NUTS-3 BE258 · Belgium
Arr. Veurne
Arr. Veurne generates €3.0bn of GDP across 61.4k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 49.7/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +6.1%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 2.7pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (88th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (31.3th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader72 → 76 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)
Talent & skills82
Economic base80
Connectivity70
Energy cost69
Air quality65
Quality of life64
Demographic outlook55
Freight intensity55
Growth momentum53
Labour market51
Resilience51
Governance49
Digital readiness26
Industrial base21
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)
49.7
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth52.8
Livability64
Market access67
Economic scale15
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)
51
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability44
Labour stability90
Diversification33
Demographic stability37
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)
69.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density60
Airport access82
Market access67
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)
64.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.2 µg/m³
PM1014.2 µg/m³
NO27.4 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
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy88
Jobs69.5
Education68.5
Health82
Safety31.3
Connectivity43
Environment65.7
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
52.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+6.1%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.3%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.8 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.5 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.1%
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. · 34.2%Diversified · HHI 2362
Agriculture 2.8%Industry 11.2%Construction 7.2%Trade · transport · ICT 20%Finance · real estate · prof. 34.2%Public · health · education 24.6%
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)
€2,990M2024
4.3% 1y 6.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 15
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€2,537M2025
0.9% 1y 4.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 15
Population
61,3922025
0.8% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 5
Unemployment rate
3.2%2025
14.3% 1y 1.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 20
Employment
26,1002024
0.4% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 4
Productivity / employee
€118,1612025
3.2% 1y 7.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 93
Gross value added
€2,706M2024
4.3% 1y 6.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 15
All indicators · 85 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€2,706M
2024 · EU pctl 15
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€76M
2024 · EU pctl 29
GVA — industry (B–E)
€302M
2024 · EU pctl 8
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€279M
2024 · EU pctl 11
GVA — construction (F)
€194M
2024 · EU pctl 19
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€542M
2024 · EU pctl 17
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)
43,200 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 80
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€48,500
2024 · EU pctl 82
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)
€501M
2024 · EU pctl 32
GVA — information & communication (J)
€12M
2024 · EU pctl 7
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€926M
2024 · EU pctl 32
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€666M
2024 · EU pctl 17
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€2,537M
2025 · EU pctl 15
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€118,161
2025 · EU pctl 93
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€816M
2025 · EU pctl 20
Labour market
Employment, total persons
26,100
2024 · EU pctl 4
Self-employed persons
6,200
2024 · EU pctl 19
Employment in manufacturing (C)
2,800
2024 · EU pctl 5
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)
3.2%
2025 · EU pctl 20
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
25,200
2025 · EU pctl 3
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)
3,206,472
2024 · EU pctl 79
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.
305
CURRENT · EU pctl 29
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,859 kt
2025 · EU pctl 11
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).
497
CURRENT · EU pctl 60
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
24
CURRENT · EU pctl 18
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)
32,564
2025 · EU pctl 4
Population aged 65+
22,504
2025 · EU pctl 12
Population aged under 15
6,324
2025 · EU pctl 3
Median age of population
57.2 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 100
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
69.1%
2025 · EU pctl 100
Crude rate of total population change
-8.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 7
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
0.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 18
Crude birth rate
5.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 11
Crude death rate
15.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 89
Live births
353
2024 · EU pctl 3
Deaths
927
2024 · EU pctl 8
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
88.5%
2025 · EU pctl 100
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.43
2024 · EU pctl 56
Population density (persons per km²)
223 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 67
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
45,567
2100 · EU pctl 4
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
1.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 86
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
19.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 46
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
228 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 53
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,223 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 72
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)
0 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 1
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
4 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 25
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
25 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 18
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 29
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
14
2024 · EU pctl 44
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
7
2024 · EU pctl 17
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
56
2024 · EU pctl 59
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
43.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 65
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
4.7%
2021 · EU pctl 66
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions