unemployment rate
3.0%2025
15.4% 1y 2.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 14
Employment
44,5002024
0.7% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 13
Productivity / employee
€130,3172025
3.2% 1y 6.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 95
Gross value added
€5,088M2024
3.9% 1y 6.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 35
All indicators · 83 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€5,088M
2024 · EU pctl 35
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€235M
2024 · EU pctl 65
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,752M
2024 · EU pctl 53
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,692M
2024 · EU pctl 61
GVA — construction (F)
€532M
2024 · EU pctl 57
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€800M
2024 · EU pctl 29
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)
52,200 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 91
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€58,600
2024 · EU pctl 91
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)
€429M
2024 · EU pctl 28
GVA — information & communication (J)
€59M
2024 · EU pctl 32
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,188M
2024 · EU pctl 42
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€581M
2024 · EU pctl 13
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€4,770M
2025 · EU pctl 35
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€130,317
2025 · EU pctl 95
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,533M
2025 · EU pctl 42
Labour market
Employment, total persons
44,500
2024 · EU pctl 13
Self-employed persons
11,000
2024 · EU pctl 38
Employment in manufacturing (C)
12,600
2024 · EU pctl 38
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)
46,600
2025 · EU pctl 13
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)
75,221
2024 · EU pctl 2
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
512 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 23 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
4,180 kt
2025 · EU pctl 30
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
410
CURRENT · EU pctl 32
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
59 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
426
CURRENT · EU pctl 53
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
39
CURRENT · EU pctl 33
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)
60,194
2025 · EU pctl 13
Population aged 65+
21,014
2025 · EU pctl 10
Population aged under 15
15,045
2025 · EU pctl 18
Median age of population
43.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 25
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
34.9%
2025 · EU pctl 38
Crude rate of total population change
4.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 75
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
5.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 55
Crude birth rate
9.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 94
Crude death rate
10.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 24
Live births
928
2024 · EU pctl 22
Deaths
967
2024 · EU pctl 9
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.9%
2025 · EU pctl 55
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.62
2024 · EU pctl 90
Population density (persons per km²)
289 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 74
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
81,559
2100 · EU pctl 13
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
2.1 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 92
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
10.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 26
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
181 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 43
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
528 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 33
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)
23 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 8
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 31
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
32 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 23
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.
19
2024 · EU pctl 76
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
156 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 93
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
2.7%
2021 · EU pctl 46
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions