NUTS-3 BE345 · Belgium
Arr. Virton
Arr. Virton generates €1.3bn of GDP across 55.2k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 39.3/100 sits in the lower tier of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +5.2%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 1.5pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for clean environment (96.3th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (21.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run faller41 → 25 EU percentile since 1995 (-16 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)
Air quality96
Demographic outlook82
Connectivity72
Talent & skills71
Energy cost69
Resilience55
Industrial base52
Quality of life51
Governance49
Growth momentum39
Cost advantage28
Digital readiness25
Labour market17
Economic base11
Freight intensity1
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)
39.3
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth39.2
Livability50.8
Market access64
Economic scale3
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)
54.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability53
Labour stability61
Diversification36
Demographic stability68
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
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density98
Airport access54
Market access64
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)
70.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary72
Lifelong learning74
Knowledge workers75
Scientists & engineers62
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)
96.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.54 µg/m³
PM107.5 µg/m³
NO25.3 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)
50.8
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy41.5
Jobs21.5
Education46
Health34
Safety55
Connectivity61.5
Environment96.3
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
39.2
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.2%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.5%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.7 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.3 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.4%
CAGR
Employment rate
+1.5 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+1.6 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 · 32.1%Diversified · HHI 2337
Agriculture 2.2%Industry 19.6%Construction 6%Trade · transport · ICT 13.7%Finance · real estate · prof. 26.3%Public · health · education 32.1%
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)
€1,315M2024
1.5% 1y 5.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 3
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€1,103M2025
0.9% 1y 1.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 3
Population
55,2442025
0.1% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 4
Unemployment rate
6.6%2025
26.9% 1y 5.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 73
Employment
13,9002024
0.0% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 1
Productivity / employee
€97,5812025
3.2% 1y 5.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 78
Gross value added
€1,190M2024
1.6% 1y 5.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 3
All indicators · 85 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€1,190M
2024 · EU pctl 3
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€26M
2024 · EU pctl 13
GVA — industry (B–E)
€234M
2024 · EU pctl 6
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€210M
2024 · EU pctl 9
GVA — construction (F)
€72M
2024 · EU pctl 6
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€163M
2024 · EU pctl 2
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€27,500
2024 · EU pctl 72 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
21,200 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 11
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€23,800
2024 · EU pctl 25
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€2,495M
2023 · EU pctl 6 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€243M
2023 · EU pctl 5 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€4,990M
2024 · EU pctl 6 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€227M
2024 · EU pctl 13
GVA — information & communication (J)
€2M
2024 · EU pctl 0
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€314M
2024 · EU pctl 7
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€382M
2024 · EU pctl 7
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€1,103M
2025 · EU pctl 3
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€97,581
2025 · EU pctl 78
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€356M
2025 · EU pctl 4
Labour market
Employment, total persons
13,900
2024 · EU pctl 1
Self-employed persons
2,900
2024 · EU pctl 3
Employment in manufacturing (C)
1,900
2024 · EU pctl 3
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
72.8%
2025 · EU pctl 21 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
15.3%
2025 · EU pctl 54 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
6.6%
2025 · EU pctl 73
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
25,900
2025 · EU pctl 4
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
0.6%
2023 · EU pctl 9 · 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)
0.1%
2023 · EU pctl 0 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
43.6%
2025 · EU pctl 83 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
46.4%
2025 · EU pctl 72 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
14.9%
2025 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
27.4%
2025 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
9.3%
2025 · EU pctl 62 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
93.7%
2025 · EU pctl 25 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
230,691
2024 · EU pctl 13
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
523 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 25 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
172 kt
2025 · EU pctl 1
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
764
CURRENT · EU pctl 46
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
35 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
1,383
CURRENT · EU pctl 98
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
50
CURRENT · EU pctl 46
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
CURRENT · EU pctl 15
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
35,657
2025 · EU pctl 5
Population aged 65+
10,409
2025 · EU pctl 2
Population aged under 15
9,178
2025 · EU pctl 7
Median age of population
41.2 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 8
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
29.2%
2025 · EU pctl 11
Crude rate of total population change
0.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 48
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 30
Crude birth rate
8.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 73
Crude death rate
10.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 29
Live births
476
2024 · EU pctl 7
Deaths
577
2024 · EU pctl 3
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
54.9%
2025 · EU pctl 21
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.43
2024 · EU pctl 56
Population density (persons per km²)
71 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 28
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
56,179
2100 · EU pctl 6
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
390 /100k
2025 · EU pctl 41 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,045 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 57 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
235 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 59 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 0
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
14.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 36
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
436 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 84
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
632 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
93 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 96 · 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)
371 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 70
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 33
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
60 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 52
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
7 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 77
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
8
2024 · EU pctl 1
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
5
2024 · EU pctl 9
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
51
2024 · EU pctl 37
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
5.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 6
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
2.8%
2021 · EU pctl 48
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Belgium regions