NUTS-3 DE731 · Germany
Kassel, Kreisfreie Stadt
Kassel, Kreisfreie Stadt generates €13bn of GDP across 197.2k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 55.1/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +4.2%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 2.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (80th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (26.7th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader93 → 92 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)
Economic base94
Demographic outlook79
Labour market74
Connectivity71
Governance56
Industrial base54
Quality of life47
Resilience41
Freight intensity37
Energy cost36
Cost advantage34
Growth momentum31
Talent & skills30
Air quality28
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)
55.1
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth31.4
Livability46.9
Market access71
Economic scale71
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)
41.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability73
Labour stability48
Diversification23
Demographic stability21
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)
71.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density49
Airport access94
Market access71
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)
29.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary17
Lifelong learning25
Knowledge workers32
Scientists & engineers45
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)
28.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.59.4 µg/m³
PM1016 µg/m³
NO219.5 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)
46.9
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy80
Jobs73
Education40.5
Health29.5
Safety26.7
Connectivity49
Environment29.7
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
31.4
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.2%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.0%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.2 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.1 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.5%
CAGR
Employment rate
+2.1 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.8 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 · 31.7%Diversified · HHI 2457
Agriculture 0.1%Industry 21.9%Construction 2.7%Trade · transport · ICT 19.2%Finance · real estate · prof. 24.4%Public · health · education 31.7%
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 · 2009–2023
GDP (current prices)
€13,265M2023
6.1% 1y 4.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 71
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€11,587M2025
0.2% 1y 1.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 70
Population
197,2302025
0.1% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 39
Unemployment rate
3.6%2025
63.6% 1y 13.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 30
Employment
156,5802023
0.6% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 64
Productivity / employee
€90,1152025
3.3% 1y 5.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 66
Gross value added
€12,116M2023
7.6% 1y 4.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 71
All indicators · 83 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€12,116M
2023 · EU pctl 71
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€8M
2023 · EU pctl 5
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,657M
2023 · EU pctl 67
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,172M
2023 · EU pctl 70
GVA — construction (F)
€327M
2023 · EU pctl 37
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€2,324M
2023 · EU pctl 68
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€26,900
2023 · EU pctl 66 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
60,000 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 94
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€67,400
2023 · EU pctl 95
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€11,649M
2023 · EU pctl 41 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€1,829M
2023 · EU pctl 41 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€32,339M
2023 · EU pctl 50 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€2,959M
2023 · EU pctl 74
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€3,841M
2023 · EU pctl 81
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€11,587M
2025 · EU pctl 70
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€90,115
2025 · EU pctl 66
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€2,795M
2025 · EU pctl 68
Labour market
Employment, total persons
156,580
2023 · EU pctl 64
Self-employed persons
9,860
2023 · EU pctl 35
Employment in manufacturing (C)
17,450
2023 · EU pctl 50
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
80.7%
2025 · EU pctl 72 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.6%
2025 · EU pctl 30
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
109,200
2025 · EU pctl 45
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
7,396
2023 · EU pctl 30
Enterprise births
667
2023 · EU pctl 34
Enterprise deaths
658
2023 · EU pctl 37
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.6%
2023 · EU pctl 56
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.5%
2023 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
3.7%
2025 · EU pctl 34 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.9%
2023 · EU pctl 41 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
30.6%
2025 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
31.8%
2025 · EU pctl 17 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
8.2%
2025 · EU pctl 25 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
20.8%
2025 · EU pctl 32 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
8.0%
2025 · EU pctl 45 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
859,039
2024 · EU pctl 49
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
642 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 77 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
4,623 kt
2025 · EU pctl 34
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
779
CURRENT · EU pctl 46
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
395
CURRENT · EU pctl 49
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
13
CURRENT · EU pctl 6
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)
129,951
2025 · EU pctl 43
Population aged 65+
40,235
2025 · EU pctl 34
Population aged under 15
27,044
2025 · EU pctl 41
Median age of population
41.4 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 10
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.0%
2025 · EU pctl 17
Crude rate of total population change
0.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 50
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
3.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 36
Crude birth rate
9.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 87
Crude death rate
11.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 50
Live births
1,816
2024 · EU pctl 49
Deaths
2,291
2024 · EU pctl 38
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
51.8%
2025 · EU pctl 10
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.28
2024 · EU pctl 31
Population density (persons per km²)
1,860 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 95
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
195,128
2100 · EU pctl 45
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,078 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 66 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
227 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 44 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 69
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
114 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
923 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 99
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,736 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 97
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
47 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 54 · 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)
196 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 48
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
6 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 37
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
66 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 60
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 24
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
16
2024 · EU pctl 61
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
20
2024 · EU pctl 85
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
50
2024 · EU pctl 30
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
11.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 19
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
6.4%
2021 · EU pctl 75
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions