NUTS-3 DEF04 · Germany
Neumünster, Kreisfreie Stadt
Neumünster, Kreisfreie Stadt generates €4.5bn of GDP across 79.8k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 46.3/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by market access and livability. Its economy has grown +5.3%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 1.0pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (84.5th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (36th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader87 → 85 EU percentile since 1995 (-2 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)
Demographic outlook99
Freight intensity91
Economic base89
Labour market65
Connectivity59
Resilience58
Governance56
Quality of life56
Industrial base48
Growth momentum42
Energy cost36
Talent & skills36
Cost advantage20
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)
46.3
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth42.2
Livability55.8
Market access60
Economic scale27
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)
58.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability97
Labour stability54
Diversification43
Demographic stability39
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)
58.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density63
Airport access53
Market access60
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.
Quality of Life · composite (experimental)
55.8
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy84.5
Jobs66.5
Education42.5
Health42.5
Safety36
Connectivity63
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
42.2
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.3%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.9%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.3 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+1.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.1%
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: Trade · transport · ICT · 28.1%Diversified · HHI 2291
Agriculture 0.3%Industry 19.9%Construction 5.3%Trade · transport · ICT 28.1%Finance · real estate · prof. 24.1%Public · health · education 22.3%
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)
€4,465M2023
5.7% 1y 5.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 27
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€3,698M2025
0.2% 1y 0.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 26
Population
79,8092025
0.4% 1y 0.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 9
Unemployment rate
3.7%2025
12.1% 1y 5.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 34
Employment
55,3502023
0.2% 1y 0.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 20
Productivity / employee
€86,5172025
3.3% 1y 5.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 57
Gross value added
€4,078M2023
7.3% 1y 5.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 27
All indicators · 82 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€4,078M
2023 · EU pctl 27
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€13M
2023 · EU pctl 8
GVA — industry (B–E)
€812M
2023 · EU pctl 25
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€684M
2023 · EU pctl 29
GVA — construction (F)
€217M
2023 · EU pctl 22
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,147M
2023 · EU pctl 40
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)
50,300 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 89
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€56,400
2023 · EU pctl 89
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)
€981M
2023 · EU pctl 35
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€909M
2023 · EU pctl 28
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,698M
2025 · EU pctl 26
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€86,517
2025 · EU pctl 57
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,003M
2025 · EU pctl 26
Labour market
Employment, total persons
55,350
2023 · EU pctl 20
Self-employed persons
3,440
2023 · EU pctl 5
Employment in manufacturing (C)
5,570
2023 · EU pctl 14
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)
3.7%
2025 · EU pctl 34
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
42,800
2025 · EU pctl 10
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
2,603
2023 · EU pctl 5
Enterprise births
201
2023 · EU pctl 7
Enterprise deaths
256
2023 · EU pctl 10
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.8%
2023 · EU pctl 34
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)
204,631
2024 · EU pctl 12
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
593 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 47 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
4,396 kt
2025 · EU pctl 32
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
434
CURRENT · EU pctl 33
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
544
CURRENT · EU pctl 63
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.
51
CURRENT · EU pctl 47
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)
51,016
2025 · EU pctl 9
Population aged 65+
18,429
2025 · EU pctl 8
Population aged under 15
10,364
2025 · EU pctl 9
Median age of population
45.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 47
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
36.1%
2025 · EU pctl 46
Crude rate of total population change
4.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 73
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
10.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 87
Crude birth rate
8.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 59
Crude death rate
14.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 82
Live births
642
2024 · EU pctl 11
Deaths
1,123
2024 · EU pctl 11
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
56.4%
2025 · EU pctl 29
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.40
2024 · EU pctl 51
Population density (persons per km²)
1,138 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 91
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
120,418
2100 · EU pctl 25
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
1.3 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 77
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
111 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
891 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 98
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
3,146 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 99
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)
26 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 9
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 16
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
52 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 42
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 11
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
17.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 32
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
0.0%
2021 · EU pctl 4
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Germany regions