NUTS-3 CH040 · Switzerland
Zürich
Zürich generates €169bn of GDP across 1.6m residents. Its Opportunity Index of 76/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by economic scale and market access. Its economy has grown +4.5%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate down 0.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for education (98th EU percentile) and weakest for clean environment (17th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader99 → 98 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)
Talent & skills98
Labour market96
Governance96
Demographic outlook95
Digital readiness94
Resilience82
Connectivity80
Quality of life68
Growth momentum44
Freight intensity34
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)
76
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth44
Livability68
Market access93
Economic scale99
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)
81.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability34
Labour stability99
Diversification100
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)
80.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density51
Airport access97
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)
98
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary97
Lifelong learning98
Knowledge workers97
Scientists & engineers100
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)
68
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy—
Jobs72.5
Education98
Health93.5
Safety54.7
Connectivity72.5
Environment17
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
44
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.5%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.7%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.9 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-1.2 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+1.0%
CAGR
Employment rate
-0.1 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 · 12.3%Diversified · HHI 229
Agriculture 0.2%Industry 12.3%Public · health · education 8.8%
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)
€169,304M2022
16.3% 1y 4.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 99
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€156,646M2025
1.3% 1y 2.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 99
Population
1,620,0202025
0.9% 1y 1.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Unemployment rate
4.4%2025
15.8% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 52
Productivity / employee
€189,5002025
2.8% 1y 5.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 99
Gross value added
€159,033M2022
15.9% 1y 4.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 99
All indicators · 66 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€159,033M
2022 · EU pctl 99
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€335M
2021 · EU pctl 77
GVA — industry (B–E)
€19,591M
2021 · EU pctl 99
GVA — information & communication (J)
€36,319M
2021 · EU pctl 100
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€13,978M
2021 · EU pctl 97
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€156,646M
2025 · EU pctl 99
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€189,500
2025 · EU pctl 99
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€49,948M
2025 · EU pctl 100
Labour market
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
86.2%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
8.2%
2025 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.4%
2025 · EU pctl 52
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
973,300
2025 · EU pctl 99
Innovation & R&D
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
9.0%
2025 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
56.6%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
62.0%
2025 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
28.5%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
36.2%
2025 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
17.4%
2025 · EU pctl 100 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
99.2%
2025 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
7,350,719
2025 · EU pctl 92
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
481 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 18 · 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.
6,604
CURRENT · EU pctl 98
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
35,268 kt
2025 · EU pctl 97
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
408
CURRENT · EU pctl 51
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
99 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
8
CURRENT · EU pctl 3
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
3
CURRENT · EU pctl 75
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
1,095,380
2025 · EU pctl 98
Population aged 65+
282,720
2025 · EU pctl 97
Population aged under 15
241,920
2025 · EU pctl 97
Median age of population
41.4 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 10
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
25.8%
2025 · EU pctl 4
Crude rate of total population change
9.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 89
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
7.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 71
Crude birth rate
9.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 89
Crude death rate
7.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 4
Live births
14,949
2024 · EU pctl 98
Deaths
11,813
2024 · EU pctl 96
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
47.9%
2025 · EU pctl 4
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.24
2024 · EU pctl 25
Population density (persons per km²)
975 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 89
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
2,475,164
2100 · EU pctl 99
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
369 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 40 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
799 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 5 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
184 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 1 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 42
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
33.9 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 69
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
498 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 89
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,915 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 90
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
22 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 4 · 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)
484 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 80
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 43
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 82
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.
19
2024 · EU pctl 83
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 16
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
19.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 36
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
2.9%
2021 · EU pctl 49
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Switzerland regions