NUTS-3 BE332 · Belgium
Arr. Liège
Arr. Liège generates €26bn of GDP across 637.2k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 69.3/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +5.0%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 1.3pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for education (77th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (14.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable64 → 63 EU percentile since 1995 (-2 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 & skills79
Connectivity78
Energy cost69
Air quality66
Economic base64
Demographic outlook55
Growth momentum51
Resilience51
Governance49
Quality of life46
Cost advantage42
Digital readiness32
Industrial base27
Freight intensity19
Labour market6
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)
69.3
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth51
Livability46.3
Market access93
Economic scale87
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)
50.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability76
Labour stability37
Diversification28
Demographic stability61
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)
78
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density71
Airport access70
Market access93
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)
79.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary74
Lifelong learning75
Knowledge workers86
Scientists & engineers82
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)
66.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.56.5 µg/m³
PM1012.8 µg/m³
NO213.6 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)
46.3
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy61
Jobs14.5
Education77
Health35.5
Safety17.7
Connectivity51.5
Environment67
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
51
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.0%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.0%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.5 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.3%
CAGR
Employment rate
+1.3 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-0.6 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: Public · health · education · 32.2%Diversified · HHI 2402
Agriculture 0.2%Industry 15.5%Construction 5.7%Trade · transport · ICT 20.5%Finance · real estate · prof. 25.9%Public · health · education 32.2%
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)
€26,435M2024
3.9% 1y 5.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 87
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€22,504M2025
0.9% 1y 2.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 86
Population
637,2202025
0.5% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 86
Unemployment rate
7.2%2025
2.9% 1y 1.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 78
Employment
254,1002024
0.6% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 81
Productivity / employee
€107,3192025
3.2% 1y 5.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 88
Gross value added
€23,928M2024
3.9% 1y 5.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 87
All indicators · 85 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€23,928M
2024 · EU pctl 87
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€54M
2024 · EU pctl 22
GVA — industry (B–E)
€3,703M
2024 · EU pctl 80
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,839M
2024 · EU pctl 78
GVA — construction (F)
€1,352M
2024 · EU pctl 87
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€4,916M
2024 · EU pctl 86
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€25,600
2024 · EU pctl 58 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
37,000 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 64
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€41,600
2024 · EU pctl 68
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€8,523M
2023 · EU pctl 27 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€941M
2023 · EU pctl 22 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€22,375M
2024 · EU pctl 35 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€2,533M
2024 · EU pctl 79
GVA — information & communication (J)
€677M
2024 · EU pctl 80
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€6,186M
2024 · EU pctl 87
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€7,716M
2024 · EU pctl 93
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€22,504M
2025 · EU pctl 86
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€107,319
2025 · EU pctl 88
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€5,469M
2025 · EU pctl 85
Labour market
Employment, total persons
254,100
2024 · EU pctl 81
Self-employed persons
34,900
2024 · EU pctl 76
Employment in manufacturing (C)
21,400
2024 · EU pctl 58
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
65.6%
2025 · EU pctl 4 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
22.8%
2025 · EU pctl 79 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
7.2%
2025 · EU pctl 78
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
266,700
2025 · EU pctl 81
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
2.5%
2023 · EU pctl 76 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
4.4%
2025 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.5%
2023 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
41.8%
2025 · EU pctl 78 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
47.0%
2025 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
15.2%
2025 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
29.9%
2025 · EU pctl 86 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
11.1%
2025 · EU pctl 82 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
94.1%
2025 · EU pctl 32 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
798,850
2024 · EU pctl 46
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
497 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 19 · 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.
3,917
CURRENT · EU pctl 93
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
10,014 kt
2025 · EU pctl 63
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
615
CURRENT · EU pctl 71
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
69 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
35
CURRENT · EU pctl 30
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)
406,187
2025 · EU pctl 85
Population aged 65+
127,493
2025 · EU pctl 84
Population aged under 15
103,540
2025 · EU pctl 88
Median age of population
41.2 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 8
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.4%
2025 · EU pctl 19
Crude rate of total population change
5.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 77
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
6.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 68
Crude birth rate
9.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 85
Crude death rate
10.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 30
Live births
5,805
2024 · EU pctl 90
Deaths
6,671
2024 · EU pctl 85
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
56.9%
2025 · EU pctl 33
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.40
2024 · EU pctl 51
Population density (persons per km²)
809 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 88
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
656,992
2100 · EU pctl 87
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
558 /100k
2025 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,052 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 58 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
236 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 62 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 86
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
261 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 100
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
736 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 97
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,373 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
51 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 65 · 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)
135 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 37
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
6 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 36
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
42 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 33
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 44
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
13
2024 · EU pctl 27
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
14
2024 · EU pctl 57
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
47
2024 · EU pctl 15
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
58.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 75
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
17.4%
2021 · EU pctl 95
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions