NUTS-3 DE128 · Germany
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis generates €26bn of GDP across 558.6k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 74.1/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +4.0%/yr over five years and cooling, with the employment rate up 2.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for education (84th EU percentile) and weakest for digital connectivity (49th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader72 → 77 EU percentile since 1995 (+5 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)
Labour market79
Air quality77
Economic base75
Quality of life71
Talent & skills68
Connectivity58
Governance56
Resilience52
Growth momentum50
Industrial base45
Demographic outlook38
Freight intensity37
Energy cost36
Cost advantage19
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)
74.1
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth49.6
Livability70.7
Market access90
Economic scale86
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)
52
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability46
Labour stability85
Diversification10
Demographic stability67
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)
57.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density49
Airport access34
Market access90
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)
68.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary69
Lifelong learning38
Knowledge workers75
Scientists & engineers91
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)
77
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.56.9 µg/m³
PM1011.1 µg/m³
NO210.2 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)
70.7
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy78
Jobs78
Education84
Health59.5
Safety69
Connectivity49
Environment77.7
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
49.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.0%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.7%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
-0.7 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.2 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.4%
CAGR
Employment rate
+2.1 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: Trade · transport · ICT · 41%Moderately concentrated · HHI 2705
Agriculture 0.4%Industry 17.9%Construction 4.3%Trade · transport · ICT 41%Finance · real estate · prof. 21.3%Public · health · education 15.2%
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)
€25,715M2023
5.0% 1y 4.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 86
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€22,303M2025
0.2% 1y 0.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 86
Population
558,5612025
0.1% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 81
Unemployment rate
3.4%2025
6.2% 1y 1.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 24
Employment
247,1002023
0.9% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 80
Productivity / employee
€110,3512025
3.3% 1y 4.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 89
Gross value added
€23,488M2023
6.5% 1y 4.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 87
All indicators · 84 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€23,488M
2023 · EU pctl 87
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€86M
2023 · EU pctl 33
GVA — industry (B–E)
€4,197M
2023 · EU pctl 83
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€3,749M
2023 · EU pctl 86
GVA — construction (F)
€1,000M
2023 · EU pctl 79
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€9,638M
2023 · EU pctl 94
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€29,100
2023 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
41,100 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 75
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€46,200
2023 · EU pctl 77
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€31,701M
2023 · EU pctl 83 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€6,099M
2023 · EU pctl 87 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€83,032M
2023 · EU pctl 86 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€4,992M
2023 · EU pctl 83
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€3,575M
2023 · EU pctl 79
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€22,303M
2025 · EU pctl 86
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€110,351
2025 · EU pctl 89
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€5,387M
2025 · EU pctl 84
Labour market
Employment, total persons
247,100
2023 · EU pctl 80
Self-employed persons
23,860
2023 · EU pctl 63
Employment in manufacturing (C)
40,560
2023 · EU pctl 82
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
81.4%
2025 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
5.7%
2019 · EU pctl 8 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.4%
2025 · EU pctl 24
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
282,300
2025 · EU pctl 82
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
21,675
2023 · EU pctl 63
Enterprise births
2,037
2023 · EU pctl 63
Enterprise deaths
2,120
2023 · EU pctl 71
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.2%
2023 · EU pctl 47
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
5.9%
2023 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
9.1%
2025 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
3.5%
2023 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
40.0%
2025 · EU pctl 71 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
45.6%
2025 · EU pctl 69 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
9.3%
2025 · EU pctl 38 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
27.5%
2025 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
13.0%
2025 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,292,872
2024 · EU pctl 58
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
597 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 50 · 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.
2,217
CURRENT · EU pctl 83
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
13,111 kt
2025 · EU pctl 73
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
397
CURRENT · EU pctl 49
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
70
CURRENT · EU pctl 66
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)
350,353
2025 · EU pctl 81
Population aged 65+
128,335
2025 · EU pctl 84
Population aged under 15
79,873
2025 · EU pctl 80
Median age of population
46.4 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 52
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
36.6%
2025 · EU pctl 50
Crude rate of total population change
1.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 53
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 46
Crude birth rate
8.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 56
Crude death rate
11.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Live births
4,477
2024 · EU pctl 82
Deaths
6,116
2024 · EU pctl 82
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.4%
2025 · EU pctl 52
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.40
2024 · EU pctl 51
Population density (persons per km²)
530 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 83
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
519,604
2100 · EU pctl 81
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
980 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 41 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
216 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 32 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 41
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
16.7 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 42
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
126 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 28
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
666 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 42
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
26 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 10 · 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)
102 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 29
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
18 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 74
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
48 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 38
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 33
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
11
2024 · EU pctl 12
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
10
2024 · EU pctl 36
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
52
2024 · EU pctl 40
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)
5.4%
2021 · EU pctl 69
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions