NUTS-3 EL522 · Greece
Θεσσαλονίκη
Thessaloniki
Θεσσαλονίκη generates €20bn of GDP across 1.1m residents. Its Opportunity Index of 43.1/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by economic scale and economic growth. Its economy has grown +4.3%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 10.2pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for education (52th EU percentile) and weakest for digital connectivity (0th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Persistent laggard25 → 18 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)
Cost advantage83
Energy cost58
Growth momentum56
Industrial base39
Talent & skills37
Connectivity33
Demographic outlook23
Freight intensity23
Quality of life22
Resilience21
Economic base14
Labour market10
Governance8
Air quality7
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)
43.1
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth55.8
Livability22.4
Market access13
Economic scale81
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)
20.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability24
Labour stability2
Diversification33
Demographic stability23
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)
33
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density0
Airport access86
Market access13
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)
37.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary64
Lifelong learning7
Knowledge workers36
Scientists & engineers42
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)
6.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.512.4 µg/m³
PM1029.6 µg/m³
NO226.6 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)
22.4
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy15.5
Jobs7
Education52
Health35.5
Safety40
Connectivity0
Environment7
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
55.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.3%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+2.7%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.6 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.2 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.4%
CAGR
Employment rate
+10.2 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-6.7 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 · 27.6%Diversified · HHI 2364
Agriculture 2%Industry 18.1%Construction 2%Trade · transport · ICT 26.5%Finance · real estate · prof. 23.7%Public · health · education 27.6%
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)
€19,661M2023
6.8% 1y 4.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 81
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€17,874M2025
2.0% 1y 3.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 81
Population
1,081,8432025
0.2% 1y 0.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 94
Unemployment rate
11.7%2025
8.6% 1y 8.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 95
Employment
540,4702023
1.9% 1y 2.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 95
Productivity / employee
€39,5722025
4.1% 1y 5.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 9
Gross value added
€17,155M2023
5.6% 1y 4.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 80
All indicators · 88 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€17,155M
2023 · EU pctl 80
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€349M
2023 · EU pctl 78
GVA — industry (B–E)
€3,113M
2023 · EU pctl 73
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,517M
2023 · EU pctl 74
GVA — construction (F)
€345M
2023 · EU pctl 39
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€4,548M
2023 · EU pctl 84
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€12,400
2023 · EU pctl 17 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
22,400 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 14
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€18,100
2023 · EU pctl 16
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€5,199M
2023 · EU pctl 14 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€548M
2023 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€11,333M
2023 · EU pctl 16 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€2,320M
2023 · EU pctl 78
GVA — information & communication (J)
€416M
2023 · EU pctl 72
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€4,063M
2023 · EU pctl 80
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€4,737M
2023 · EU pctl 85
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€17,874M
2025 · EU pctl 81
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€39,572
2025 · EU pctl 9
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,851M
2025 · EU pctl 78
Labour market
Employment, total persons
540,470
2023 · EU pctl 95
Self-employed persons
112,440
2023 · EU pctl 98
Employment in manufacturing (C)
58,040
2023 · EU pctl 91
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
70.7%
2025 · EU pctl 13 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
23.3%
2025 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
11.7%
2025 · EU pctl 95
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
516,800
2025 · EU pctl 94
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
94,881
2023 · EU pctl 95
Enterprise births
8,770
2023 · EU pctl 93
Enterprise deaths
4,112
2023 · EU pctl 85
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.9%
2023 · EU pctl 63
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)
3.7%
2025 · EU pctl 34 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.5%
2023 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
36.4%
2025 · EU pctl 55 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
44.3%
2025 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
5.5%
2025 · EU pctl 7 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
21.3%
2025 · EU pctl 36 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
7.9%
2025 · EU pctl 42 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
3,801,464
2024 · EU pctl 82
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
474 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 14 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
18,704 kt
2025 · EU pctl 86
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
2
CURRENT · EU pctl 3
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
0
CURRENT · EU pctl 0
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
24 km/1000km²
2023 · EU pctl 50 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
21
CURRENT · EU pctl 14
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)
708,030
2025 · EU pctl 95
Population aged 65+
236,674
2025 · EU pctl 94
Population aged under 15
137,139
2025 · EU pctl 93
Median age of population
46.3 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 51
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
33.4%
2025 · EU pctl 29
Crude rate of total population change
-2.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 28
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 25
Crude birth rate
6.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 23
Crude death rate
10.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 33
Live births
7,025
2024 · EU pctl 92
Deaths
11,551
2024 · EU pctl 96
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
52.8%
2025 · EU pctl 12
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.12
2024 · EU pctl 11
Population density (persons per km²)
305 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 75
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
759,701
2100 · EU pctl 91
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
451 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 46 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,185 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 77 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
244 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 70 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 59
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
32.8 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 68
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
264 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 60
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
948 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 60
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
50 /M pop
2022 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.56
2022 · EU pctl 12
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.42
2022 · EU pctl 10
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.49
2022 · EU pctl 16
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.32
2022 · EU pctl 10
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.24
2022 · EU pctl 14
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.143/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 42
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.039/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 0
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
70 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 20
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
70 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 96
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
23 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 16
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
7 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 77
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
30
2024 · EU pctl 98
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
27
2024 · EU pctl 97
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 73
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
45.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 67
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
1.4%
2021 · EU pctl 28
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Greece regions