NUTS-3 DEC05 · Germany
Saarpfalz-Kreis
Saarpfalz-Kreis generates €6.9bn of GDP across 144.1k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 49.4/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +2.5%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 1.3pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for digital connectivity (86th EU percentile) and weakest for health (22.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader82 → 78 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)
Industrial base91
Economic base78
Connectivity63
Governance56
Quality of life54
Labour market48
Cost advantage48
Resilience46
Freight intensity45
Energy cost36
Growth momentum26
Talent & skills24
Demographic outlook18
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)
49.4
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth25.6
Livability54.1
Market access74
Economic scale44
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)
45.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability47
Labour stability50
Diversification25
Demographic stability61
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)
62.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density86
Airport access28
Market access74
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)
54.1
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy65
Jobs52
Education37
Health22.5
Safety62.3
Connectivity86
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
25.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+2.5%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+2.7%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
-0.3 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-1.8 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.3%
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: Industry · 33.8%Diversified · HHI 2427
Agriculture 0.2%Industry 33.8%Construction 5.2%Trade · transport · ICT 19.3%Finance · real estate · prof. 17.4%Public · health · education 24.2%
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)
€6,853M2023
1.3% 1y 2.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 44
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€5,691M2025
0.2% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 43
Population
144,0922025
0.3% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 28
Unemployment rate
4.1%2025
17.1% 1y 7.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 45
Employment
85,9902023
0.0% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 39
Productivity / employee
€83,7932025
3.3% 1y 3.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 49
Gross value added
€6,260M2023
2.7% 1y 2.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 44
All indicators · 81 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€6,260M
2023 · EU pctl 44
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€12M
2023 · EU pctl 7
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,113M
2023 · EU pctl 60
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,003M
2023 · EU pctl 66
GVA — construction (F)
€323M
2023 · EU pctl 36
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,209M
2023 · EU pctl 42
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)
42,300 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 78
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€47,400
2023 · EU pctl 80
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)
€1,091M
2023 · EU pctl 38
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,513M
2023 · EU pctl 50
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€5,691M
2025 · EU pctl 43
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€83,793
2025 · EU pctl 49
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,332M
2025 · EU pctl 36
Labour market
Employment, total persons
85,990
2023 · EU pctl 39
Self-employed persons
5,770
2023 · EU pctl 16
Employment in manufacturing (C)
21,710
2023 · EU pctl 59
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
77.9%
2025 · EU pctl 52 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.1%
2025 · EU pctl 45
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
71,000
2025 · EU pctl 26
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
5,323
2023 · EU pctl 21
Enterprise births
420
2023 · EU pctl 20
Enterprise deaths
462
2023 · EU pctl 25
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.0%
2023 · EU pctl 41
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)
221,283
2024 · EU pctl 13
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
646 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 78 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
3,849 kt
2025 · EU pctl 27
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
1,198
CURRENT · EU pctl 61
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
94 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
831
CURRENT · EU pctl 86
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
76
CURRENT · EU pctl 72
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)
87,425
2025 · EU pctl 27
Population aged 65+
38,740
2025 · EU pctl 32
Population aged under 15
17,927
2025 · EU pctl 24
Median age of population
49.9 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 84
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
44.3%
2025 · EU pctl 83
Crude rate of total population change
-2.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 25
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 50
Crude birth rate
7.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Crude death rate
14.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 88
Live births
1,055
2024 · EU pctl 27
Deaths
2,133
2024 · EU pctl 35
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
64.8%
2025 · EU pctl 80
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.33
2024 · EU pctl 38
Population density (persons per km²)
345 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 77
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
125,352
2100 · EU pctl 27
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
0.7 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 51
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
22.1 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 51
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
207 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 49
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
863 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 55
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)
383 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 71
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
10 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 60
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
62 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 55
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
4 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 51
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
11.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 19
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.9%
2021 · EU pctl 20
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions