NUTS-3 ES617 · Spain
Málaga
Málaga generates €41bn of GDP across 1.8m residents. Its Opportunity Index of 60.9/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by economic scale and economic growth. Its economy has grown +5.7%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 8.6pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for health (68.5th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (3th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Persistent laggard26 → 25 EU percentile since 1995 (0 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)
Energy cost95
Growth momentum86
Demographic outlook82
Cost advantage78
Digital readiness69
Connectivity49
Talent & skills47
Resilience38
Quality of life37
Governance31
Freight intensity27
Economic base26
Air quality25
Labour market5
Industrial base3
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)
60.9
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth85.6
Livability37.1
Market access28
Economic scale93
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)
37.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability26
Labour stability1
Diversification28
Demographic stability96
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)
49
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density26
Airport access93
Market access28
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)
46.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary67
Lifelong learning69
Knowledge workers37
Scientists & engineers14
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)
24.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.59 µg/m³
PM1023.5 µg/m³
NO217 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)
37.1
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy24
Jobs3
Education43.5
Health68.5
Safety47.7
Connectivity47.5
Environment25.3
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
85.6
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+5.7%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.8%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.9 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+1.6 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+1.3%
CAGR
Employment rate
+8.6 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-7.1 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 · 29.8%Diversified · HHI 2402
Agriculture 3%Industry 6.1%Construction 8.6%Trade · transport · ICT 29.8%Finance · real estate · prof. 29%Public · health · education 23.5%
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)
€41,235M2023
10.8% 1y 5.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 93
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€37,932M2025
2.8% 1y 5.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 94
Population
1,791,1832025
0.9% 1y 1.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Unemployment rate
15.2%2025
10.1% 1y 6.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 99
Employment
709,1002023
5.1% 1y 2.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 97
Productivity / employee
€62,3492025
3.0% 1y 5.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 26
Gross value added
€37,628M2023
10.8% 1y 5.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 93
All indicators · 87 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€37,628M
2023 · EU pctl 93
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€1,133M
2023 · EU pctl 99
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,287M
2023 · EU pctl 63
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,323M
2023 · EU pctl 51
GVA — construction (F)
€3,233M
2023 · EU pctl 97
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€11,214M
2023 · EU pctl 95
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€14,700
2023 · EU pctl 22 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
26,200 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 26
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€23,400
2023 · EU pctl 25
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€38,703M
2023 · EU pctl 86 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€2,996M
2023 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€98,864M
2024 · EU pctl 88 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€10,924M
2023 · EU pctl 94
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€8,838M
2023 · EU pctl 94
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€37,932M
2025 · EU pctl 94
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€62,349
2025 · EU pctl 26
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€9,078M
2025 · EU pctl 93
Labour market
Employment, total persons
709,100
2023 · EU pctl 97
Self-employed persons
126,500
2023 · EU pctl 98
Employment in manufacturing (C)
26,200
2023 · EU pctl 66
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
71.4%
2025 · EU pctl 14 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
32.7%
2025 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
15.2%
2025 · EU pctl 99
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
870,900
2025 · EU pctl 98
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
150,217
2023 · EU pctl 97
Enterprise births
17,619
2023 · EU pctl 97
Enterprise deaths
13,087
2023 · EU pctl 97
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.8%
2023 · EU pctl 60
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.1%
2023 · EU pctl 31 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
3.0%
2025 · EU pctl 20 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.8%
2023 · EU pctl 31 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
36.7%
2025 · EU pctl 56 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
45.4%
2025 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
13.7%
2025 · EU pctl 69 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
21.4%
2025 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
5.7%
2025 · EU pctl 14 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
96.5%
2025 · EU pctl 69 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
30,456,704
2024 · EU pctl 99
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
535 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 28 · 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.
1,150
CURRENT · EU pctl 60
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
33,839 kt
2025 · EU pctl 96
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
31 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
64
CURRENT · EU pctl 26
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
14
CURRENT · EU pctl 7
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)
1,206,590
2025 · EU pctl 98
Population aged 65+
339,636
2025 · EU pctl 98
Population aged under 15
244,957
2025 · EU pctl 97
Median age of population
44.7 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 34
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
28.1%
2025 · EU pctl 8
Crude rate of total population change
9.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 90
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
10.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 87
Crude birth rate
6.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 25
Crude death rate
7.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 5
Live births
11,719
2024 · EU pctl 96
Deaths
13,785
2024 · EU pctl 98
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
48.5%
2025 · EU pctl 4
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.07
2024 · EU pctl 6
Population density (persons per km²)
245 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 69
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
1,797,664
2100 · EU pctl 98
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
217 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 6 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
972 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
217 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 34 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.3 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 78
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
105 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 95
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
290 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
564 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 36
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
41 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 43 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.14
2022 · EU pctl 33
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.84
2022 · EU pctl 33
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.96
2022 · EU pctl 32
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.78
2022 · EU pctl 32
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.16
2022 · EU pctl 9
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.106/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 5
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.048/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 30
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
313 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 62
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
52 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 93
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 0
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
4 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 58
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
24
2024 · EU pctl 90
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
17
2024 · EU pctl 76
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
65
2024 · EU pctl 89
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
81.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 84
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
1.3%
2021 · EU pctl 27
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Spain regions