Facts and Figures

• Area: 21,115 km²
• Population: 6.2 Mio.
• Population per km²: 293
• Regional administrative districts: Kassel, Giessen, Darmstadt
• Major cities: Frankfurt am Main (736,400 population), Wiesbaden (277,600), Kassel (199,000), Darmstadt (157,000), Offenbach (124,000)

• Gross domestic product per employee €81,265
  (Germany €73,680, Europe €57,900)
• Workforce 2.6 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: €86.2 billion
• Export volume: €58.6 billion
  
  
  
• Major trading partners:
  Exports: USA (12.1 %), France (7.7 %), United Kingdom (6.9 %),
  Netherlands (6.6 %);
  Imports: China (11.2 %), USA (9.1 %), Netherlands (6 %), France (5.6 %)
• 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
  (14.8 % of all foreign investment in Germany)
• Unemployment rate: 5.3 % (Germany 6.1 %),  
  Unemployment of 15-25 year-olds: 4.8 % (Germany 6.2 %, Europe 16 %)

• in the Top 10 most innovative regions of Europe
• R&D spending 2.8 % of GDP in Hessen
  (Germany: 2.7 %, EU-28: 2.0 %)
• 76 % of R&D spending is done by companies
  (Germany: 69 %, EU-28: 64 %)
• 69 universities and research institutes
• 5.8 universities per 1 million population
  (Germany: 5.2 per million population)
• About 250,000 matriculated university students
• About 24,300 graduates annually
• Excellence clusters in natural sciences, medicine, engineering
• high percentage of international students and researchers
• 37 technology and startup centers
• lively startup scene: 182 startups per 10,000 employees
  (Germany: 130)

• 510 million consumers in the EU
• 44 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
• Around 4,600 direct flights weekly, 64.5 million airline passengers
• Europe's busiest highway intersection (A3/A5)
• 340 long-distance trains, 290 regional trains and 350,000 daily commuters to Frankfurt Main Train Station
• 90 % of the German data traffic passes through the ICT-Hub Hessen

• 1 million 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 2014 to 2016 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