Facts and Figures

• Area: 21,115 km²Population: 6.1 Mio.
• Population per km²: 289
• Regional administrative districts: Kassel, Gießen, Darmstadt
• Major cities: Frankfurt am Main (718,000 population), Wiesbaden (275,000), Kassel (195,000), Darmstadt (152,000), Offenbach (121,000)

• Gross domestic product per employee €75,708 
  (Germany €65,429, Europe €57,900)
• Workforce 2.35 million
• Business structure (percentage of gross value added): manufacturing 25%, services 75%
• Most important sectors: mechanical engineering, electro-technology, vehicle manufacturing, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, financial services
• Import volume: €80.3 billion
• Export volume: €58.5 billion
• Major trading partners:
  Exports: USA (12.3 %), France (8.1 %), United Kingdom (8.1 %),
  Netherlands (5.7 %);
  Imports: USA (10.3 %), China (9.2 %),  Netherlands (6.9 %); France (7.3 %)
• Most important import/export goods:
  Exports: chemical and pharmaceutical products, machinery, motor vehicles and components
  Imports: motor vehicles and components, machinery, electro-technical products
• Foreign direct investment in Hessen: €66.5 billion
  (14,5% of all foreign investment in Germany)
• Unemployment rate 5.7 % (Germany 6.7 %),
  Unemployment of 15-25 year-olds 4.8 % (Germany 5.3%, Europe over 20%)

• in the Top 10 most innovative regions of Europe
• R&D spending 2.8 % of GDP in Hessen
  (Germany: 2.8 %, EU-27: 2.0 %)
• 80 % of R&D spending is done by companies
  (Germany: 68 %, EU-27: 62 %)
• More than 80 universities and research institutes
• 5.9 universities per 1 million population
  (Germany: 5.3 per million population)
• About 240,000 matriculated university students
• About 36,000 graduates annually
• Excellence clusters in natural sciences, medicine, engineering
• high percentage of international students and researchers
• 37 technology and startup centers
• lively startup scene: 8,5 starts per 1,000 population
  (Germany: 7,2 per 1,000 population)

• 507 million consumers in the EU
• 35 million people within 200 km radius of Frankfurt
• Europe's superior logistic location / latest "cut-off time" in Germany
• Tri-modal Ports - Water, Rail and Road modes of transportation are optimally networked
• Connections to international harbors in Rotterdam, Antwerp and the Black Sea
• Europe's largest air freight center - Cargo City Frankfurt
• 4,600 direct flights weekly, 60 million airline passengers
• Europe's busiest highway intersection (A3/A5)
• 340 long-distance trains, 290 regional trains, 350,000 daily commuters to Frankfurt Main Train Station
• 90 % of the German data traffic passes through the IKT-Hub Hessen

• 860,000 people from 190 nations live and work in Hessen
• About 12,500 international companies
• 110 consulates
• 60 foreign chambers of commerce
• 13 international schools
• 180 international business and cultural clubs

These figures are based on data from 2010 to 2015 and are continually being updated.
At the time of publication, this data was up-to-date. But in the meantime, there may be more current data available. We welcome your comments. Additional statistical information is available from www.statistik-hessen.de