NUTS-3 CH055 · Switzerland
St. Gallen
St. Gallen generates €46bn of GDP across 540k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 77.3/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by economic scale and market access. Its economy has grown +6.0%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 0.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for jobs (87.5th EU percentile) and weakest for clean environment (46th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader97 → 97 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)
Digital readiness98
Labour market96
Governance96
Resilience81
Talent & skills72
Quality of life70
Connectivity66
Demographic outlook64
Growth momentum61
Freight intensity54
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)
77.3
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth61
Livability70
Market access84
Economic scale94
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
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability33
Labour stability98
Diversification98
Demographic stability95
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)
66.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density65
Airport access50
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)
71.5
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary66
Lifelong learning91
Knowledge workers53
Scientists & engineers76
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)
70
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy—
Jobs87.5
Education74
Health85
Safety46
Connectivity81.5
Environment46
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
61
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+6.0%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.4%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.6 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.3 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+1.1%
CAGR
Employment rate
+0.1 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-0.6 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: Industry · 30.3%Diversified · HHI 963
Agriculture 0.7%Industry 30.3%Public · health · education 6.7%
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)
€45,972M2022
14.2% 1y 6.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 94
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€42,535M2025
1.3% 1y 3.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 95
Population
540,0362025
0.9% 1y 1.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 80
Unemployment rate
3.3%2025
17.9% 1y 5.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Productivity / employee
€150,2012025
2.8% 1y 6.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 97
Gross value added
€43,183M2022
13.8% 1y 5.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 95
All indicators · 66 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€43,183M
2022 · EU pctl 95
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€308M
2021 · EU pctl 75
GVA — industry (B–E)
€13,085M
2021 · EU pctl 97
GVA — information & communication (J)
€7,962M
2021 · EU pctl 97
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€2,888M
2021 · EU pctl 73
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€42,535M
2025 · EU pctl 95
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€150,201
2025 · EU pctl 97
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€13,563M
2025 · EU pctl 96
Labour market
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
86.0%
2025 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
5.4%
2025 · EU pctl 4 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.3%
2025 · EU pctl 22
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
316,000
2025 · EU pctl 86
Innovation & R&D
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
4.5%
2025 · EU pctl 56 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
40.8%
2025 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
44.4%
2025 · EU pctl 66 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
24.4%
2025 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
23.5%
2025 · EU pctl 53 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
10.6%
2025 · EU pctl 76 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
100.0%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,657,844
2025 · EU pctl 65
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
589 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 44 · 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.
3,007
CURRENT · EU pctl 90
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
16,047 kt
2025 · EU pctl 80
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
557
CURRENT · EU pctl 65
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
23 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 46 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
55
CURRENT · EU pctl 50
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)
351,708
2025 · EU pctl 81
Population aged 65+
105,372
2025 · EU pctl 76
Population aged under 15
82,956
2025 · EU pctl 81
Median age of population
42.3 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 14
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
30.0%
2025 · EU pctl 13
Crude rate of total population change
9.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 90
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
8.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 78
Crude birth rate
9.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 85
Crude death rate
8.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 6
Live births
4,918
2024 · EU pctl 85
Deaths
4,395
2024 · EU pctl 69
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
53.5%
2025 · EU pctl 15
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.39
2024 · EU pctl 49
Population density (persons per km²)
276 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 73
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
597,047
2100 · EU pctl 85
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
487 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 53 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
861 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 19 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
192 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 3 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 55
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
18.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 44
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
355 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 75
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,474 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 81
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
34 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 26 · 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)
1,163 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 97
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 0
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
149 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 95
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
24 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 98
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.
13
2024 · EU pctl 54
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
61
2024 · EU pctl 79
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
25.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 46
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
8.4%
2021 · EU pctl 83
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Switzerland regions