NUTS-3 SE321 · Sweden
Västernorrlands län
Västernorrlands län generates €12bn of GDP across 241.5k residents. Its Opportunity Index of 42.5/100 is mid-table of EU regions, led by economic scale and livability. Its economy has grown +4.0%/yr over five years and accelerating, with the employment rate up 4.5pp. On quality of life it ranks strongest for health (69.5th EU percentile) and weakest for clean environment (50th).
Long-run trajectory · EU percentile of real GDP per head, 1995–2024
Enduring leader78 → 82 EU percentile since 1995 (+4 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)
Labour market97
Energy cost97
Governance93
Digital readiness89
Freight intensity87
Demographic outlook81
Economic base77
Talent & skills76
Cost advantage63
Quality of life56
Industrial base53
Air quality49
Resilience49
Growth momentum42
Connectivity7
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)
42.5
/ 100 · blends growth, livability, market access & scale · 4/4 pillars
Growth41.8
Livability56.2
Market access5
Economic scale67
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)
48.5
/ 100 · higher = more resilient to downturns · 4/4 pillars
GDP stability22
Labour stability68
Diversification76
Demographic stability28
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)
7
/ 100 · higher = better-connected · 3/3 facets
Transit density12
Airport access4
Market access5
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)
75.5
/ 100 · higher = deeper skills base than more EU regions · 4/4 facets
Young tertiary44
Lifelong learning98
Knowledge workers84
Scientists & engineers76
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)
49.3
/ 100 · higher = cleaner air than more EU regions · 3/3 pollutants
PM2.55.2 µg/m³
PM1016.4 µg/m³
NO218.5 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)
56.2
/ 100 · EU-relative · 7/7 pillars
Economy57
Jobs62
Education53.5
Health69.5
Safety51
Connectivity50.5
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
41.8
/ 100 momentum · EU-relative · 5/5 signals
GDP growth · 5-yr
+4.0%
CAGR, nominal
GDP growth · 10-yr
+2.2%
CAGR, nominal
Acceleration
+1.7 pp
5-yr vs 10-yr
vs country avg
+0.8 pp
inflation-adj.
Population · 5-yr
-0.3%
CAGR
Employment rate
+4.5 pp
5-yr change
Unemployment
-1.0 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: Public · health · education · 25.9%Diversified · HHI 2105
Agriculture 3.9%Industry 25.8%Construction 7%Trade · transport · ICT 20.3%Finance · real estate · prof. 17.2%Public · health · education 25.9%
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)
€12,132M2024
11.0% 1y 4.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 67
Real GDP (2020 prices)
€11,185M2025
1.6% 1y 2.8% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 69
Population
241,4582025
0.3% 1y 0.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 48
Unemployment rate
6.5%2025
11.0% 1y 4.3% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 72
Employment
122,0202024
0.3% 1y 0.5% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 52
Productivity / employee
€105,7702025
6.3% 1y 5.0% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 87
Gross value added
€10,865M2024
11.3% 1y 4.2% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 67
Dwelling price
945 kSEK2025
1.3% 1y 1.9% 5y CAGR
EU percentile 0
All indicators · 88 more metrics (Eurostat, all-EU)
Economy
Gross value added, total (current prices)
€10,865M
2024 · EU pctl 67
GVA — agriculture, forestry & fishing (A)
€425M
2024 · EU pctl 84
GVA — industry (B–E)
€2,804M
2024 · EU pctl 70
GVA — manufacturing (C)
€1,934M
2024 · EU pctl 66
GVA — construction (F)
€757M
2024 · EU pctl 72
GVA — wholesale/retail, transport, ICT (G–J)
€2,204M
2024 · EU pctl 66
Net disposable household income per capita (NUTS-2 source)
€22,000
2023 · EU pctl 37 · NUTS-2 src
GDP per capita in PPS (purchasing-power adjusted)
42,100 PPS
2024 · EU pctl 77
GDP per capita (current prices, EUR)
€49,900
2024 · EU pctl 83
Gross fixed capital formation — investment (total economy)
€4,434M
2023 · EU pctl 12 · NUTS-2 src
Investment in manufacturing capex (GFCF, NACE C)
€686M
2023 · EU pctl 16 · NUTS-2 src
Compensation of employees (total wage bill)
€7,806M
2023 · EU pctl 11 · NUTS-2 src
GVA — real estate activities (L)
€736M
2024 · EU pctl 43
GVA — information & communication (J)
€474M
2024 · EU pctl 74
GVA — finance, real estate & professional (K–N)
€1,865M
2024 · EU pctl 59
GVA — public admin, health & education (O–U)
€2,811M
2024 · EU pctl 73
Real GDP (constant 2020 prices, incl. short-term forecast)
€11,185M
2025 · EU pctl 69
Labour productivity per person employed (EUR)
€105,770
2025 · EU pctl 87
Gross fixed capital formation, NUTS-3 (ARDECO)
€3,350M
2025 · EU pctl 74
Labour market
Employment, total persons
122,020
2024 · EU pctl 52
Self-employed persons
7,100
2024 · EU pctl 24
Employment in manufacturing (C)
14,400
2024 · EU pctl 42
Activity rate, 15–64 (NUTS-2 source)
84.9%
2025 · EU pctl 95 · NUTS-2 src
Youth unemployment rate (15–24)
19.0%
2025 · EU pctl 68 · NUTS-2 src
Unemployment rate 15-74, NUTS-3 native (ARDECO)
6.5%
2025 · EU pctl 72
Labour force aged 15+ (ARDECO)
129,100
2025 · EU pctl 51
Business demography
Active enterprises (business economy, all sizes)
16,894
2023 · EU pctl 55
Enterprise births
1,257
2023 · EU pctl 51
Enterprise deaths
1,210
2023 · EU pctl 55
3-year enterprise survival rate
4.8%
2023 · EU pctl 61
Innovation & R&D
R&D expenditure as % of GDP
1.1%
2023 · EU pctl 29 · NUTS-2 src
Employment in high-tech sectors (% of total)
3.7%
2025 · EU pctl 34 · NUTS-2 src
R&D personnel (% of active population, FTE)
0.7%
2023 · EU pctl 27 · NUTS-2 src
Education
Tertiary education attainment, age 25–64
41.8%
2025 · EU pctl 78 · NUTS-2 src
Tertiary attainment, age 25–34 (young talent pool)
39.3%
2025 · EU pctl 44 · NUTS-2 src
Adult participation in learning, age 25–64 (last 4 weeks)
34.5%
2025 · EU pctl 98 · NUTS-2 src
Knowledge workers — tertiary-educated & in science/tech (% of labour force)
29.4%
2025 · EU pctl 84 · NUTS-2 src
Scientists & engineers (% of labour force)
10.6%
2025 · EU pctl 76 · NUTS-2 src
Digital
Households with internet access
98.1%
2025 · EU pctl 89 · NUTS-2 src
Tourism
Nights spent at tourist accommodation (total)
1,427,320
2025 · EU pctl 61
Mobility
Passenger cars per 1,000 inhabitants
555 /1k pop
2024 · EU pctl 32 · 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.
16
CURRENT · EU pctl 10
Road freight loaded (annual, thousand tonnes)
12,337 kt
2025 · EU pctl 71
Public-transport stops per 100,000 inhabitants — transit service density relative to population (GTFS feeds, coordinate-deduplicated).
7
CURRENT · EU pctl 12
Motorway density (km per 1,000 km²)
0 km/1000km²
2024 · EU pctl 6 · NUTS-2 src
Distance from the region centroid to the nearest major (large) airport, in km - air-connectivity accessibility. Lower is better.
154
CURRENT · EU pctl 96
Number of major (large) airports within 100 km of the region centroid - air-hub catchment richness.
0
CURRENT · EU pctl 0
Demography
Population aged 15–64 (working age)
142,373
2025 · EU pctl 47
Population aged 65+
61,269
2025 · EU pctl 52
Population aged under 15
37,816
2025 · EU pctl 53
Median age of population
45.6 yrs
2025 · EU pctl 44
Old-age dependency ratio (65+ / 15–64)
43.0%
2025 · EU pctl 79
Crude rate of total population change
-2.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 25
Crude rate of net migration plus adjustment
1.6 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 23
Crude birth rate
7.4 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 41
Crude death rate
11.9 /1k
2024 · EU pctl 55
Live births
1,786
2024 · EU pctl 48
Deaths
2,867
2024 · EU pctl 48
Total age-dependency ratio (young+old / 15-64)
69.6%
2025 · EU pctl 89
Total fertility rate (births per woman)
1.39
2024 · EU pctl 49
Population density (persons per km²)
11 /km²
2024 · EU pctl 1
Projected population, 2030–2040 (EUROPOP2019 baseline)
262,690
2100 · EU pctl 58
Health
Hospital beds per 100k inhabitants
205 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 5 · NUTS-2 src
Mortality, all causes (age-standardised rate)
950 /100k
2021 · EU pctl 35 · NUTS-2 src
Cancer mortality (age-standardised rate)
211 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 25 · NUTS-2 src
Safety & crime
Robberies per 100k inhabitants
19.0 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 45
Burglaries per 100k inhabitants
391 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 79
Thefts per 100k inhabitants
1,496 /100k
2024 · EU pctl 82
Road traffic deaths per million inhabitants
29 /M pop
2024 · EU pctl 16 · 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)
945 kSEK
2025 · EU pctl 0
Climate
Elevation at region centroid (Copernicus DEM)
109 m
CURRENT · EU pctl 30
Hot days ≥30°C (avg per year)
1 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 9
Frost days ≤0°C (avg per year)
174 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 97
Heavy-precipitation days ≥20mm (avg per year)
3 days/yr
CLIM_2014_2023 · EU pctl 29
Environment
PM10 (coarse particulate matter) annual mean concentration — mean across EEA air-quality monitoring stations within the region (verified E1a data). Lower is better.
16
2024 · EU pctl 63
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 82
Industrial facilities per 100k inhabitants (E-PRTR)
43.0 /100k
2023 · EU pctl 65
Population in the 100-year river floodplain (% of residents, EFAS × census grid)
9.4%
2021 · EU pctl 85
Similar regions · nearest peers on standardised NUTS-3 indicators
Other Sweden regions