NUTS-3 DEC02 · Germany
Merzig-Wadern
Merzig-Wadern generates €3.4bn of GDP across 108.8k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 44.8/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +3.5%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 1.3pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for digital connectivity (84th EU percentile) and weakest for health (22.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run faller55 → 39 EU percentile since 1995 (-16 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)
Connectivity76
Resilience65
Governance56
Quality of life50
Labour market48
Cost advantage48
Industrial base44
Growth momentum40
Freight intensity39
Energy cost36
Economic base30
Talent & skills24
Demographic outlook12
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)
44.8
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth39.6
Livability49.5
Market access71
Economic scale19
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)
65.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability63
Labour stability50
Diversification55
Demographic stability93
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)
75.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density84
Airport access72
Market access71
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)
24.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary12
Lifelong learning31
Knowledge workers27
Scientists & engineers27
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)
49.5
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy41
Jobs52
Education37
Health22.5
Safety60.3
Connectivity84
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
39.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+3.5%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.6%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
-0.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.7 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+1.1%
CAGR
Employment rate
+1.3 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.4 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 · 23.8%Diversified · HHI 2218
Agriculture 0.5%Industry 23.6%Construction 6.1%Trade · transport · ICT 22.4%Finance · real estate · prof. 23.5%Public · health · education 23.8%
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)
€3,395M2023
4.1% 1y 3.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 19
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€2,819M2025
0.2% 1y 0.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 19
Population
108,7792025
0.5% 1y 1.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 17
Unemployment rate
4.0%2025
11.1% 1y 4.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 43
Employment
43,2702023
0.3% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 12
Productivity / employee
€82,5002025
3.3% 1y 5.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 46
Gross value added
€3,101M2023
5.6% 1y 3.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 19
All indicators · 81 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€3,101M
2023 · EU pctl 19
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€17M
2023 · EU pctl 10
GVA — industry (B–E)
€732M
2023 · EU pctl 23
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€490M
2023 · EU pctl 21
GVA — construction (F)
€189M
2023 · EU pctl 18
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€695M
2023 · EU pctl 24
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€25,000
2023 · EU pctl 52 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
27,700 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 30
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€31,000
2023 · EU pctl 39
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€8,110M
2023 · EU pctl 25 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€1,529M
2023 · EU pctl 33 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€23,975M
2023 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€729M
2023 · EU pctl 24
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€740M
2023 · EU pctl 19
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€2,819M
2025 · EU pctl 19
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€82,500
2025 · EU pctl 46
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€660M
2025 · EU pctl 13
Labour market
Employment, total persons
43,270
2023 · EU pctl 12
Self-employed persons
3,470
2023 · EU pctl 5
Employment in manufacturing (C)
6,730
2023 · EU pctl 17
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
77.9%
2025 · EU pctl 52 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.0%
2025 · EU pctl 43
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
55,300
2025 · EU pctl 18
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
3,284
2023 · EU pctl 8
Enterprise births
268
2023 · EU pctl 10
Enterprise deaths
318
2023 · EU pctl 15
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.8%
2023 · EU pctl 31
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)
1.1%
2023 · EU pctl 47 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
28.1%
2025 · EU pctl 21 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
29.6%
2025 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
9.0%
2025 · EU pctl 31 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
19.9%
2025 · EU pctl 27 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
7.1%
2025 · EU pctl 27 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
367,490
2024 · EU pctl 24
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
646 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 78 · 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.
859
CURRENT · EU pctl 49
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
2,654 kt
2025 · EU pctl 17
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
790
CURRENT · EU pctl 84
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
94 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
34
CURRENT · EU pctl 28
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
CURRENT · EU pctl 50
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
68,018
2025 · EU pctl 17
Population aged 65+
27,013
2025 · EU pctl 18
Population aged under 15
13,748
2025 · EU pctl 15
Median age of population
48.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 75
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
39.7%
2025 · EU pctl 66
Crude rate of total population change
-5.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 16
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
1.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 24
Crude birth rate
6.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 23
Crude death rate
13.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 77
Live births
706
2024 · EU pctl 14
Deaths
1,460
2024 · EU pctl 19
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.9%
2025 · EU pctl 55
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.20
2024 · EU pctl 21
Population density (persons per km²)
197 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 64
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
95,777
2100 · EU pctl 17
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,123 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 74 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
243 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 70 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.9 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 64
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
13.7 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 33
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
162 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
777 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 48
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
24 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 7 · 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)
251 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 55
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
8 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 49
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
55 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 46
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 65
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
8.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 13
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
10.2%
2021 · EU pctl 88
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions