NUTS-3 CH021 · Switzerland
Bern / Berne
Bern / Berne generates €92bn of GDP across 1.1m residents. Its Opportunity Index of 72.1/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by economic scale and market access. Its economy has grown +5.0%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate down 0.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for health (89.5th EU percentile) and weakest for clean environment (22th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader97 → 97 EU percentile since 1995 (+1 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)
Governance96
Digital readiness93
Labour market89
Demographic outlook86
Resilience78
Talent & skills78
Quality of life65
Freight intensity59
Connectivity59
Growth momentum43
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)
72.1
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth42.6
Livability64.7
Market access83
Economic scale98
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)
78
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability35
Labour stability99
Diversification99
Demographic stability79
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)
58.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density71
Airport access22
Market access83
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)
77.5
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary67
Lifelong learning94
Knowledge workers62
Scientists & engineers87
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)
64.7
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy—
Jobs68.5
Education75
Health89.5
Safety51
Connectivity82
Environment22
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
42.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.0%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.7%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.3 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.8 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.6%
CAGR
Employment rate
-0.1 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: Industry · 19.9%Diversified · HHI 706
Agriculture 0.7%Industry 19.9%Public · health · education 17.5%
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 · 2009–2022
GDP (current prices)
€92,059M2022
13.5% 1y 5.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€85,176M2025
1.3% 1y 2.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Population
1,071,2162025
0.7% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 94
Unemployment rate
4.5%2025
15.4% 1y 4.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 53
Productivity / employee
€154,5292025
2.8% 1y 5.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 97
Gross value added
€86,474M2022
13.1% 1y 4.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
All indicators · 66 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€86,474M
2022 · EU pctl 98
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€618M
2021 · EU pctl 92
GVA — industry (B–E)
€17,238M
2021 · EU pctl 99
GVA — information & communication (J)
€17,351M
2021 · EU pctl 99
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€15,175M
2021 · EU pctl 97
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€85,176M
2025 · EU pctl 98
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€154,529
2025 · EU pctl 97
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€27,159M
2025 · EU pctl 99
Labour market
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
85.6%
2025 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
8.5%
2025 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.5%
2025 · EU pctl 53
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
598,200
2025 · EU pctl 96
Innovation & R&D
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
7.1%
2025 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
41.3%
2025 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
45.4%
2025 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
26.3%
2025 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
25.2%
2025 · EU pctl 62 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
11.8%
2025 · EU pctl 87 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
99.0%
2025 · EU pctl 93 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
9,422,850
2025 · EU pctl 94
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
556 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 32 · 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.
6,612
CURRENT · EU pctl 98
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
34,303 kt
2025 · EU pctl 96
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
40 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
617
CURRENT · EU pctl 71
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
85
CURRENT · EU pctl 78
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)
678,379
2025 · EU pctl 94
Population aged 65+
239,411
2025 · EU pctl 95
Population aged under 15
153,426
2025 · EU pctl 94
Median age of population
44.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 35
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
35.3%
2025 · EU pctl 41
Crude rate of total population change
7.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 84
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
8.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 78
Crude birth rate
8.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 62
Crude death rate
9.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 14
Live births
8,727
2024 · EU pctl 94
Deaths
9,872
2024 · EU pctl 94
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
57.9%
2025 · EU pctl 40
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.28
2024 · EU pctl 31
Population density (persons per km²)
183 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 62
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
1,381,363
2100 · EU pctl 96
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
378 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 40 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
825 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 9 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
193 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 4 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 31
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
25.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 57
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
517 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 90
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,515 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 97
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
30 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 19 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
2.03
2022 · EU pctl 97
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.76
2022 · EU pctl 95
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.78
2022 · EU pctl 95
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
2.09
2022 · EU pctl 96
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
1.03
2022 · EU pctl 97
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
697 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 90
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 17
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
116 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 92
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
17 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 93
Environment
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
18
2024 · EU pctl 78
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
45
2024 · EU pctl 10
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
29.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 51
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
8.5%
2021 · EU pctl 83
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Switzerland regions