NUTS-3 DE113 · Germany
Esslingen
Esslingen generates €28bn of GDP across 536.6k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 71/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +3.6%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 2.0pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (90th EU percentile) and weakest for digital connectivity (46th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader87 → 85 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)
Industrial base91
Economic base86
Labour market85
Connectivity78
Demographic outlook71
Quality of life68
Talent & skills60
Governance56
Air quality54
Freight intensity47
Resilience47
Growth momentum36
Energy cost36
Cost advantage6
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)
71
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth36.2
Livability67.9
Market access92
Economic scale88
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)
47
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability34
Labour stability86
Diversification20
Demographic stability48
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)
77.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density46
Airport access95
Market access92
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)
60
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary58
Lifelong learning31
Knowledge workers68
Scientists & engineers83
Young tertiary attainment (25–34), adult lifelong learning, knowledge-worker share and scientists & engineers — each EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = deeper talent pool. Experimental.
Clean-Air Score · air-quality livability (experimental)
53.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.57.5 µg/m³
PM1014 µg/m³
NO215 µg/m³
PM2.5, PM10 & NO2 annual means from official monitoring networks, inverted (lower pollution = higher) and EU-percentile-ranked. Higher = cleaner air; ground-level ozone is shown separately. Experimental.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
67.9
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy90
Jobs78.5
Education81.5
Health65
Safety59
Connectivity46
Environment55
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
36.2
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+3.6%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.6%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.0 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.6 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.1%
CAGR
Employment rate
+2.0 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.1 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 · 34%Moderately concentrated · HHI 2505
Agriculture 0.2%Industry 34%Construction 4.1%Trade · transport · ICT 23%Finance · real estate · prof. 24.5%Public · health · education 14.1%
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 · 2009–2023
GDP (current prices)
€28,345M2023
5.2% 1y 3.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 88
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€24,569M2025
0.2% 1y 2.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 88
Population
536,6012025
0.1% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 79
Unemployment rate
3.6%2025
12.5% 1y 1.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 30
Employment
285,0802023
0.7% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 84
Productivity / employee
€104,6812025
3.3% 1y 6.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 86
Gross value added
€25,891M2023
6.7% 1y 4.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 89
All indicators · 84 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€25,891M
2023 · EU pctl 89
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€51M
2023 · EU pctl 21
GVA — industry (B–E)
€8,810M
2023 · EU pctl 95
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€8,243M
2023 · EU pctl 96
GVA — construction (F)
€1,074M
2023 · EU pctl 82
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€5,953M
2023 · EU pctl 89
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€30,800
2023 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
47,200 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 86
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€53,000
2023 · EU pctl 87
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€60,881M
2023 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€22,211M
2023 · EU pctl 99 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€139,588M
2023 · EU pctl 93 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€6,355M
2023 · EU pctl 87
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€3,649M
2023 · EU pctl 79
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€24,569M
2025 · EU pctl 88
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€104,681
2025 · EU pctl 86
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€6,270M
2025 · EU pctl 88
Labour market
Employment, total persons
285,080
2023 · EU pctl 84
Self-employed persons
22,700
2023 · EU pctl 61
Employment in manufacturing (C)
69,060
2023 · EU pctl 93
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
82.6%
2025 · EU pctl 82 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
6.9%
2025 · EU pctl 19 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.6%
2025 · EU pctl 30
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
304,500
2025 · EU pctl 85
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
20,647
2023 · EU pctl 62
Enterprise births
1,832
2023 · EU pctl 60
Enterprise deaths
1,920
2023 · EU pctl 68
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.2%
2023 · EU pctl 44
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
7.3%
2023 · EU pctl 99 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
5.8%
2025 · EU pctl 77 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
4.9%
2023 · EU pctl 99 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
38.0%
2025 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
43.1%
2025 · EU pctl 58 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
9.0%
2025 · EU pctl 31 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
26.4%
2025 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
11.3%
2025 · EU pctl 83 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,511,223
2024 · EU pctl 63
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
636 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 71 · 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.
1,983
CURRENT · EU pctl 79
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
14,730 kt
2025 · EU pctl 77
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
370
CURRENT · EU pctl 46
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
11
CURRENT · EU pctl 5
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)
344,535
2025 · EU pctl 80
Population aged 65+
115,007
2025 · EU pctl 79
Population aged under 15
77,059
2025 · EU pctl 79
Median age of population
44.7 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 34
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
33.4%
2025 · EU pctl 29
Crude rate of total population change
1.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 52
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 31
Crude birth rate
9.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 87
Crude death rate
10.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 33
Live births
4,927
2024 · EU pctl 85
Deaths
5,715
2024 · EU pctl 79
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
55.7%
2025 · EU pctl 25
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.52
2024 · EU pctl 75
Population density (persons per km²)
837 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 88
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
538,778
2100 · EU pctl 83
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
938 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 32 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
199 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 8 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.9 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
22.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 52
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
142 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 32
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
744 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 46
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
27 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.78
2022 · EU pctl 59
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.56
2022 · EU pctl 56
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.58
2022 · EU pctl 54
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.82
2022 · EU pctl 57
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.53
2022 · EU pctl 34
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.161/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 64
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.055/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 53
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
295 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 60
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
11 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 63
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
63 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 56
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
4 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 51
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
14
2024 · EU pctl 41
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
15
2024 · EU pctl 66
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)
28.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 49
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
5.0%
2021 · EU pctl 67
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions