NUTS-3 DEA42 · Germany
Gütersloh
Gütersloh generates €21bn of GDP across 364k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 66.4/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by economic scale and market access. Its economy has grown +4.4%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 2.2pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (83th EU percentile) and weakest for education (44.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader90 → 88 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)
Industrial base97
Economic base91
Demographic outlook81
Labour market72
Freight intensity71
Connectivity71
Quality of life59
Governance56
Resilience48
Growth momentum43
Talent & skills36
Energy cost36
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)
66.4
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth43
Livability59.4
Market access81
Economic scale82
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)
47.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability88
Labour stability49
Diversification11
Demographic stability42
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)
70.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density65
Airport access66
Market access81
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.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
59.4
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy83
Jobs70
Education44.5
Health47
Safety47
Connectivity65
Environment—
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
43
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.4%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.0%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.5 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.2 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.1%
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: Industry · 41.6%Moderately concentrated · HHI 2691
Agriculture 0.9%Industry 41.6%Construction 5.4%Trade · transport · ICT 20%Finance · real estate · prof. 19%Public · health · education 13.1%
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)
€21,463M2023
9.8% 1y 4.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 82
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€18,089M2025
0.2% 1y 0.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 82
Population
363,9822025
0.1% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 67
Unemployment rate
3.7%2025
8.8% 1y 5.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 34
Employment
234,3302023
0.6% 1y 0.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 78
Productivity / employee
€96,4222025
3.3% 1y 4.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 77
Gross value added
€19,605M2023
11.4% 1y 4.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 82
All indicators · 81 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€19,605M
2023 · EU pctl 82
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€183M
2023 · EU pctl 57
GVA — industry (B–E)
€8,149M
2023 · EU pctl 94
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€7,824M
2023 · EU pctl 96
GVA — construction (F)
€1,054M
2023 · EU pctl 81
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€3,921M
2023 · EU pctl 82
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)
52,700 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 91
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€59,200
2023 · EU pctl 91
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)
€3,730M
2023 · EU pctl 79
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€2,569M
2023 · EU pctl 69
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€18,089M
2025 · EU pctl 82
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€96,422
2025 · EU pctl 77
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€4,109M
2025 · EU pctl 79
Labour market
Employment, total persons
234,330
2023 · EU pctl 78
Self-employed persons
15,220
2023 · EU pctl 50
Employment in manufacturing (C)
78,660
2023 · EU pctl 96
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)
202,500
2025 · EU pctl 72
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
13,713
2023 · EU pctl 50
Enterprise births
1,029
2023 · EU pctl 45
Enterprise deaths
1,102
2023 · EU pctl 52
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.6%
2023 · EU pctl 25
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.8%
2023 · EU pctl 57 · 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 54 · 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)
527,440
2024 · EU pctl 33
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
632 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 69 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
14,039 kt
2025 · EU pctl 76
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
2,017
CURRENT · EU pctl 80
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
554
CURRENT · EU pctl 65
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
40
CURRENT · EU pctl 34
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
4
CURRENT · EU pctl 90
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
232,819
2025 · EU pctl 68
Population aged 65+
77,074
2025 · EU pctl 63
Population aged under 15
54,089
2025 · EU pctl 69
Median age of population
45.2 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 39
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
33.1%
2025 · EU pctl 27
Crude rate of total population change
0.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 50
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
3.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Crude birth rate
8.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 79
Crude death rate
11.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 46
Live births
3,206
2024 · EU pctl 72
Deaths
4,158
2024 · EU pctl 66
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
56.3%
2025 · EU pctl 29
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.58
2024 · EU pctl 85
Population density (persons per km²)
376 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 79
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
403,377
2100 · EU pctl 75
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
0.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 59
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
31.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
194 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 47
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,102 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 67
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)
€0.161/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)
71 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 21
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
9 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 54
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
47 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 37
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 38
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
64.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 78
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.3%
2021 · EU pctl 9
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions