NUTS-3 DE913 · Germany
Wolfsburg, Kreisfreie Stadt
Opportunity66Momentum54Resilience33Quality of life58vs nearest peer: Braunschweig, Kreisfreie Stadt →
Wolfsburg, Kreisfreie Stadt generates €24bn of GDP across 129.6k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 65.5/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by economic scale and market access. Its economy has grown +0.6%/yr over five years and cooling, with the employment rate up 3.8pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (82.5th EU percentile) and weakest for health (32.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader100 → 100 EU percentile since 1995 (+0 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 base100
Industrial base100
Quality of life58
Labour market57
Governance56
Talent & skills55
Growth momentum54
Freight intensity54
Connectivity51
Demographic outlook50
Air quality50
Energy cost36
Cost advantage35
Resilience33
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)
65.5
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth54.4
Livability57.7
Market access65
Economic scale85
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)
32.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability0
Labour stability44
Diversification0
Demographic stability87
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)
51
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density58
Airport access30
Market access65
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)
54.5
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary40
Lifelong learning45
Knowledge workers57
Scientists & engineers76
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)
50
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.2 µg/m³
PM1013.8 µg/m³
NO214.9 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)
57.7
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy82.5
Jobs59
Education74
Health32.5
Safety47
Connectivity58
Environment51
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
54.4
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+0.6%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.3%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
-3.7 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-3.6 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.8%
CAGR
Employment rate
+3.8 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-0.6 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 · 75.3%Concentrated · HHI 5873
Agriculture 0.1%Industry 75.3%Construction 0.7%Trade · transport · ICT 10.2%Finance · real estate · prof. 7.6%Public · health · education 6.1%
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)
€23,817M2023
30.4% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 85
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€20,598M2025
0.2% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 84
Population
129,5602025
0.2% 1y 0.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Unemployment rate
3.9%2025
14.7% 1y 0.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 40
Employment
131,8302023
0.4% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 56
Productivity / employee
€194,3112025
3.3% 1y 5.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 100
Gross value added
€21,755M2023
32.3% 1y 1.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 85
All indicators · 84 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€21,755M
2023 · EU pctl 85
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€11M
2023 · EU pctl 7
GVA — industry (B–E)
€16,385M
2023 · EU pctl 98
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€16,165M
2023 · EU pctl 99
GVA — construction (F)
€145M
2023 · EU pctl 12
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€2,229M
2023 · EU pctl 67
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€26,800
2023 · EU pctl 65 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
164,900 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 100
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€185,100
2023 · EU pctl 100
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€22,342M
2023 · EU pctl 69 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€7,903M
2023 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€43,988M
2023 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,653M
2023 · EU pctl 54
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,331M
2023 · EU pctl 44
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€20,598M
2025 · EU pctl 84
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€194,311
2025 · EU pctl 100
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€6,077M
2025 · EU pctl 88
Labour market
Employment, total persons
131,830
2023 · EU pctl 56
Self-employed persons
2,690
2023 · EU pctl 3
Employment in manufacturing (C)
71,080
2023 · EU pctl 94
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
79.0%
2025 · EU pctl 60 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
6.6%
2019 · EU pctl 14 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.9%
2025 · EU pctl 40
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
67,400
2025 · EU pctl 24
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
2,487
2023 · EU pctl 5
Enterprise births
253
2023 · EU pctl 9
Enterprise deaths
233
2023 · EU pctl 8
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.2%
2023 · EU pctl 46
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
5.9%
2023 · EU pctl 98 · 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)
3.9%
2023 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
34.9%
2025 · EU pctl 50 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
38.1%
2025 · EU pctl 40 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
9.8%
2025 · EU pctl 45 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
24.8%
2025 · EU pctl 57 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
10.6%
2025 · EU pctl 76 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
626,058
2024 · EU pctl 38
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
640 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 74 · 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.
612
CURRENT · EU pctl 39
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
3,843 kt
2025 · EU pctl 27
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
472
CURRENT · EU pctl 58
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
74
CURRENT · EU pctl 70
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)
81,461
2025 · EU pctl 23
Population aged 65+
28,708
2025 · EU pctl 20
Population aged under 15
19,391
2025 · EU pctl 27
Median age of population
43.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 25
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
35.2%
2025 · EU pctl 41
Crude rate of total population change
1.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 55
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
5.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 58
Crude birth rate
8.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 64
Crude death rate
12.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 64
Live births
1,074
2024 · EU pctl 28
Deaths
1,612
2024 · EU pctl 24
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.0%
2025 · EU pctl 48
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.36
2024 · EU pctl 43
Population density (persons per km²)
635 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 85
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
133,105
2100 · EU pctl 29
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,055 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 59 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
245 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 56
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
81.2 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 91
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
954 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 99
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,493 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 82
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)
63 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 18
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 47
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
50 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 40
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.
14
2024 · EU pctl 39
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
15
2024 · EU pctl 66
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 60
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
5.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 6
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.2%
2021 · EU pctl 8
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions