NUTS-3 NL224 · Netherlands
Zuidwest-Gelderland
Zuidwest-Gelderland generates €14bn of GDP across 257.2k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 76.9/100 puts it in the upper quartile of EU regions, led by market access and economic scale. Its economy has grown +6.5%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 3.9pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for education (86th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (44.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Long-run riser68 → 82 EU percentile since 1995 (+14 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)
Freight intensity95
Digital readiness94
Labour market92
Governance91
Talent & skills90
Economic base84
Resilience81
Demographic outlook71
Growth momentum70
Quality of life68
Connectivity65
Energy cost61
Cost advantage38
Industrial base25
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)
76.9
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth70
Livability67.7
Market access99
Economic scale71
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)
81
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability76
Labour stability64
Diversification96
Demographic stability88
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)
65.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density37
Airport access60
Market access99
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)
89.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary89
Lifelong learning93
Knowledge workers87
Scientists & engineers90
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)
67.7
/ 100 · EU-relative · 6/7 pillars
Economy73
Jobs84.5
Education86
Health52.5
Safety44.5
Connectivity65.5
Environment—
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
70
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+6.5%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+5.4%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.4 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.8%
CAGR
Employment rate
+3.9 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-0.1 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 · 28.3%Diversified · HHI 1835
Agriculture 5.5%Industry 12.7%Construction 7.4%Trade · transport · ICT 28.3%Finance · real estate · prof. 24%Public · health · education 14.7%
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)
€13,579M2024
8.3% 1y 6.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 71
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€11,233M2025
1.4% 1y 2.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 70
Population
257,1632025
0.6% 1y 0.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 50
Unemployment rate
3.3%2025
5.7% 1y 1.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Employment
139,2002024
0.1% 1y 1.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 59
Productivity / employee
€102,0032025
4.7% 1y 5.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 83
Gross value added
€12,186M2024
8.1% 1y 6.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 71
All indicators · 82 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€12,186M
2024 · EU pctl 71
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€672M
2023 · EU pctl 93
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,542M
2023 · EU pctl 48
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,397M
2023 · EU pctl 53
GVA — construction (F)
€905M
2023 · EU pctl 77
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€3,445M
2023 · EU pctl 79
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€26,500
2023 · EU pctl 62 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
45,500 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 84
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€53,000
2024 · EU pctl 87
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€23,257M
2023 · EU pctl 72 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€2,035M
2023 · EU pctl 47 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€50,437M
2023 · EU pctl 71 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€959M
2023 · EU pctl 51
GVA — information & communication (J)
€278M
2023 · EU pctl 64
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€2,919M
2023 · EU pctl 73
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€1,793M
2023 · EU pctl 57
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€11,233M
2025 · EU pctl 70
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€102,003
2025 · EU pctl 83
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,004M
2025 · EU pctl 71
Labour market
Employment, total persons
139,200
2024 · EU pctl 59
Self-employed persons
28,200
2023 · EU pctl 69
Employment in manufacturing (C)
12,500
2023 · EU pctl 37
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
86.2%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
7.6%
2025 · EU pctl 23 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.3%
2025 · EU pctl 22
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
146,800
2025 · EU pctl 58
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
33,565
2023 · EU pctl 76
Enterprise births
2,667
2023 · EU pctl 71
Enterprise deaths
1,481
2023 · EU pctl 61
3-year enterprise survival rate
6.2%
2023 · EU pctl 90
Innovation & R&D
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
4.7%
2025 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
44.1%
2025 · EU pctl 86 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
53.8%
2025 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
25.7%
2025 · EU pctl 93 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
30.0%
2025 · EU pctl 87 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
12.8%
2025 · EU pctl 90 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
99.2%
2025 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
723,883
2024 · EU pctl 42
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
523 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 25 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
15,978 kt
2025 · EU pctl 80
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
692
CURRENT · EU pctl 43
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
269
CURRENT · EU pctl 37
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
81 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 95 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
46
CURRENT · EU pctl 40
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
4
CURRENT · EU pctl 90
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
162,741
2025 · EU pctl 51
Population aged 65+
52,960
2025 · EU pctl 44
Population aged under 15
41,462
2025 · EU pctl 58
Median age of population
43.7 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 24
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
32.5%
2025 · EU pctl 24
Crude rate of total population change
5.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 79
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
4.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 48
Crude birth rate
10.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 97
Crude death rate
8.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 11
Live births
2,623
2024 · EU pctl 66
Deaths
2,278
2024 · EU pctl 38
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
58.0%
2025 · EU pctl 41
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.78
2024 · EU pctl 97
Population density (persons per km²)
365 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 78
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
246,870
2100 · EU pctl 56
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,014 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 47 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
249 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 78 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
11.7 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 29
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
163 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 39
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
799 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 50
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
50 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 61 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.77
2022 · EU pctl 57
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.72
2022 · EU pctl 93
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.73
2022 · EU pctl 91
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.92
2022 · EU pctl 91
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.63
2022 · EU pctl 82
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.142/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 39
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)
4 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 3
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 30
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
30 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 22
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 38
Environment
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
95.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 87
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
69.6%
2021 · EU pctl 100
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Netherlands regions