NUTS-3 ES703 · Spain
El Hierro
El Hierro generates €232M of GDP across 12k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 30.5/100 sits in the lower tier of EU regions, led by economic growth and livability. Its economy has grown +4.6%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 10.6pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for safety (90.3th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Persistent laggard20 → 21 EU percentile since 1995 (+1 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
Energy cost95
Digital readiness78
Cost advantage76
Growth momentum73
Quality of life47
Talent & skills39
Resilience36
Governance31
Economic base13
Labour market8
Freight intensity8
Connectivity3
Industrial base2
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)
30.5
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth73.4
Livability47.4
Market access1
Economic scale0
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)
35.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability15
Labour stability3
Diversification26
Demographic stability98
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)
2.5
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 2/3 facets
Transit density—
Airport access4
Market access1
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)
38.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary61
Lifelong learning65
Knowledge workers14
Scientists & engineers15
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)
47.4
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy18.5
Jobs5
Education31.5
Health82.5
Safety90.3
Connectivity78
Environment26
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
73.4
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.6%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+2.9%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.7 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.4 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+1.5%
CAGR
Employment rate
+10.6 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-9.1 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: Public · health · education · 35.6%Diversified · HHI 2418
Agriculture 5.4%Industry 7.4%Construction 7.1%Trade · transport · ICT 25.9%Finance · real estate · prof. 18.6%Public · health · education 35.6%
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)
€232M2023
10.0% 1y 4.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 0
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€221M2025
2.8% 1y 4.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 0
Population
11,9932025
1.8% 1y 1.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 0
Unemployment rate
13.3%2025
3.6% 1y 10.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 97
Employment
4,3002023
10.3% 1y 3.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 0
Productivity / employee
€57,9582025
3.0% 1y 4.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 23
Gross value added
€218M2023
9.3% 1y 4.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 0
All indicators · 83 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€218M
2023 · EU pctl 0
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€12M
2023 · EU pctl 8
GVA — industry (B–E)
€16M
2023 · EU pctl 0
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€6M
2023 · EU pctl 0
GVA — construction (F)
€15M
2023 · EU pctl 0
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€57M
2023 · EU pctl 0
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€15,300
2023 · EU pctl 24 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
22,200 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 13
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€19,800
2023 · EU pctl 19
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€8,461M
2023 · EU pctl 26 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€298M
2023 · EU pctl 7 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€28,532M
2024 · EU pctl 43 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€41M
2023 · EU pctl 0
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€78M
2023 · EU pctl 0
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€221M
2025 · EU pctl 0
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€57,958
2025 · EU pctl 23
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€41M
2025 · EU pctl 0
Labour market
Employment, total persons
4,300
2023 · EU pctl 0
Self-employed persons
800
2023 · EU pctl 0
Employment in manufacturing (C)
100
2023 · EU pctl 0
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
73.1%
2025 · EU pctl 22 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
29.5%
2025 · EU pctl 92 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
13.3%
2025 · EU pctl 97
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
6,000
2025 · EU pctl 0
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
718
2023 · EU pctl 0
Enterprise births
85
2023 · EU pctl 0
Enterprise deaths
63
2023 · EU pctl 0
3-year enterprise survival rate
2.9%
2023 · EU pctl 8
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
0.6%
2023 · EU pctl 9 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
2.1%
2025 · EU pctl 8 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.4%
2023 · EU pctl 7 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
36.3%
2025 · EU pctl 54 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
43.7%
2025 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
13.1%
2025 · EU pctl 65 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
17.6%
2025 · EU pctl 14 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
5.8%
2025 · EU pctl 15 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
97.3%
2025 · EU pctl 78 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
151,519
2024 · EU pctl 8
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
609 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 57 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
119 kt
2025 · EU pctl 0
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
39 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 80 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
148
CURRENT · EU pctl 96
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
0
CURRENT · EU pctl 0
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
7,981
2025 · EU pctl 0
Population aged 65+
2,752
2025 · EU pctl 0
Population aged under 15
1,260
2025 · EU pctl 0
Median age of population
47.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 66
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
34.5%
2025 · EU pctl 36
Crude rate of total population change
17.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 97
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
20.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 98
Crude birth rate
5.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 2
Crude death rate
8.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 7
Live births
60
2024 · EU pctl 0
Deaths
99
2024 · EU pctl 0
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
50.3%
2025 · EU pctl 7
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
0.85
2024 · EU pctl 0
Population density (persons per km²)
45 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 14
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
17,593
2100 · EU pctl 0
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
290 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 19 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
826 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 9 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
214 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 0
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
8.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 19
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
59.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 8
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
161 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 8
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
31 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 21 · 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)
876 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 94
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 18
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 0
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
1 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 0
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
18
2024 · EU pctl 74
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
70
2024 · EU pctl 94
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
1.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 0
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Spain regions