NUTS-3 DE733 · Germany
Hersfeld-Rotenburg
Hersfeld-Rotenburg generates €5.2bn of GDP across 117.4k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 44.2/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +3.5%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 2.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for digital connectivity (86th EU percentile) and weakest for health (29.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader72 → 74 EU percentile since 1995 (+3 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 intensity98
Labour market74
Demographic outlook73
Economic base71
Air quality67
Connectivity65
Quality of life57
Industrial base57
Governance56
Resilience54
Energy cost36
Cost advantage34
Talent & skills30
Growth momentum19
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)
44.2
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth18.8
Livability57.1
Market access69
Economic scale32
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
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability82
Labour stability48
Diversification67
Demographic stability19
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
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density86
Airport access40
Market access69
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)
67.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.4 µg/m³
PM1013.4 µg/m³
NO27 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)
57.1
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy68.5
Jobs73
Education40.5
Health29.5
Safety33.7
Connectivity86
Environment68.3
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
18.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+3.5%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+2.4%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.7 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.6%
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: Trade · transport · ICT · 27.6%Diversified · HHI 2153
Agriculture 1%Industry 22.1%Construction 8.6%Trade · transport · ICT 27.6%Finance · real estate · prof. 20.1%Public · health · education 20.6%
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)
€5,224M2023
3.9% 1y 3.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 32
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€4,563M2025
0.2% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 33
Population
117,4142025
0.5% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 19
Unemployment rate
3.5%2025
59.1% 1y 1.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 28
Employment
64,2202023
0.6% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 25
Productivity / employee
€86,5252025
3.3% 1y 4.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 57
Gross value added
€4,772M2023
5.4% 1y 3.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 33
All indicators · 83 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€4,772M
2023 · EU pctl 33
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€48M
2023 · EU pctl 20
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,053M
2023 · EU pctl 34
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€899M
2023 · EU pctl 38
GVA — construction (F)
€410M
2023 · EU pctl 46
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,318M
2023 · EU pctl 46
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)
39,400 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 71
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€44,200
2023 · EU pctl 74
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)
€960M
2023 · EU pctl 34
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€982M
2023 · EU pctl 32
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€4,563M
2025 · EU pctl 33
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€86,525
2025 · EU pctl 57
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,101M
2025 · EU pctl 29
Labour market
Employment, total persons
64,220
2023 · EU pctl 25
Self-employed persons
4,840
2023 · EU pctl 12
Employment in manufacturing (C)
10,970
2023 · EU pctl 32
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
80.7%
2025 · EU pctl 72 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.5%
2025 · EU pctl 28
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
59,700
2025 · EU pctl 20
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
3,503
2023 · EU pctl 10
Enterprise births
268
2023 · EU pctl 10
Enterprise deaths
302
2023 · EU pctl 13
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.3%
2023 · EU pctl 16
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)
611,768
2024 · EU pctl 38
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
642 /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.
966
CURRENT · EU pctl 53
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
8,634 kt
2025 · EU pctl 58
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
823
CURRENT · EU pctl 86
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.
2
CURRENT · EU pctl 50
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
71,076
2025 · EU pctl 19
Population aged 65+
30,172
2025 · EU pctl 22
Population aged under 15
16,166
2025 · EU pctl 20
Median age of population
49.0 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 77
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
42.5%
2025 · EU pctl 78
Crude rate of total population change
-5.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 16
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
1.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 23
Crude birth rate
8.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 59
Crude death rate
14.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 89
Live births
953
2024 · EU pctl 23
Deaths
1,754
2024 · EU pctl 27
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
65.2%
2025 · EU pctl 81
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.63
2024 · EU pctl 90
Population density (persons per km²)
107 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 44
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
117,792
2100 · EU pctl 24
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
2.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 95
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
28.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 61
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
156 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 37
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
796 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 50
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)
300 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 61
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 31
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
72 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 66
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 3
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
13
2024 · EU pctl 34
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
7
2024 · EU pctl 15
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
56
2024 · EU pctl 62
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
13.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 23
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
3.0%
2021 · EU pctl 51
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions