NUTS-3 DEA43 · Germany
Herford
Herford generates €10bn of GDP across 254.4k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 58.5/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +3.2%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 2.2pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for digital connectivity (81th EU percentile) and weakest for education (45th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run faller79 → 62 EU percentile since 1995 (-18 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 base88
Labour market72
Connectivity67
Energy cost62
Quality of life61
Resilience61
Economic base59
Governance56
Demographic outlook44
Freight intensity39
Talent & skills36
Growth momentum36
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)
58.5
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth35.8
Livability61
Market access77
Economic scale60
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)
60.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability99
Labour stability50
Diversification32
Demographic stability62
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)
66.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density81
Airport access42
Market access77
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)
61
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy67
Jobs70
Education45
Health47
Safety56
Connectivity81
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
35.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+3.2%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.1%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-1.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.3%
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 · 32.8%Diversified · HHI 2368
Agriculture 0.5%Industry 32.8%Construction 5.1%Trade · transport · ICT 20%Finance · real estate · prof. 20.4%Public · health · education 21.1%
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)
€10,155M2023
3.7% 1y 3.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 60
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€8,558M2025
0.2% 1y 0.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 59
Population
254,4042025
0.1% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 50
Unemployment rate
3.7%2025
8.8% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 34
Employment
126,8302023
0.4% 1y 0.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 54
Productivity / employee
€84,2852025
3.3% 1y 3.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 51
Gross value added
€9,276M2023
5.2% 1y 3.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 61
All indicators · 81 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€9,276M
2023 · EU pctl 61
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€45M
2023 · EU pctl 19
GVA — industry (B–E)
€3,045M
2023 · EU pctl 72
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,780M
2023 · EU pctl 77
GVA — construction (F)
€477M
2023 · EU pctl 51
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,857M
2023 · EU pctl 60
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)
35,500 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 59
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€39,900
2023 · EU pctl 64
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)
€1,893M
2023 · EU pctl 59
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,959M
2023 · EU pctl 60
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€8,558M
2025 · EU pctl 59
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€84,285
2025 · EU pctl 51
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,944M
2025 · EU pctl 54
Labour market
Employment, total persons
126,830
2023 · EU pctl 54
Self-employed persons
10,760
2023 · EU pctl 38
Employment in manufacturing (C)
34,890
2023 · EU pctl 76
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)
138,200
2025 · EU pctl 55
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
9,396
2023 · EU pctl 38
Enterprise births
751
2023 · EU pctl 37
Enterprise deaths
812
2023 · EU pctl 44
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.3%
2023 · EU pctl 15
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)
224,905
2025 · EU pctl 13
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
632 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 69 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
6,194 kt
2025 · EU pctl 44
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,889
CURRENT · EU pctl 78
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
743
CURRENT · EU pctl 81
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
61
CURRENT · EU pctl 58
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)
158,825
2025 · EU pctl 50
Population aged 65+
59,291
2025 · EU pctl 50
Population aged under 15
36,288
2025 · EU pctl 51
Median age of population
46.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 56
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
37.3%
2025 · EU pctl 54
Crude rate of total population change
-0.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
3.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 41
Crude birth rate
8.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 56
Crude death rate
12.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 62
Live births
2,025
2024 · EU pctl 54
Deaths
3,168
2024 · EU pctl 53
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
60.2%
2025 · EU pctl 57
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.48
2024 · EU pctl 67
Population density (persons per km²)
566 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 84
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
244,535
2100 · EU pctl 56
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
0.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 32
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
40.9 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 76
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
203 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 49
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,100 /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)
€0.138/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)
97 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 27
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 41
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
48 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 38
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 5
Environment
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)
4.0%
2021 · EU pctl 60
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions