NUTS-3 DEF02 · Germany
Kiel, Kreisfreie Stadt
Kiel, Kreisfreie Stadt generates €15bn of GDP across 252.7k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 54.6/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by economic scale and livability. Its economy has grown +4.3%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 1.0pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (85.5th EU percentile) and weakest for digital connectivity (42th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader93 → 87 EU percentile since 1995 (-6 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 base91
Demographic outlook65
Labour market65
Resilience58
Governance56
Quality of life55
Air quality52
Growth momentum40
Connectivity40
Energy cost36
Talent & skills36
Industrial base29
Cost advantage20
Freight intensity18
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)
54.6
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth39.8
Livability54.7
Market access51
Economic scale73
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)
57.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability95
Labour stability54
Diversification10
Demographic stability72
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)
39.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density42
Airport access26
Market access51
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)
35.5
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary20
Lifelong learning33
Knowledge workers39
Scientists & engineers50
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)
51.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.56.8 µg/m³
PM1013.5 µg/m³
NO221 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)
54.7
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy85.5
Jobs66.5
Education42.5
Health42.5
Safety51.3
Connectivity42
Environment52.3
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
39.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.3%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+3.8%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.5 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.5%
CAGR
Employment rate
+1.0 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.2 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 · 37.9%Moderately concentrated · HHI 2700
Industry 15%Construction 2.7%Trade · transport · ICT 17.4%Finance · real estate · prof. 27.1%Public · health · education 37.9%
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)
€14,647M2023
7.7% 1y 4.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 73
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€12,131M2025
0.2% 1y 0.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 73
Population
252,6682025
0.4% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 50
Unemployment rate
3.6%2025
5.9% 1y 4.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 30
Employment
180,8102023
0.6% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 69
Productivity / employee
€86,8802025
3.3% 1y 5.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 58
Gross value added
€13,379M2023
9.3% 1y 4.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 74
All indicators · 85 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€13,379M
2023 · EU pctl 74
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€4M
2023 · EU pctl 2
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,007M
2023 · EU pctl 58
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,632M
2023 · EU pctl 60
GVA — construction (F)
€359M
2023 · EU pctl 40
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€2,323M
2023 · EU pctl 68
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€28,800
2023 · EU pctl 80 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
52,000 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 91
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€58,400
2023 · EU pctl 91
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€27,063M
2023 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€2,460M
2023 · EU pctl 52 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€61,661M
2023 · EU pctl 79 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€3,621M
2023 · EU pctl 78
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€5,065M
2023 · EU pctl 87
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€12,131M
2025 · EU pctl 73
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€86,880
2025 · EU pctl 58
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,290M
2025 · EU pctl 73
Labour market
Employment, total persons
180,810
2023 · EU pctl 69
Self-employed persons
10,480
2023 · EU pctl 36
Employment in manufacturing (C)
16,360
2023 · EU pctl 48
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
80.3%
2025 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
6.0%
2019 · EU pctl 9 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.6%
2025 · EU pctl 30
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
144,800
2025 · EU pctl 57
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
7,637
2023 · EU pctl 31
Enterprise births
738
2023 · EU pctl 36
Enterprise deaths
691
2023 · EU pctl 38
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.7%
2023 · EU pctl 58
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.5%
2023 · EU pctl 49 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
4.0%
2025 · EU pctl 45 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.8%
2023 · EU pctl 33 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
31.8%
2025 · EU pctl 36 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
32.4%
2025 · EU pctl 20 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
9.2%
2025 · EU pctl 33 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
21.5%
2025 · EU pctl 39 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
8.6%
2025 · EU pctl 50 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,108,564
2024 · EU pctl 55
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
593 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 47 · 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.
827
CURRENT · EU pctl 48
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
3,859 kt
2025 · EU pctl 27
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
327
CURRENT · EU pctl 42
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
35 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 75 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
80
CURRENT · EU pctl 74
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
CURRENT · EU pctl 15
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
172,470
2025 · EU pctl 55
Population aged 65+
49,169
2025 · EU pctl 41
Population aged under 15
31,029
2025 · EU pctl 46
Median age of population
40.1 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 4
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
28.5%
2025 · EU pctl 9
Crude rate of total population change
3.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 68
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
6.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 64
Crude birth rate
8.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 62
Crude death rate
11.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Live births
2,080
2024 · EU pctl 55
Deaths
2,772
2024 · EU pctl 46
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
46.5%
2025 · EU pctl 3
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.08
2024 · EU pctl 7
Population density (persons per km²)
2,156 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 96
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
238,919
2100 · EU pctl 54
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,015 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 48 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
251 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 80 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 32
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
112 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
1,620 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 100
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,782 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 98
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
29 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 16 · 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)
28 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 9
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 13
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
49 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 39
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 14
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
14
2024 · EU pctl 36
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
21
2024 · EU pctl 89
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
58
2024 · EU pctl 72
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
15.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 28
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