Economic Region

Excellently located in the heart of Baden-Wuerttemberg at the country's centre lines Stuttgart - Pforzheim - Karlsruhe and Stuttgart - Bodensee - Zürich. Thus, the Northern Black Forest is part of one of the most powerful metropolitan regions in Europe.

Although Baden-Württemberg has relatively few natural resources compared to other regions of Germany, the state is among the most prosperous and wealthiest regions in Europe with a generally low unemployment rate historically.

Germany has a social market economy with a highly skilled labour force, a large capital stock, a low level of corruption, and a high level of innovation. It has the largest and most powerful national economy in Europe, the fourth largest by nominal GDP in the world, the fifth largest by PPP, and was the biggest net contributor to the EU budget in 2011.