NUTS-3 RO222 · Romania
Buzău
Buzău generates €4.8bn of GDP across 395.5k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 27.3/100 sits in the lower tier of EU regions, led by economic growth and economic scale. Its economy has grown +8.6%/yr over five years, with the employment rate down 3.4pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for safety (53.3th EU percentile) and weakest for education (0.5th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Persistent laggard3 → 2 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)
Cost advantage97
Freight intensity71
Industrial base59
Energy cost52
Growth momentum41
Resilience40
Connectivity25
Digital readiness22
Quality of life16
Talent & skills14
Economic base8
Labour market3
Demographic outlook2
Governance2
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)
27.3
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth40.8
Livability15.5
Market access24
Economic scale29
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)
39.8
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability10
Labour stability47
Diversification87
Demographic stability15
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)
25.3
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density34
Airport access18
Market access24
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)
13.5
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary0
Lifelong learning33
Knowledge workers2
Scientists & engineers19
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)
15.5
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy5.5
Jobs4
Education0.5
Health2.5
Safety53.3
Connectivity28
Environment15
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
40.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+8.6%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+8.4%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.2 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
-0.5 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.7%
CAGR
Employment rate
-3.4 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+3.9 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: Industry · 24.3%Diversified · HHI 2003
Agriculture 6%Industry 24.3%Construction 6.8%Trade · transport · ICT 23.5%Finance · real estate · prof. 20.5%Public · health · education 19%
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)
€4,778M2024
8.9% 1y 8.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 29
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€3,086M2025
0.3% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 21
Population
395,5172025
0.7% 1y 0.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 70
Unemployment rate
11.3%2025
14.1% 1y 8.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 95
Employment
157,9302024
0.3% 1y 1.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 65
Productivity / employee
€33,6792025
11.3% 1y 9.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 4
Gross value added
€4,330M2024
8.1% 1y 8.6% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 29
All indicators · 87 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€4,330M
2024 · EU pctl 29
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€258M
2024 · EU pctl 68
GVA — industry (B–E)
€1,051M
2024 · EU pctl 34
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€837M
2023 · EU pctl 35
GVA — construction (F)
€295M
2024 · EU pctl 32
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€1,017M
2024 · EU pctl 37
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€7,700
2023 · EU pctl 3 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
20,000 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 8
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€12,000
2024 · EU pctl 4
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€6,740M
2023 · EU pctl 19 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€569M
2023 · EU pctl 13 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€11,406M
2023 · EU pctl 16 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€602M
2024 · EU pctl 37
GVA — information & communication (J)
€26M
2024 · EU pctl 16
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€886M
2024 · EU pctl 30
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€824M
2024 · EU pctl 24
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€3,086M
2025 · EU pctl 21
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€33,679
2025 · EU pctl 4
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€1,102M
2025 · EU pctl 29
Labour market
Employment, total persons
157,930
2024 · EU pctl 65
Self-employed persons
45,060
2023 · EU pctl 84
Employment in manufacturing (C)
32,080
2023 · EU pctl 73
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
63.8%
2025 · EU pctl 3 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
31.4%
2025 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
11.3%
2025 · EU pctl 95
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
157,900
2025 · EU pctl 62
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
16,603
2023 · EU pctl 54
Enterprise births
1,642
2023 · EU pctl 57
Enterprise deaths
1,134
2023 · EU pctl 53
3-year enterprise survival rate
6.7%
2023 · EU pctl 96
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
0.1%
2023 · EU pctl 0 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
0.8%
2025 · EU pctl 0 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.1%
2023 · EU pctl 1 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
14.1%
2025 · EU pctl 1 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
16.4%
2025 · EU pctl 0 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
9.2%
2025 · EU pctl 33 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
13.4%
2025 · EU pctl 2 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
6.4%
2025 · EU pctl 19 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
93.4%
2025 · EU pctl 22 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
215,902
2025 · EU pctl 13
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
415 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 4 · NUTS-2 src
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
15,162 kt
2025 · EU pctl 78
Distinct public-transport stop locations within the region (GTFS feeds, deduplicated across overlapping feeds by coordinate). A measure of transit-network extent.
876
CURRENT · EU pctl 49
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
5 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
222
CURRENT · EU pctl 34
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
94
CURRENT · EU pctl 82
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)
247,970
2025 · EU pctl 70
Population aged 65+
92,591
2025 · EU pctl 70
Population aged under 15
54,956
2025 · EU pctl 70
Median age of population
47.1 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 60
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
37.3%
2025 · EU pctl 54
Crude rate of total population change
-7.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 11
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
1.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 25
Crude birth rate
6.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 25
Crude death rate
15.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 92
Live births
2,602
2024 · EU pctl 65
Deaths
6,170
2024 · EU pctl 82
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
59.5%
2025 · EU pctl 52
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.37
2024 · EU pctl 45
Population density (persons per km²)
66 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 25
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
204,980
2100 · EU pctl 47
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
638 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 84 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
1,908 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
233 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 56 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Intentional homicides per 100k inhabitants
0.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 38
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
5.5 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 10
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
91.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 17
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
128 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 5
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
94 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.20
2022 · EU pctl 2
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.39
2022 · EU pctl 6
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.44
2022 · EU pctl 12
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
0.07
2022 · EU pctl 4
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.55
2022 · EU pctl 75
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.155/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 48
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.051/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 39
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
292 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 60
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
21 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 77
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
88 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 81
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
4 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 59
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.
19
2024 · EU pctl 85
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
46.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 68
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
1.0%
2021 · EU pctl 21
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Romania regions