NUTS-3 NL421 · Netherlands
Noord-Limburg
Noord-Limburg generates €17bn of GDP across 291.4k 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 +6.0%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 5.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for jobs (77.5th EU percentile) and weakest for health (42th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader80 → 86 EU percentile since 1995 (+6 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)
Governance91
Economic base88
Freight intensity88
Digital readiness88
Talent & skills78
Connectivity76
Resilience74
Growth momentum72
Labour market67
Energy cost61
Quality of life60
Air quality52
Industrial base50
Cost advantage45
Demographic outlook36
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
Growth72
Livability59.5
Market access99
Economic scale77
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)
74
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability69
Labour stability53
Diversification95
Demographic stability79
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)
76
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density37
Airport access92
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)
78.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary79
Lifelong learning89
Knowledge workers67
Scientists & engineers78
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)
51.7
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.58.6 µg/m³
PM1015.1 µg/m³
NO210.3 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)
59.5
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy71.5
Jobs77.5
Education59
Health42
Safety51
Connectivity62.5
Environment52.7
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
+6.0%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+4.9%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.1 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.0 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.6%
CAGR
Employment rate
+5.1 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-0.5 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 · 27.2%Diversified · HHI 1873
Agriculture 6.6%Industry 18.5%Construction 3.4%Trade · transport · ICT 27.2%Finance · real estate · prof. 20%Public · health · education 18.3%
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)
€16,575M2024
6.6% 1y 6.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 77
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€13,733M2025
1.4% 1y 2.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 76
Population
291,3872025
0.3% 1y 0.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 57
Unemployment rate
3.0%2025
9.1% 1y 3.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 14
Employment
174,4002024
0.3% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 68
Productivity / employee
€99,3822025
4.7% 1y 6.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 80
Gross value added
€14,875M2024
6.3% 1y 6.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 77
All indicators · 85 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€14,875M
2024 · EU pctl 77
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€982M
2023 · EU pctl 97
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,745M
2023 · EU pctl 69
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€2,540M
2023 · EU pctl 74
GVA — construction (F)
€513M
2023 · EU pctl 55
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€4,050M
2023 · EU pctl 82
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€25,400
2023 · EU pctl 55 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
48,800 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 88
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€57,000
2024 · EU pctl 90
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€11,196M
2023 · EU pctl 39 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€1,560M
2023 · EU pctl 35 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€26,730M
2023 · EU pctl 40 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€1,017M
2023 · EU pctl 53
GVA — information & communication (J)
€160M
2023 · EU pctl 52
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€2,976M
2023 · EU pctl 74
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€2,724M
2023 · EU pctl 71
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€13,733M
2025 · EU pctl 76
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€99,382
2025 · EU pctl 80
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,481M
2025 · EU pctl 75
Labour market
Employment, total persons
174,400
2024 · EU pctl 68
Self-employed persons
25,100
2023 · EU pctl 65
Employment in manufacturing (C)
19,400
2023 · EU pctl 55
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
83.1%
2025 · EU pctl 88 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
6.4%
2025 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
3.0%
2025 · EU pctl 14
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
158,500
2025 · EU pctl 63
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
29,303
2023 · EU pctl 72
Enterprise births
2,429
2023 · EU pctl 68
Enterprise deaths
1,396
2023 · EU pctl 59
3-year enterprise survival rate
6.6%
2023 · EU pctl 95
Innovation & R&D
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
3.8%
2025 · EU pctl 40 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
37.3%
2025 · EU pctl 59 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
48.8%
2025 · EU pctl 79 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
22.9%
2025 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
26.3%
2025 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
10.7%
2025 · EU pctl 78 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
98.0%
2025 · EU pctl 88 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
5,225,252
2024 · EU pctl 88
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
545 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 30 · 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.
757
CURRENT · EU pctl 45
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
15,089 kt
2025 · EU pctl 78
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
98 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
260
CURRENT · EU pctl 37
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.
4
CURRENT · EU pctl 90
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
181,169
2025 · EU pctl 57
Population aged 65+
71,285
2025 · EU pctl 60
Population aged under 15
38,933
2025 · EU pctl 54
Median age of population
47.1 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 60
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
39.3%
2025 · EU pctl 64
Crude rate of total population change
3.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 66
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
5.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 58
Crude birth rate
8.2 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 62
Crude death rate
10.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 30
Live births
2,381
2024 · EU pctl 61
Deaths
3,052
2024 · EU pctl 51
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
60.8%
2025 · EU pctl 62
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.46
2024 · EU pctl 62
Population density (persons per km²)
347 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 77
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
265,754
2100 · EU pctl 59
Health
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,066 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
249 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 79 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
21.7 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 50
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
223 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 52
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,240 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 73
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
33 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 25 · 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)
25 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 9
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
7 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 45
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
37 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 27
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 9
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
15
2024 · EU pctl 55
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
10
2024 · EU pctl 36
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
49
2024 · EU pctl 25
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
328 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 98
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
14.5%
2021 · EU pctl 94
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Netherlands regions