NUTS-3 DEA41 · Germany
Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt
Bielefeld, Kreisfreie Stadt generates €18bn of GDP across 331.6k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 62.9/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +4.0%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 2.2pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (81th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (37.3th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader85 → 85 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 base87
Demographic outlook78
Labour market72
Connectivity65
Energy cost62
Governance56
Quality of life54
Resilience52
Air quality45
Growth momentum39
Talent & skills36
Freight intensity34
Industrial base33
Cost advantage25
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)
62.9
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth39.2
Livability54.4
Market access79
Economic scale79
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)
51.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability100
Labour stability50
Diversification22
Demographic stability35
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)
64.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density54
Airport access61
Market access79
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)
36.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary27
Lifelong learning38
Knowledge workers34
Scientists & engineers46
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)
45.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.8 µg/m³
PM1013 µg/m³
NO217.3 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)
54.4
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy81
Jobs70
Education45
Health47
Safety37.3
Connectivity54
Environment46.7
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
39.2
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.0%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.0%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
0.0 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.3 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.2%
CAGR
Employment rate
+2.2 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
0.0 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 · 32.3%Diversified · HHI 2469
Agriculture 0.1%Industry 16.4%Construction 3.4%Trade · transport · ICT 23.1%Finance · real estate · prof. 24.8%Public · health · education 32.3%
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)
€18,054M2023
4.9% 1y 4.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 79
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€15,215M2025
0.2% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 78
Population
331,6052025
0.0% 1y 0.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 63
Unemployment rate
3.7%2025
8.8% 1y 5.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 34
Employment
222,6402023
0.6% 1y 0.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 77
Productivity / employee
€85,3622025
3.3% 1y 3.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 54
Gross value added
€16,490M2023
6.4% 1y 4.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 79
All indicators · 84 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€16,490M
2023 · EU pctl 79
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€16M
2023 · EU pctl 10
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,696M
2023 · EU pctl 68
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,172M
2023 · EU pctl 70
GVA — construction (F)
€556M
2023 · EU pctl 59
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€3,811M
2023 · EU pctl 81
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€28,000
2023 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
48,500 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 87
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€54,500
2023 · EU pctl 87
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€18,145M
2023 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€5,057M
2023 · EU pctl 84 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€52,413M
2023 · EU pctl 72 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€4,091M
2023 · EU pctl 80
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€5,320M
2023 · EU pctl 88
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€15,215M
2025 · EU pctl 78
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€85,362
2025 · EU pctl 54
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,456M
2025 · EU pctl 75
Labour market
Employment, total persons
222,640
2023 · EU pctl 77
Self-employed persons
14,000
2023 · EU pctl 46
Employment in manufacturing (C)
26,550
2023 · EU pctl 67
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
80.3%
2025 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
6.8%
2018 · EU pctl 17 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.7%
2025 · EU pctl 34
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
188,600
2025 · EU pctl 69
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
11,744
2023 · EU pctl 45
Enterprise births
946
2023 · EU pctl 42
Enterprise deaths
973
2023 · EU pctl 49
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.0%
2023 · EU pctl 41
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.8%
2023 · EU pctl 58 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
4.4%
2025 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.3%
2023 · EU pctl 55 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
30.9%
2025 · EU pctl 32 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
33.6%
2025 · EU pctl 27 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
9.3%
2025 · EU pctl 38 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
21.1%
2025 · EU pctl 34 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
8.3%
2025 · EU pctl 46 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
600,916
2025 · EU pctl 37
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
632 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 69 · 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.
1,453
CURRENT · EU pctl 68
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
7,272 kt
2025 · EU pctl 50
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
438
CURRENT · EU pctl 54
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
45
CURRENT · EU pctl 39
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)
216,817
2025 · EU pctl 64
Population aged 65+
67,444
2025 · EU pctl 57
Population aged under 15
47,344
2025 · EU pctl 64
Median age of population
42.2 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 13
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
31.1%
2025 · EU pctl 17
Crude rate of total population change
0.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 47
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 28
Crude birth rate
9.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 90
Crude death rate
11.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 44
Live births
3,108
2024 · EU pctl 71
Deaths
3,761
2024 · EU pctl 61
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
52.9%
2025 · EU pctl 13
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.37
2024 · EU pctl 45
Population density (persons per km²)
1,280 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 92
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
349,734
2100 · EU pctl 70
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,001 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 45 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
234 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 57 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.9 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 63
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
108 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 95
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
407 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 81
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,106 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 92
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
38 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 33 · 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)
€0.138/kWh
2026-S1 · EU pctl 38
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.053/kWh
2026-S1 · EU pctl 40
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
112 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 31
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 41
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
46 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 36
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 20
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 29
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
17
2024 · EU pctl 77
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
51
2024 · EU pctl 35
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
29.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 51
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.0%
2021 · EU pctl 4
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions