The FINANCIAL — Is life expectancy in my region higher than in other regions in the European Union (EU)? Is my region richer than others? Does it have fewer road accidents? Does it have many households with broadband internet connection? The answers to these questions and many more are found in the 2016 edition of the regional yearbook, published each year by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
The regional yearbook provides an overview of the wide range of regional statistics available for the 276 NUTS level 2 regions and, for some indicators, the 1 342 NUTS level 3 regions of the 28 Member States of the EU as well as, when available, the regions in EFTA and candidate countries.
The Eurostat regional yearbook 2016 contains chapters on regional policies and Europe 2020, population, health, education, labour market, gross domestic product, structural business statistics, research and innovation, information society, tourism, transport and agriculture. It also includes two special focus chapters: commuting patterns between regions and regional population projections.
In addition to the regional yearbook, Eurostat offers applications for visualising and analysing sub-national data: the two interactive website applications Regional Statistics Illustrated and Statistical Atlas, as well as the mobile device application My Region.
Population density highest in Inner London
In 2014 the most densely populated NUTS 2 regions in the EU were Inner London – East (10 780 inhabitants per km2) and Inner London – West (10 283) in the United Kingdom, followed by Brussels in Belgium (7 393), Melilla in Spain (6 479) and Vienna in Austria (4 507).
Population of five EU regions projected to double or almost double by 2050…
In a small majority of the NUTS 2 regions for which data are available, the population is projected to increase between 2015 and 2050. The population is projected to more than double in the Spanish region Melilla (+127%) and almost double in four other regions: the French overseas department of Guiana (+95%), Luxembourg (+87%), Brussels in Belgium (+83%) and Ceuta in Spain (+82%). Increases of more than 60% are also projected for Inner London – East in the United Kingdom (+62%) and Stockholm in Sweden (+61%).
…while population of three other EU regions projected to almost halve by 2050
In the other NUTS 2 regions the population is projected to decrease between 2015 and 2050. The population is projected to almost halve in Severozapaden in Bulgaria (-49%), as well as the German regions of Saxony-Anhalt and Chemnitz (both -44%). Falls of more than a third are also projected for Severen tsentralen in Bulgaria (-37%), Thuringia and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany (both -36%), as well as Észak-Magyarország in Hungary and Lithuania (both -35%).
Four German regions projected to have more people aged 65+ than of working-age in 2050…
In four NUTS 2 regions, all located in eastern Germany, the old-age dependency ratio is projected to reach or exceed 100% by 2050, meaning that there will be as many or even more people aged 65 and over as there will be aged 15-64: Chemnitz, Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg. Old-age dependency ratios of 80% and over are also projected for Thuringia in Germany (91%), as well as Castile and León (82%) and Asturias (80%) in Spain.
…while there will be at least four persons of working age for each person aged 65+ in four other EU regions
In contrast, it is projected that there will be around five persons of working age for each person aged 65 and over in 2050 in the French overseas department of Guiana (projected old-age dependency ratio of 21%) and around four in Melilla in Spain (24%), Inner London – East in the United Kingdom (25%) and Brussels in Belgium (26%). The projected old-age dependency ratio is also 30% or lower in Inner London – West in the United Kingdom and Ceuta in Spain (29% each), as well as Outer London – East and North East in the United Kingdom (30%).
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