NUTS-3 SE232 · Sweden
Västra Götalands län
Västra Götalands län generates €94bn of GDP across 1.8m residents. Its Opportunity Index of 56.5/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by economic scale and livability. Its economy has grown +3.2%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 0.1pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for education (96th EU percentile) and weakest for jobs (43th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader81 → 88 EU percentile since 1995 (+7 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 cost97
Demographic outlook95
Talent & skills95
Governance93
Economic base82
Digital readiness81
Labour market72
Industrial base72
Freight intensity71
Quality of life62
Resilience59
Cost advantage55
Air quality49
Connectivity25
Growth momentum25
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)
56.5
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth24.8
Livability62.1
Market access41
Economic scale98
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)
59.3
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability27
Labour stability75
Diversification59
Demographic stability76
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 density8
Airport access27
Market access41
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)
94.8
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary88
Lifelong learning99
Knowledge workers94
Scientists & engineers98
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)
49
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.57.3 µg/m³
PM1016.8 µg/m³
NO213.8 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)
62.1
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy63.5
Jobs43
Education96
Health87
Safety50.5
Connectivity44.5
Environment50
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
24.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+3.2%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+2.6%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+0.6 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.1 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
+0.5%
CAGR
Employment rate
+0.1 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
+0.9 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 · 25.1%Diversified · HHI 2201
Agriculture 0.9%Industry 25.1%Construction 6.2%Trade · transport · ICT 22.1%Finance · real estate · prof. 23.2%Public · health · education 22.4%
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 · 2009–2024
GDP (current prices)
€93,679M2024
0.4% 1y 3.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€87,110M2025
1.6% 1y 2.1% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Population
1,772,8212025
0.3% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Unemployment rate
8.5%2025
2.3% 1y 2.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 86
Employment
935,5702024
0.6% 1y 0.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Productivity / employee
€106,5262025
6.3% 1y 3.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 87
Gross value added
€83,897M2024
0.7% 1y 3.4% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 98
Dwelling price
2,542 kSEK2025
0.2% 1y 1.7% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 95
All indicators · 89 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€83,897M
2024 · EU pctl 98
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€752M
2024 · EU pctl 94
GVA — industry (B–E)
€21,067M
2024 · EU pctl 99
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€19,342M
2024 · EU pctl 99
GVA — construction (F)
€5,232M
2024 · EU pctl 99
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€18,574M
2024 · EU pctl 98
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€23,600
2023 · EU pctl 45 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
44,400 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 82
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€52,600
2024 · EU pctl 86
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€30,722M
2023 · EU pctl 82 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€7,348M
2023 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€50,417M
2023 · EU pctl 71 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€7,714M
2024 · EU pctl 96
GVA — information & communication (J)
€4,834M
2024 · EU pctl 95
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€19,470M
2024 · EU pctl 97
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€18,802M
2024 · EU pctl 98
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€87,110M
2025 · EU pctl 98
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€106,526
2025 · EU pctl 87
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€29,470M
2025 · EU pctl 99
Labour market
Employment, total persons
935,570
2024 · EU pctl 98
Self-employed persons
41,800
2024 · EU pctl 82
Employment in manufacturing (C)
120,900
2024 · EU pctl 99
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
84.1%
2025 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
21.7%
2025 · EU pctl 78 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
8.5%
2025 · EU pctl 86
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
991,600
2025 · EU pctl 99
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
137,863
2023 · EU pctl 97
Enterprise births
11,369
2023 · EU pctl 95
Enterprise deaths
9,666
2023 · EU pctl 95
3-year enterprise survival rate
5.2%
2023 · EU pctl 68
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
5.6%
2023 · EU pctl 97 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
6.6%
2025 · EU pctl 85 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
3.0%
2023 · EU pctl 92 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
50.5%
2025 · EU pctl 95 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
52.9%
2025 · EU pctl 88 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
37.9%
2025 · EU pctl 99 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
33.2%
2025 · EU pctl 94 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
14.5%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
97.4%
2025 · EU pctl 81 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
11,383,110
2025 · EU pctl 95
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
466 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 13 · 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.
45
CURRENT · EU pctl 18
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
68,504 kt
2025 · EU pctl 100
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
20 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 41 · NUTS-2 src
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
3
CURRENT · EU pctl 8
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
79
CURRENT · EU pctl 73
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)
1,116,302
2025 · EU pctl 98
Population aged 65+
359,559
2025 · EU pctl 99
Population aged under 15
296,960
2025 · EU pctl 99
Median age of population
40.6 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 6
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
32.2%
2025 · EU pctl 22
Crude rate of total population change
3.3 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 65
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
2.1 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 26
Crude birth rate
9.7 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 94
Crude death rate
8.5 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 9
Live births
17,114
2024 · EU pctl 98
Deaths
15,083
2024 · EU pctl 98
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
58.8%
2025 · EU pctl 46
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.45
2024 · EU pctl 61
Population density (persons per km²)
74 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 29
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
2,449,552
2100 · EU pctl 99
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
165 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 1 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
841 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
203 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
46.4 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 80
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
638 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
2,471 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 96
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
19 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 3 · NUTS-2 src
Governance & institutions
Government effectiveness, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.91
2022 · EU pctl 95
Regulatory quality, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.62
2022 · EU pctl 91
Rule of law, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
1.74
2022 · EU pctl 93
Control of corruption, WGI score -2.5..2.5 (country)
2.03
2022 · EU pctl 93
Political stability & absence of violence, WGI score (country)
0.94
2022 · EU pctl 93
Energy
Industrial electricity price, 2-20 GWh band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.085/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 3
Industrial gas price, 10-100k GJ band, excl. taxes (national)
€0.073/kWh
2025-S2 · EU pctl 98
Housing market
Average sold price, tenant-owned flats (SEK thousands, Statistics Sweden)
2,542 kSEK
2025 · EU pctl 95
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
126 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 35
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
1 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 10
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
97 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 86
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
2 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 11
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 65
NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) annual mean concentration — a traffic / combustion pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
14
2024 · EU pctl 59
O3 (ground-level ozone) annual mean concentration — a summer-smog pollutant; mean across EEA monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data).
59
2024 · EU pctl 74
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
239 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 96
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
4.4%
2021 · EU pctl 63
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Sweden regions