NUTS-3 CH023 · Switzerland
Solothurn
Solothurn generates €22bn of GDP across 289.8k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 72.6/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +5.7%/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 safety (61.3th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader95 → 95 EU percentile since 1995 (+0 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 outlook82
Resilience81
Talent & skills78
Quality of life74
Connectivity68
Freight intensity67
Growth momentum50
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)
72.6
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth50
Livability73.5
Market access84
Economic scale83
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)
80.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability31
Labour stability99
Diversification99
Demographic stability93
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)
67.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density53
Airport access66
Market access84
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)
73.5
/ 100 · EU-relative · 5/7 pillars
Economy—
Jobs68.5
Education75
Health89.5
Safety61.3
Connectivity73
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
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.7%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.1%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.5 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.1 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+1.0%
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 · 24%Diversified · HHI 621
Agriculture 0.4%Industry 24%Public · health · education 6.6%
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)
€21,622M2022
16.2% 1y 5.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 83
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€20,006M2025
1.3% 1y 2.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 84
Population
289,7922025
1.0% 1y 1.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 56
Unemployment rate
4.5%2025
12.5% 1y 3.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 53
Productivity / employee
€158,4702025
2.8% 1y 6.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Gross value added
€20,310M2022
15.8% 1y 5.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 83
All indicators · 64 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€20,310M
2022 · EU pctl 83
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€86M
2021 · EU pctl 32
GVA — industry (B–E)
€4,881M
2021 · EU pctl 87
GVA — information & communication (J)
€4,913M
2021 · EU pctl 95
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,331M
2021 · EU pctl 44
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€20,006M
2025 · EU pctl 84
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€158,470
2025 · EU pctl 98
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€6,379M
2025 · EU pctl 88
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)
163,900
2025 · EU pctl 64
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)
546,585
2025 · EU pctl 34
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.
1,242
CURRENT · EU pctl 63
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
10,615 kt
2025 · EU pctl 66
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
429
CURRENT · EU pctl 53
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
40 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
40
CURRENT · EU pctl 34
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)
185,842
2025 · EU pctl 57
Population aged 65+
61,566
2025 · EU pctl 52
Population aged under 15
42,384
2025 · EU pctl 59
Median age of population
44.4 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 31
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
33.1%
2025 · EU pctl 27
Crude rate of total population change
10.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 92
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
11.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 88
Crude birth rate
8.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 64
Crude death rate
9.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 13
Live births
2,406
2024 · EU pctl 62
Deaths
2,629
2024 · EU pctl 44
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
55.9%
2025 · EU pctl 26
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.34
2024 · EU pctl 40
Population density (persons per km²)
367 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 78
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
321,845
2100 · EU pctl 67
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
0.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 0
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
16.7 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 42
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
849 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 98
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,596 /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)
487 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 80
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
8 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 48
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
84 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 76
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
9 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 81
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
8.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 13
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
10.4%
2021 · EU pctl 88
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