NUTS-3 DE725 · Germany
Vogelsbergkreis
Vogelsbergkreis generates €3.6bn of GDP across 101.2k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 52.3/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +3.9%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 6.5pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for digital connectivity (96th EU percentile) and weakest for health (31.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable47 → 52 EU percentile since 1995 (+6 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)
Freight intensity82
Connectivity66
Labour market62
Quality of life62
Demographic outlook57
Resilience57
Governance56
Industrial base54
Growth momentum51
Economic base44
Talent & skills43
Cost advantage37
Energy cost36
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)
52.3
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth50.6
Livability61.6
Market access77
Economic scale20
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)
57
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability89
Labour stability64
Diversification64
Demographic stability11
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
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density96
Airport access25
Market access77
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.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
61.6
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy53.5
Jobs79.5
Education59.5
Health31.5
Safety49.7
Connectivity96
Environment—
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
50.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+3.9%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.5%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.4 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.3 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.9%
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: Industry · 26%Diversified · HHI 2168
Agriculture 2.4%Industry 26%Construction 6.7%Trade · transport · ICT 16.8%Finance · real estate · prof. 23.1%Public · health · education 25%
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)
€3,600M2023
3.7% 1y 3.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 20
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€3,130M2025
0.2% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Population
101,1632025
0.3% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 15
Unemployment rate
2.7%2025
25.0% 1y 5.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 4
Employment
46,6902023
1.1% 1y 0.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 15
Productivity / employee
€81,6362025
3.3% 1y 4.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 45
Gross value added
€3,288M2023
5.2% 1y 4.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 20
All indicators · 80 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€3,288M
2023 · EU pctl 20
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€78M
2023 · EU pctl 30
GVA — industry (B–E)
€854M
2023 · EU pctl 27
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€589M
2023 · EU pctl 25
GVA — construction (F)
€220M
2023 · EU pctl 23
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€553M
2023 · EU pctl 18
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)
31,600 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 44
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€35,500
2023 · EU pctl 52
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)
€760M
2023 · EU pctl 25
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€823M
2023 · EU pctl 24
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,130M
2025 · EU pctl 22
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€81,636
2025 · EU pctl 45
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€859M
2025 · EU pctl 21
Labour market
Employment, total persons
46,690
2023 · EU pctl 15
Self-employed persons
4,680
2023 · EU pctl 11
Employment in manufacturing (C)
9,250
2023 · EU pctl 26
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
78.7%
2025 · EU pctl 54 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
2.7%
2025 · EU pctl 4
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
52,200
2025 · EU pctl 16
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
3,613
2023 · EU pctl 10
Enterprise births
281
2023 · EU pctl 11
Enterprise deaths
294
2023 · EU pctl 13
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.4%
2023 · EU pctl 17
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 63 · 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)
408,007
2024 · EU pctl 27
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
641 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 77 · 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.
1,213
CURRENT · EU pctl 61
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
4,738 kt
2025 · EU pctl 35
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
1,199
CURRENT · EU pctl 96
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
82
CURRENT · EU pctl 75
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)
60,826
2025 · EU pctl 14
Population aged 65+
27,113
2025 · EU pctl 18
Population aged under 15
13,224
2025 · EU pctl 14
Median age of population
50.5 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 87
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
44.6%
2025 · EU pctl 84
Crude rate of total population change
-3.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 23
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
3.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 34
Crude birth rate
7.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 46
Crude death rate
13.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 80
Live births
773
2024 · EU pctl 16
Deaths
1,411
2024 · EU pctl 18
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
66.3%
2025 · EU pctl 84
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.59
2024 · EU pctl 87
Population density (persons per km²)
70 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 27
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
92,989
2100 · EU pctl 16
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
2.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 91
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
18.7 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 45
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
162 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 38
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
623 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 39
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)
€0.161/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)
541 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 83
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 17
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
83 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 76
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
4 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 54
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
10.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 17
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.5%
2021 · EU pctl 13
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions