NUTS-3 DEA19 · Germany
Solingen, Kreisfreie Stadt
Solingen, Kreisfreie Stadt generates €5.6bn of GDP across 165.6k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 54.4/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +2.2%/yr over five years and cooling, with the employment rate up 1.8pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for clean environment (65.5th EU percentile) and weakest for health (29th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run faller59 → 46 EU percentile since 1995 (-14 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)
Connectivity77
Resilience67
Air quality65
Industrial base60
Governance56
Quality of life49
Talent & skills44
Economic base37
Growth momentum37
Energy cost36
Labour market33
Cost advantage31
Demographic outlook27
Freight intensity8
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)
54.4
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth36.6
Livability48.9
Market access98
Economic scale34
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)
67.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability92
Labour stability57
Diversification34
Demographic stability86
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)
77
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density52
Airport access81
Market access98
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)
43.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary35
Lifelong learning42
Knowledge workers45
Scientists & engineers53
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)
65
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 2/3 pollutants
PM2.5—
PM1011.5 µg/m³
NO213 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)
48.9
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy53
Jobs38.5
Education44.5
Health29
Safety59.7
Connectivity52
Environment65.5
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
36.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+2.2%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+2.6%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
-0.4 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-2.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.8%
CAGR
Employment rate
+1.8 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-0.3 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 · 26.4%Diversified · HHI 2352
Industry 23.2%Construction 3.7%Trade · transport · ICT 20.9%Finance · real estate · prof. 25.9%Public · health · education 26.4%
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)
€5,555M2023
2.6% 1y 2.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 34
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€4,671M2025
0.2% 1y 1.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 34
Population
165,6262025
0.3% 1y 0.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 33
Unemployment rate
4.8%2025
14.3% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 57
Employment
72,1102023
1.5% 1y 0.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 30
Productivity / employee
€81,2882025
3.3% 1y 3.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 44
Gross value added
€5,074M2023
4.1% 1y 2.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 35
All indicators · 84 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€5,074M
2023 · EU pctl 35
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€3M
2023 · EU pctl 1
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,175M
2023 · EU pctl 37
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€996M
2023 · EU pctl 41
GVA — construction (F)
€185M
2023 · EU pctl 18
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,058M
2023 · EU pctl 38
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€27,100
2023 · EU pctl 69 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
29,900 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 37
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€33,500
2023 · EU pctl 46
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€40,936M
2023 · EU pctl 87 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€5,526M
2023 · EU pctl 85 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€145,544M
2023 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,315M
2023 · EU pctl 45
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,337M
2023 · EU pctl 44
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€4,671M
2025 · EU pctl 34
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€81,288
2025 · EU pctl 44
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€870M
2025 · EU pctl 22
Labour market
Employment, total persons
72,110
2023 · EU pctl 30
Self-employed persons
6,690
2023 · EU pctl 22
Employment in manufacturing (C)
15,150
2023 · EU pctl 44
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
76.8%
2025 · EU pctl 42 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
8.1%
2025 · EU pctl 28 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.8%
2025 · EU pctl 57
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
83,700
2025 · EU pctl 34
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
6,539
2023 · EU pctl 26
Enterprise births
496
2023 · EU pctl 24
Enterprise deaths
549
2023 · EU pctl 29
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.4%
2023 · EU pctl 17
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.6%
2023 · EU pctl 53 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
4.6%
2025 · EU pctl 57 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.0%
2023 · EU pctl 44 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
31.8%
2025 · EU pctl 36 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
35.9%
2025 · EU pctl 35 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
9.6%
2025 · EU pctl 42 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
22.3%
2025 · EU pctl 45 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
8.7%
2025 · EU pctl 53 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
96,374
2024 · EU pctl 4
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
567 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 35 · 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.
689
CURRENT · EU pctl 43
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,616 kt
2025 · EU pctl 9
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
416
CURRENT · EU pctl 52
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
24
CURRENT · EU pctl 19
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
5
CURRENT · EU pctl 96
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
105,406
2025 · EU pctl 34
Population aged 65+
36,963
2025 · EU pctl 30
Population aged under 15
23,257
2025 · EU pctl 34
Median age of population
46.0 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 49
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
35.1%
2025 · EU pctl 40
Crude rate of total population change
-2.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 25
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 29
Crude birth rate
7.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 51
Crude death rate
12.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 70
Live births
1,298
2024 · EU pctl 37
Deaths
2,139
2024 · EU pctl 35
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
57.1%
2025 · EU pctl 35
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.33
2024 · EU pctl 38
Population density (persons per km²)
1,843 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 95
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
155,390
2100 · EU pctl 36
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,075 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
254 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 82 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 45
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
69.2 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 89
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
288 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,220 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 72
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
22 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 4 · 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)
188 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 46
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
6 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 36
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
43 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 34
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
6 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 71
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
12
2024 · EU pctl 15
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
13
2024 · EU pctl 54
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
55
2024 · EU pctl 57
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
16.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 30
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.2%
2021 · EU pctl 7
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions