Almost 160 million people live within about a 500 km/310 mls radius of the state capital, Düsseldorf. This represents 1/3 of all consumers and 45% of the purchasing power in the EU. 20 of the 50 top-selling German companies (not including banks and insurance companies) are based in greater Düsseldorf area: Bayer, Bertelsmann, Deutsche Post DHL, Deutsche Telekom, E.ON, Metro, Rewe, RWE and ThyssenKrupp for example. Additionally some 712,000 small and medium-sized companies form the backbone of the economy in NRW.

With Düsseldorf, Cologne, Dortmund, and Essen, greater Düsseldorf area is the world’s number one trade fair location. More than 60 internationally leading trade fairs such as anuga, boot, drupa, MEDICA or photokina attract some 6 million visitors every year. As one of the world’s largest trade fair locations the state is ahead of Hannover, Frankfurt, Milan, Guangzhou, Chicago, Valencia and Paris.