NUTS-3 IE052 · Ireland
South-East
South-East generates €22bn of GDP across 485.2k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 64.8/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by economic scale and economic growth. Its economy has grown +2.4%/yr over five years and cooling, with the employment rate up 7.9pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for economy (74th EU percentile) and weakest for digital connectivity (42.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run riser42 → 76 EU percentile since 1995 (+34 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 outlook90
Governance90
Talent & skills84
Industrial base74
Growth momentum72
Economic base68
Freight intensity62
Quality of life59
Labour market57
Digital readiness51
Resilience46
Connectivity29
Cost advantage20
Energy cost1
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)
64.8
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth72
Livability59
Market access45
Economic scale83
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)
46
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability2
Labour stability11
Diversification72
Demographic stability99
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)
29.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density34
Airport access9
Market access45
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)
84
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary97
Lifelong learning64
Knowledge workers86
Scientists & engineers89
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)
59
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy74
Jobs55
Education53.5
Health69.5
Safety44.7
Connectivity42.5
Environment74
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
72
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+2.4%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+6.5%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
-4.2 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-5.7 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+1.8%
CAGR
Employment rate
+7.9 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-1.6 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: Finance · real estate · prof. · 27.8%Diversified · HHI 2126
Agriculture 5%Industry 24.9%Construction 5.5%Trade · transport · ICT 17.5%Finance · real estate · prof. 27.8%Public · health · education 19.3%
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 · 2009–2024
GDP (current prices)
€21,590M2024
4.9% 1y 2.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 83
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€20,805M2025
12.4% 1y 2.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 85
Population
485,1952025
2.6% 1y 1.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 76
Unemployment rate
4.2%2025
23.5% 1y 8.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 48
Employment
219,3302024
2.3% 1y 3.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 76
Productivity / employee
€109,5172025
11.3% 1y 1.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 89
Gross value added
€20,557M2024
5.0% 1y 2.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 84
All indicators · 88 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€20,557M
2024 · EU pctl 84
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€1,033M
2024 · EU pctl 98
GVA — industry (B–E)
€5,115M
2024 · EU pctl 88
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€4,837M
2024 · EU pctl 91
GVA — construction (F)
€1,127M
2024 · EU pctl 83
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€3,606M
2024 · EU pctl 79
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€28,700
2023 · EU pctl 80 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
38,300 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 68
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€45,300
2024 · EU pctl 76
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€43,613M
2023 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€27,811M
2023 · EU pctl 100 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€41,142M
2023 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€1,462M
2024 · EU pctl 66
GVA — information & communication (J)
€576M
2024 · EU pctl 78
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€5,716M
2024 · EU pctl 85
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€3,960M
2024 · EU pctl 82
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€20,805M
2025 · EU pctl 85
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€109,517
2025 · EU pctl 89
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€5,616M
2025 · EU pctl 86
Labour market
Employment, total persons
219,330
2024 · EU pctl 76
Self-employed persons
37,170
2024 · EU pctl 78
Employment in manufacturing (C)
26,790
2024 · EU pctl 68
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
78.0%
2025 · EU pctl 52 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
9.8%
2025 · EU pctl 36 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.2%
2025 · EU pctl 48
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
258,000
2025 · EU pctl 79
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
29,874
2023 · EU pctl 73
Enterprise births
3,157
2023 · EU pctl 75
Enterprise deaths
3,995
2023 · EU pctl 84
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.1%
2023 · EU pctl 67
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
0.6%
2023 · EU pctl 10 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
9.1%
2025 · EU pctl 96 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
1.0%
2023 · EU pctl 42 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
54.8%
2025 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
63.4%
2025 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
12.9%
2025 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
29.7%
2025 · EU pctl 86 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
12.0%
2025 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
95.6%
2025 · EU pctl 51 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
3,462,487
2024 · EU pctl 81
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
483 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 18 · 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.
1,069
CURRENT · EU pctl 57
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
16,494 kt
2025 · EU pctl 82
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
220
CURRENT · EU pctl 34
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
13 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 26 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
117
CURRENT · EU pctl 91
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)
313,366
2025 · EU pctl 77
Population aged 65+
81,771
2025 · EU pctl 66
Population aged under 15
90,058
2025 · EU pctl 84
Median age of population
40.4 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 5
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
26.1%
2025 · EU pctl 4
Crude rate of total population change
25.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 99
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
22.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 98
Crude birth rate
9.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 93
Crude death rate
7.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 3
Live births
4,611
2024 · EU pctl 83
Deaths
3,422
2024 · EU pctl 57
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
54.8%
2025 · EU pctl 20
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.60
2024 · EU pctl 88
Population density (persons per km²)
67 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 26
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
591,202
2100 · EU pctl 85
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
269 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 13 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
936 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 31 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
247 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 77 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 83
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
12.7 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 31
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
156 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 37
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
947 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 60
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
32 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 23 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.71
2022 · EU pctl 53
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.77
2022 · EU pctl 97
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.50
2022 · EU pctl 53
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.65
2022 · EU pctl 56
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.81
2022 · EU pctl 89
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.212/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 99
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.057/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 89
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
89 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 25
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 0
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
17 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 12
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
8 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 80
Environment
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
9
2024 · EU pctl 26
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
56
2024 · EU pctl 60
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
105 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 88
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
2.9%
2021 · EU pctl 49
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Ireland regions