NUTS-3 DEB32 · Germany
Kaiserslautern, Kreisfreie Stadt
Kaiserslautern, Kreisfreie Stadt generates €6.0bn of GDP across 100.4k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 56.9/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +4.2%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 3.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (83th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (32.7th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader92 → 90 EU percentile since 1995 (-3 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 base92
Labour market76
Connectivity62
Quality of life62
Air quality58
Talent & skills58
Resilience57
Governance56
Industrial base46
Growth momentum46
Demographic outlook36
Energy cost36
Cost advantage26
Freight intensity20
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)
56.9
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth45.8
Livability61.6
Market access81
Economic scale39
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)
57
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability70
Labour stability81
Diversification28
Demographic stability49
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)
61.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density68
Airport access36
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)
57.5
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary52
Lifelong learning49
Knowledge workers61
Scientists & engineers68
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)
58.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.1 µg/m³
PM1013.2 µg/m³
NO212.3 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)
61.6
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy83
Jobs67
Education75.5
Health45
Safety32.7
Connectivity68
Environment59.7
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
45.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.2%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.1%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.1%
CAGR
Employment rate
+3.1 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 · 30%Diversified · HHI 2401
Agriculture 0.1%Industry 20.2%Construction 3.2%Trade · transport · ICT 22.3%Finance · real estate · prof. 24.2%Public · health · education 30%
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)
€6,048M2023
7.7% 1y 4.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 39
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€5,139M2025
0.2% 1y 0.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 39
Population
100,4262025
0.1% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 14
Unemployment rate
4.1%2025
28.1% 1y 3.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 45
Employment
73,8702023
2.1% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 31
Productivity / employee
€85,7572025
3.3% 1y 4.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 55
Gross value added
€5,524M2023
9.3% 1y 4.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 39
All indicators · 84 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€5,524M
2023 · EU pctl 39
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€6M
2023 · EU pctl 4
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,117M
2023 · EU pctl 36
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€901M
2023 · EU pctl 38
GVA — construction (F)
€175M
2023 · EU pctl 16
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,233M
2023 · EU pctl 43
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€27,700
2023 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
53,600 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 92
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€60,200
2023 · EU pctl 92
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€20,699M
2023 · EU pctl 65 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€4,472M
2023 · EU pctl 80 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€49,098M
2023 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,337M
2023 · EU pctl 46
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,656M
2023 · EU pctl 54
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€5,139M
2025 · EU pctl 39
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€85,757
2025 · EU pctl 55
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,300M
2025 · EU pctl 35
Labour market
Employment, total persons
73,870
2023 · EU pctl 31
Self-employed persons
4,630
2023 · EU pctl 11
Employment in manufacturing (C)
8,690
2023 · EU pctl 24
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
81.3%
2025 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
6.4%
2019 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.1%
2025 · EU pctl 45
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
56,500
2025 · EU pctl 19
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
3,466
2023 · EU pctl 9
Enterprise births
266
2023 · EU pctl 10
Enterprise deaths
259
2023 · EU pctl 10
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.4%
2023 · EU pctl 52
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
5.3%
2023 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
6.4%
2025 · EU pctl 82 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
2.1%
2023 · EU pctl 83 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
36.8%
2025 · EU pctl 57 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
41.9%
2025 · EU pctl 52 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
10.1%
2025 · EU pctl 49 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
25.1%
2025 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
9.8%
2025 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
354,403
2024 · EU pctl 23
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
621 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 64 · 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.
583
CURRENT · EU pctl 38
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
1,614 kt
2025 · EU pctl 9
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
581
CURRENT · EU pctl 68
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
68
CURRENT · EU pctl 64
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)
66,126
2025 · EU pctl 17
Population aged 65+
21,620
2025 · EU pctl 11
Population aged under 15
12,680
2025 · EU pctl 13
Median age of population
42.2 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 13
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
32.7%
2025 · EU pctl 25
Crude rate of total population change
-1.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 34
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
1.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 23
Crude birth rate
9.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 93
Crude death rate
12.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 67
Live births
963
2024 · EU pctl 24
Deaths
1,279
2024 · EU pctl 14
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
51.9%
2025 · EU pctl 10
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.45
2024 · EU pctl 61
Population density (persons per km²)
718 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 86
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
91,721
2100 · EU pctl 15
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,015 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 49 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
231 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 53 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
5.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 99
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
94.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 94
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
360 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 76
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,225 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 94
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
25 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 9 · 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)
272 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 58
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
11 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 61
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
57 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 49
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 41
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 32
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
12
2024 · EU pctl 49
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
47
2024 · EU pctl 16
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
9.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 15
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.0%
2021 · EU pctl 3
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions