NUTS-3 BG423 · Bulgaria
Пазарджик
Pazardzhik
Пазарджик generates €2.0bn of GDP across 223.5k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 24/100 sits in the lower tier of EU regions, led by economic growth and livability. Its economy has grown +9.4%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 1.0pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for safety (53th EU percentile) and weakest for economy (1th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Persistent laggard0 → 2 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)
Cost advantage99
Industrial base77
Energy cost65
Growth momentum52
Talent & skills30
Freight intensity25
Resilience23
Quality of life22
Connectivity20
Demographic outlook17
Labour market17
Digital readiness17
Economic base1
Governance0
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)
24
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth52.2
Livability21.8
Market access15
Economic scale7
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)
23
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability11
Labour stability10
Diversification59
Demographic stability12
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)
20.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density1
Airport access45
Market access15
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)
29.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary37
Lifelong learning13
Knowledge workers34
Scientists & engineers35
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)
21.8
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy1
Jobs49
Education16
Health2.5
Safety53
Connectivity9
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
52.2
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+9.4%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+7.9%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.5 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.7 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.8%
CAGR
Employment rate
+1.0 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-0.2 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 · 29.7%Diversified · HHI 2198
Agriculture 6.5%Industry 29.7%Construction 3.1%Trade · transport · ICT 21%Finance · real estate · prof. 15.6%Public · health · education 24.2%
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)
€2,033M2024
9.7% 1y 9.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 7
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€1,713M2025
2.0% 1y 3.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 7
Population
223,4942025
0.8% 1y 0.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 45
Unemployment rate
3.2%2025
14.3% 1y 1.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 20
Employment
96,3802023
0.9% 1y 2.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 43
Productivity / employee
€25,5012025
8.4% 1y 14.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 1
Gross value added
€1,773M2024
9.1% 1y 9.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 7
All indicators · 86 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€1,773M
2024 · EU pctl 7
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€116M
2024 · EU pctl 42
GVA — industry (B–E)
€526M
2024 · EU pctl 14
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€441M
2024 · EU pctl 18
GVA — construction (F)
€55M
2024 · EU pctl 4
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€372M
2024 · EU pctl 9
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€6,700
2023 · EU pctl 1 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
14,700 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 1
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€9,100
2024 · EU pctl 1
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€2,738M
2023 · EU pctl 7 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€682M
2023 · EU pctl 16 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€5,794M
2023 · EU pctl 7 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€208M
2024 · EU pctl 12
GVA — information & communication (J)
€14M
2024 · EU pctl 8
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€276M
2024 · EU pctl 5
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€429M
2024 · EU pctl 8
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€1,713M
2025 · EU pctl 7
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€25,501
2025 · EU pctl 1
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€525M
2025 · EU pctl 9
Labour market
Employment, total persons
96,380
2023 · EU pctl 43
Self-employed persons
26,230
2023 · EU pctl 66
Employment in manufacturing (C)
23,170
2023 · EU pctl 62
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
69.9%
2025 · EU pctl 11 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
14.6%
2025 · EU pctl 50 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.2%
2025 · EU pctl 20
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
98,800
2025 · EU pctl 40
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
10,031
2023 · EU pctl 40
Enterprise births
950
2023 · EU pctl 42
Enterprise deaths
1,383
2023 · EU pctl 59
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.8%
2023 · EU pctl 60
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
0.4%
2023 · EU pctl 6 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
3.2%
2025 · EU pctl 21 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.5%
2023 · EU pctl 9 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
29.3%
2025 · EU pctl 26 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
36.6%
2025 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
6.8%
2025 · EU pctl 13 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
21.0%
2025 · EU pctl 34 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
7.5%
2025 · EU pctl 35 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
92.3%
2025 · EU pctl 17 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,100,960
2024 · EU pctl 55
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
457 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
4,057 kt
2025 · EU pctl 29
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1
CURRENT · EU pctl 0
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
0
CURRENT · EU pctl 1
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
9 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 20 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
59
CURRENT · EU pctl 54
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)
136,320
2025 · EU pctl 45
Population aged 65+
55,455
2025 · EU pctl 47
Population aged under 15
31,719
2025 · EU pctl 47
Median age of population
48.5 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 72
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
40.7%
2025 · EU pctl 71
Crude rate of total population change
-7.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 9
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
0.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 17
Crude birth rate
8.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 76
Crude death rate
17.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 97
Live births
1,943
2024 · EU pctl 52
Deaths
3,846
2024 · EU pctl 62
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
63.9%
2025 · EU pctl 77
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
2.01
2024 · EU pctl 99
Population density (persons per km²)
51 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 17
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
137,527
2100 · EU pctl 30
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
924 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
2,023 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
240 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 34
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
12.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 30
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
16.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 2
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
243 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 15
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
80 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 92 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.07
2022 · EU pctl 0
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.25
2022 · EU pctl 0
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.10
2022 · EU pctl 0
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
-0.14
2022 · EU pctl 0
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.33
2022 · EU pctl 22
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.135/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 35
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.041/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 8
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
327 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 64
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
29 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 83
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
57 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 49
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
8 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 79
Environment
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)
3.0%
2021 · EU pctl 50
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Bulgaria regions