NUTS-3 ITH56 · Italy
Ferrara
Ferrara generates €10bn of GDP across 339.6k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 49.2/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by economic scale and market access. Its economy has grown +1.6%/yr over five years, with the employment rate up 3.2pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for health (88th EU percentile) and weakest for digital connectivity (33th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run faller71 → 40 EU percentile since 1995 (-31 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)
Digital readiness64
Industrial base58
Quality of life49
Resilience48
Energy cost46
Cost advantage45
Economic base43
Connectivity37
Labour market37
Demographic outlook36
Talent & skills34
Growth momentum32
Freight intensity30
Governance20
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)
49.2
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth32.2
Livability48.5
Market access56
Economic scale60
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)
47.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability51
Labour stability52
Diversification59
Demographic stability29
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)
37.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density2
Airport access54
Market access56
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)
34.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary36
Lifelong learning65
Knowledge workers24
Scientists & engineers12
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)
48.5
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy49
Jobs46.5
Education42
Health88
Safety33
Connectivity33
Environment48
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
32.2
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+1.6%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+1.6%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.0 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-2.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.3%
CAGR
Employment rate
+3.2 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-1.7 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: Finance · real estate · prof. · 30%Diversified · HHI 2197
Agriculture 3.4%Industry 22%Construction 5.3%Trade · transport · ICT 18.9%Finance · real estate · prof. 30%Public · health · education 20.4%
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)
€10,250M2023
4.6% 1y 1.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 60
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€9,271M2025
0.6% 1y 1.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 63
Population
339,6122025
0.0% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 64
Unemployment rate
4.1%2025
16.3% 1y 9.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 45
Employment
134,0002023
1.2% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 57
Productivity / employee
€78,7992025
1.4% 1y 3.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 40
Gross value added
€9,208M2023
4.6% 1y 1.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 60
All indicators · 87 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€9,208M
2023 · EU pctl 60
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€314M
2023 · EU pctl 75
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,027M
2023 · EU pctl 58
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,749M
2023 · EU pctl 62
GVA — construction (F)
€484M
2023 · EU pctl 52
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,743M
2023 · EU pctl 57
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€25,400
2024 · EU pctl 55 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
31,300 PPS
2023 · EU pctl 43
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€30,200
2023 · EU pctl 38
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€45,497M
2023 · EU pctl 91 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€12,104M
2023 · EU pctl 95 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€74,553M
2023 · EU pctl 83 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€1,459M
2023 · EU pctl 66
GVA — information & communication (J)
€113M
2023 · EU pctl 45
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€2,762M
2023 · EU pctl 72
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,875M
2023 · EU pctl 59
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€9,271M
2025 · EU pctl 63
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€78,799
2025 · EU pctl 40
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€2,437M
2025 · EU pctl 63
Labour market
Employment, total persons
134,000
2023 · EU pctl 57
Self-employed persons
33,400
2023 · EU pctl 74
Employment in manufacturing (C)
21,900
2023 · EU pctl 59
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
74.5%
2025 · EU pctl 30 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
17.4%
2025 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
4.1%
2025 · EU pctl 45
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
157,900
2025 · EU pctl 62
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
24,017
2023 · EU pctl 66
Enterprise births
1,673
2023 · EU pctl 57
Enterprise deaths
1,349
2023 · EU pctl 58
3-year enterprise survival rate
3.7%
2023 · EU pctl 30
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
2.1%
2023 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
3.8%
2025 · EU pctl 40 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
2.1%
2023 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
25.3%
2025 · EU pctl 16 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
36.2%
2025 · EU pctl 36 · 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)
19.2%
2025 · EU pctl 24 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
5.3%
2025 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
96.2%
2025 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
2,929,436
2025 · EU pctl 77
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
691 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 91 · 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.
2
CURRENT · EU pctl 3
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
6,842 kt
2025 · EU pctl 48
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
1
CURRENT · EU pctl 2
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
31 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 66 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
50
CURRENT · EU pctl 46
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
2
CURRENT · EU pctl 50
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
206,324
2025 · EU pctl 62
Population aged 65+
98,959
2025 · EU pctl 74
Population aged under 15
34,329
2025 · EU pctl 50
Median age of population
52.5 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 96
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
48.0%
2025 · EU pctl 91
Crude rate of total population change
-0.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 43
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
8.8 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 81
Crude birth rate
5.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 3
Crude death rate
14.0 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 81
Live births
1,723
2024 · EU pctl 47
Deaths
4,749
2024 · EU pctl 72
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
64.6%
2025 · EU pctl 79
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.11
2024 · EU pctl 10
Population density (persons per km²)
139 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 53
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
272,864
2100 · EU pctl 60
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
369 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 38 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
860 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 18 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
212 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 27 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.6 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 44
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
34.2 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 70
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,358 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 78
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
61 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 79 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.72
2022 · EU pctl 20
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.60
2022 · EU pctl 14
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.57
2022 · EU pctl 20
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.57
2022 · EU pctl 15
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.41
2022 · EU pctl 25
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.159/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 54
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.048/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 19
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
0 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 1
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
55 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 94
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
30 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 21
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
6 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 69
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.
13
2024 · EU pctl 52
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
48
2024 · EU pctl 20
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
98.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 87
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
36.0%
2021 · EU pctl 99
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Italy regions