NUTS-3 BE32A · Belgium
Arr. Ath
Arr. Ath generates €3.8bn of GDP across 130.9k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 49.3/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and economic growth. Its economy has grown +4.4%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 5.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for digital connectivity (63th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (8th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable28 → 35 EU percentile since 1995 (+6 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)
Connectivity75
Energy cost69
Talent & skills65
Resilience57
Cost advantage51
Growth momentum50
Governance49
Digital readiness44
Quality of life40
Industrial base39
Economic base25
Freight intensity8
Labour market5
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)
49.3
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth50.4
Livability39.7
Market access85
Economic scale22
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)
56.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability68
Labour stability37
Diversification55
Demographic stability66
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)
75
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density82
Airport access58
Market access85
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)
65
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary49
Lifelong learning55
Knowledge workers80
Scientists & engineers76
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)
39.7
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy37
Jobs8
Education55.5
Health22.5
Safety52.3
Connectivity63
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
50.4
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.4%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.8%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.7 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-1.1 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.4%
CAGR
Employment rate
+5.1 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.7 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: Public · health · education · 27.7%Diversified · HHI 2221
Agriculture 2%Industry 16.5%Construction 6.6%Trade · transport · ICT 20.4%Finance · real estate · prof. 26.8%Public · health · education 27.7%
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)
€3,823M2024
0.4% 1y 4.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€3,244M2025
0.9% 1y 2.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 23
Population
130,8722025
0.2% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 23
Unemployment rate
9.0%2025
3.4% 1y 1.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 90
Employment
39,7002024
0.0% 1y 0.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 10
Productivity / employee
€99,2852025
3.2% 1y 5.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 80
Gross value added
€3,460M2024
0.4% 1y 4.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
All indicators · 80 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€3,460M
2024 · EU pctl 22
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€71M
2024 · EU pctl 28
GVA — industry (B–E)
€572M
2024 · EU pctl 16
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€514M
2024 · EU pctl 23
GVA — construction (F)
€227M
2024 · EU pctl 23
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€705M
2024 · EU pctl 25
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€24,300
2024 · EU pctl 49 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
26,000 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 25
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€29,200
2024 · EU pctl 36
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€8,772M
2023 · EU pctl 29 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€1,340M
2023 · EU pctl 29 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€23,931M
2024 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€507M
2024 · EU pctl 32
GVA — information & communication (J)
€35M
2024 · EU pctl 23
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€926M
2024 · EU pctl 32
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€959M
2024 · EU pctl 31
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,244M
2025 · EU pctl 23
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€99,285
2025 · EU pctl 80
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€800M
2025 · EU pctl 19
Labour market
Employment, total persons
39,700
2024 · EU pctl 10
Self-employed persons
9,200
2024 · EU pctl 33
Employment in manufacturing (C)
4,900
2024 · EU pctl 11
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
65.6%
2025 · EU pctl 4 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
23.6%
2025 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
9.0%
2025 · EU pctl 90
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
55,400
2025 · EU pctl 18
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.6%
2023 · EU pctl 52 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
5.0%
2025 · EU pctl 66 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.7%
2023 · EU pctl 23 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
37.3%
2025 · EU pctl 59 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
40.9%
2025 · EU pctl 49 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
10.7%
2025 · EU pctl 55 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
28.5%
2025 · EU pctl 80 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
10.6%
2025 · EU pctl 76 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
94.9%
2025 · EU pctl 44 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
120,055
2024 · EU pctl 5
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
498 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 20 · 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.
1,010
CURRENT · EU pctl 54
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,275 kt
2025 · EU pctl 6
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
772
CURRENT · EU pctl 82
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
75 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 93 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
47
CURRENT · EU pctl 42
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)
83,946
2025 · EU pctl 24
Population aged 65+
26,697
2025 · EU pctl 17
Population aged under 15
20,229
2025 · EU pctl 29
Median age of population
43.6 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 24
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.8%
2025 · EU pctl 21
Crude rate of total population change
2.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 59
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 45
Crude birth rate
8.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 62
Crude death rate
10.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 22
Live births
1,068
2024 · EU pctl 27
Deaths
1,312
2024 · EU pctl 15
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
55.9%
2025 · EU pctl 26
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.39
2024 · EU pctl 49
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
603 /100k
2025 · EU pctl 73 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,129 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
251 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 79 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 56
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
44.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 79
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
336 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 72
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
673 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 42
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
42 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 45 · 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)
54 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 16
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 31
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
33 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 24
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 9
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
12.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 21
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
4.8%
2021 · EU pctl 67
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions