NUTS-3 DE721 · Germany
Gießen, Landkreis
Gießen, Landkreis generates €12bn of GDP across 268.4k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 66.3/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +4.1%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 6.5pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for jobs (79.5th EU percentile) and weakest for health (31.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader84 → 75 EU percentile since 1995 (-9 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)
Demographic outlook100
Economic base74
Connectivity66
Labour market62
Energy cost62
Growth momentum59
Quality of life56
Governance56
Resilience54
Freight intensity48
Talent & skills43
Industrial base43
Cost advantage37
Air quality36
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)
66.3
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth59
Livability56.1
Market access83
Economic scale67
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)
54.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability92
Labour stability64
Diversification27
Demographic stability34
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)
65.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density74
Airport access40
Market access83
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)
43
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary41
Lifelong learning54
Knowledge workers46
Scientists & engineers31
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)
35.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.9 µg/m³
PM1015 µg/m³
NO218.3 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)
56.1
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy68.5
Jobs79.5
Education59.5
Health31.5
Safety43
Connectivity74
Environment36.7
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
59
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.1%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.0%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.0 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.1 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.2%
CAGR
Employment rate
+6.5 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-2.5 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: Public · health · education · 32.6%Diversified · HHI 2409
Agriculture 0.3%Industry 18.3%Construction 4.3%Trade · transport · ICT 20.8%Finance · real estate · prof. 23.7%Public · health · education 32.6%
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 · 2009–2023
GDP (current prices)
€12,187M2023
8.0% 1y 4.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 67
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€10,598M2025
0.2% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 67
Population
268,4182025
0.1% 1y 0.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 53
Unemployment rate
2.6%2025
29.7% 1y 12.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 2
Employment
146,5202023
0.5% 1y 0.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 61
Productivity / employee
€88,0752025
3.3% 1y 4.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 62
Gross value added
€11,132M2023
9.5% 1y 4.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 68
All indicators · 83 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€11,132M
2023 · EU pctl 68
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€37M
2023 · EU pctl 16
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,036M
2023 · EU pctl 59
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,744M
2023 · EU pctl 62
GVA — construction (F)
€478M
2023 · EU pctl 52
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€2,319M
2023 · EU pctl 68
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€26,600
2023 · EU pctl 63 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
40,600 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 74
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€45,600
2023 · EU pctl 76
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€10,597M
2023 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€1,976M
2023 · EU pctl 45 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€25,139M
2023 · EU pctl 39 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€2,636M
2023 · EU pctl 70
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€3,626M
2023 · EU pctl 79
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€10,598M
2025 · EU pctl 67
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€88,075
2025 · EU pctl 62
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€2,907M
2025 · EU pctl 70
Labour market
Employment, total persons
146,520
2023 · EU pctl 61
Self-employed persons
11,490
2023 · EU pctl 40
Employment in manufacturing (C)
19,740
2023 · EU pctl 55
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
78.7%
2025 · EU pctl 54 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
2.6%
2025 · EU pctl 2
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
151,000
2025 · EU pctl 60
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
9,850
2023 · EU pctl 39
Enterprise births
887
2023 · EU pctl 40
Enterprise deaths
928
2023 · EU pctl 47
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.9%
2023 · EU pctl 37
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
2.6%
2023 · EU pctl 76 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
5.0%
2025 · EU pctl 66 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.4%
2023 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
32.5%
2025 · EU pctl 43 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
38.2%
2025 · EU pctl 41 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
10.6%
2025 · EU pctl 54 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
22.4%
2025 · EU pctl 46 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
7.3%
2025 · EU pctl 31 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
407,065
2025 · EU pctl 26
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
641 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 77 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
7,464 kt
2025 · EU pctl 52
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,756
CURRENT · EU pctl 75
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
654
CURRENT · EU pctl 74
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
63
CURRENT · EU pctl 60
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
CURRENT · EU pctl 15
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
175,795
2025 · EU pctl 56
Population aged 65+
55,971
2025 · EU pctl 47
Population aged under 15
36,652
2025 · EU pctl 52
Median age of population
41.9 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 11
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.8%
2025 · EU pctl 21
Crude rate of total population change
1.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 51
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
3.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Crude birth rate
8.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 76
Crude death rate
11.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 43
Live births
2,332
2024 · EU pctl 59
Deaths
2,996
2024 · EU pctl 50
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
52.7%
2025 · EU pctl 12
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.26
2024 · EU pctl 28
Population density (persons per km²)
315 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 75
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
433,767
2100 · EU pctl 77
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,062 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 62 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
236 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.1 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 73
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
51.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 83
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
269 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 61
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,342 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 77
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
31 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 21 · 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)
€0.138/kWh
2026-S1 · EU pctl 38
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.053/kWh
2026-S1 · EU pctl 40
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
232 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 53
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
8 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 48
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
64 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 57
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 41
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
15
2024 · EU pctl 53
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
18
2024 · EU pctl 81
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
46
2024 · EU pctl 12
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)
1.3%
2021 · EU pctl 27
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions