NUTS-3 PT150 · Portugal
Algarve
Algarve generates €14bn of GDP across 492.7k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 52.5/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by economic growth and economic scale. Its economy has grown +7.1%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 6.2pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for clean environment (70.7th EU percentile) and weakest for safety (13th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Mid-field stable30 → 31 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)
Energy cost90
Growth momentum87
Air quality70
Cost advantage67
Labour market64
Economic base60
Connectivity57
Quality of life41
Governance37
Talent & skills32
Resilience30
Digital readiness15
Demographic outlook12
Freight intensity4
Industrial base1
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)
52.5
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth87
Livability41
Market access9
Economic scale73
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)
30
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability7
Labour stability10
Diversification8
Demographic stability95
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)
56.7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density84
Airport access77
Market access9
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)
32.3
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary20
Lifelong learning76
Knowledge workers16
Scientists & engineers17
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)
70.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.52.8 µg/m³
PM1017.4 µg/m³
NO27.7 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)
41
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy46.5
Jobs49
Education16.5
Health41.5
Safety13
Connectivity49.5
Environment70.7
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
87
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+7.1%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+6.7%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.4 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+1.2 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+1.1%
CAGR
Employment rate
+6.2 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-2.7 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: Trade · transport · ICT · 41.6%Moderately concentrated · HHI 2783
Agriculture 3.8%Industry 4.8%Construction 6.2%Trade · transport · ICT 41.6%Finance · real estate · prof. 25.2%Public · health · education 18.5%
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)
€14,312M2024
8.3% 1y 7.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 73
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€11,739M2025
1.9% 1y 6.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 71
Population
492,7472025
1.8% 1y 1.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 77
Unemployment rate
5.6%2025
1.8% 1y 7.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 65
Employment
268,0402024
1.7% 1y 2.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 83
Productivity / employee
€55,3192025
3.5% 1y 8.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 22
Gross value added
€12,446M2024
8.1% 1y 7.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 71
All indicators · 87 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€12,446M
2024 · EU pctl 71
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€470M
2024 · EU pctl 86
GVA — industry (B–E)
€593M
2024 · EU pctl 17
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€265M
2023 · EU pctl 11
GVA — construction (F)
€766M
2024 · EU pctl 72
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€5,178M
2024 · EU pctl 86
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€18,600
2023 · EU pctl 33 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
35,600 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 60
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€29,300
2024 · EU pctl 36
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€2,688M
2023 · EU pctl 6 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€52M
2023 · EU pctl 2 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€5,209M
2023 · EU pctl 7 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€1,730M
2024 · EU pctl 71
GVA — information & communication (J)
€155M
2024 · EU pctl 51
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€3,133M
2024 · EU pctl 75
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€2,306M
2024 · EU pctl 66
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€11,739M
2025 · EU pctl 71
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€55,319
2025 · EU pctl 22
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,081M
2025 · EU pctl 72
Labour market
Employment, total persons
268,040
2024 · EU pctl 83
Self-employed persons
58,870
2023 · EU pctl 90
Employment in manufacturing (C)
7,260
2023 · EU pctl 19
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
79.7%
2025 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
18.8%
2025 · EU pctl 67 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
5.6%
2025 · EU pctl 65
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
260,500
2025 · EU pctl 80
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
88,524
2023 · EU pctl 94
Enterprise births
16,545
2023 · EU pctl 97
Enterprise deaths
10,445
2023 · EU pctl 96
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.4%
2023 · EU pctl 52
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
0.4%
2024 · EU pctl 7 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
1.8%
2025 · EU pctl 5 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.5%
2024 · EU pctl 11 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
28.8%
2025 · EU pctl 26 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
32.4%
2025 · EU pctl 20 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
15.6%
2025 · EU pctl 76 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
18.0%
2025 · EU pctl 16 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
5.9%
2025 · EU pctl 17 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
92.1%
2025 · EU pctl 15 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
22,941,654
2025 · EU pctl 99
Mobility
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
3,509 kt
2025 · EU pctl 24
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
3,904
CURRENT · EU pctl 93
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
792
CURRENT · EU pctl 84
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
30
CURRENT · EU pctl 23
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
1
CURRENT · EU pctl 15
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
306,876
2025 · EU pctl 76
Population aged 65+
119,035
2025 · EU pctl 80
Population aged under 15
66,836
2025 · EU pctl 75
Median age of population
46.8 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 56
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
38.8%
2025 · EU pctl 62
Crude rate of total population change
23.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 99
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
25.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 99
Crude birth rate
7.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 46
Crude death rate
9.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 21
Live births
4,347
2024 · EU pctl 81
Deaths
5,623
2024 · EU pctl 79
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
60.6%
2025 · EU pctl 60
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.64
2024 · EU pctl 91
Population density (persons per km²)
99 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 40
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
458,163
2100 · EU pctl 79
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
234 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 8 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,070 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 64 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
228 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 47 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
1.6 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 87
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
120 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
253 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 58
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,417 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 80
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
87 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.02
2022 · EU pctl 32
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.81
2022 · EU pctl 32
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.13
2022 · EU pctl 46
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.79
2022 · EU pctl 37
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.89
2022 · EU pctl 91
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.107/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 10
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.045/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 11
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
321 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 63
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
63 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 95
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
0 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 0
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
5 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 67
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
17
2024 · EU pctl 69
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
8
2024 · EU pctl 19
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
61
2024 · EU pctl 81
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
16.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 30
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
1.2%
2021 · EU pctl 25
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Portugal regions