European statistics

on cities

CO M PAC T
GUIDES

What is acity?

Spatial units

The concept of acity has many different meanings. In order to have

quality statistics, aharmonised methodological base was created.

Data are collected for several levels:

The Degree of Urbanisation (DEGURBA) has been used as astarting

point. It analyses small local administrative units (LAUs) usually
communes with the help of agrid based distribution of population
in order to identify real urban structures with ahigh concentration of
population. These are:

A City is alocal administrative unit

(LAU) where the majority of the
population lives in an urban centre of
at least 50 000 inhabitants.
The city of Paris has approximately
2200000 inhabitants

Paris

Cities (densely populated areas)

Towns and suburbs (intermediate density areas)
Rural areas (thinly populated areas)
Degree of urbanisation for local administrative units level 2
(LAU2)Degree
() of urbanisation for local administrative units level 2 (LAU2) ()
Canarias (ES)

Guadeloupe (FR)

0 100

Martinique (FR)

Guyane (FR)

0 100

Mayotte (FR)

20

Malta

25

20

Runion (FR)

The Greater city is an

approximation of the urban centre
when this stretches far beyond the
administrative city boundaries.
The greater city of Paris has
approximately 6700000 inhabitants.

15

Aores (PT)

10

0 50

Madeira (PT)

Liechtenstein

0 20

The Functional Urban Area

consists of acity and its commuting
zone.
The functional urban area of Paris has
approximately 11800 000 inhabitants.

Administrative boundaries: EuroGeographics UN-FAO Turkstat

Cartography: Eurostat GISCO, 05/2016
Cities / densely populated areas
(at least 50 % of the population lives in high-density
clusters)
Towns and suburbs / intermediate density areas
(less than 50 % of the population lives in rural grid cells and
0
200 400 600 800 km
less than 50 % of the population lives in high-density clusters)

Rural areas / thinly populated areas

(more than 50 % of the population lives in rural grid cells)
Data not available
() Based on population grid from 2011 and LAU 2014. Denmark, Greece and Malta: local administrative units level 1 (LAU1).
Source: Eurostat, JRC and European Commission Directorate-General for Regional Policy

Statistics by degree of urbanisation provide an analytical and descriptive

lens on urban and rural areas.
Eurostat produces data based on the degree of urbanisation for abroad
range of statistics, including the following domains: health, lifelong
learning, educational attainment and outcomes, living conditions and
welfare, the labour market, tourism and information society statistics.
For more information on DEGURBA:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/degreeofurbanisation/overview

Metropolitan regions are

NUTS 3 regions or acombination of
NUTS 3 regions which represent all
agglomerations of at least 250 000
inhabitants. These agglomerations
were identified using the Functional
Urban Area (FUA). Each agglomeration
is represented by at least one NUTS 3
region. If in an adjacent NUTS 3 region
more than 50% of the population also
lives within this agglomeration, it is
included in the metropolitan region.
The metropolitan region of Paris has
approximately 12000000 inhabitants.
For more information on Cities:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/
cities/overview

0 25 50 75 100 km
City
Greater city
Functional urban area (FUA)
Metropolitan region

The EU Urban Agenda

Key publications
Eurostat regional yearbook
The Eurostat regional yearbook is an annual
publication which gives adetailed picture relating
to abroad range of statistical topics across the
regions of the Member States of the European Union
(EU), as well as the regions of EFTA and candidate
countries. These regional statistics are based on the
classification of territorial units for statistics, known by
the acronym NUTS. This classification is based on harmonised conventions
to define regions in acomparable manner, reflecting the diverse physical,
demographic and administrative situations in the EU Member States.
The content of this book is available in print, PDF and as an online publication
in Statistics Explained. The latest data can also be downloaded from
Eurostats database, where more disaggregated data can often be found.

Cities are one of the major players as they directly or indirectly

implement EU policies on the ground and therefore contribute to the
EUs major policy objectives. Action is needed at EU, national and city
level to ensure that cities are able to fulfil their potential in this role. For
this reason, an EU Urban Agenda is being established. Several political
agendas have been developed in the past. The Leipzig charter and
Toledo Declaration are carried forward in the EU Urban Agenda.
The core objective of the EU Urban Agenda is to improve the
implementation of policies ontheground by working more on urban
matters, involving more cities in the design of policies and mobilising
them more in the implementation of these policies (i.e. more effective,
more efficient and at alower cost). This will be achieved through better
legislation, better funding and better knowledge. In addition, the EU
Urban Agenda will strengthen cooperation between Commission
services.
Further information can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/themes/urbandevelopment

Cat. No: KSHA-16-001-ENN (2016 edition)

On Eurostats website:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/publications/regionalyearbook/

Urban Europe statistics on

cities, towns and suburbs
Statistical information is an important tool for analysing
changing patterns of urban development and the
impact that policy decisions have on life in our cities,
towns and suburbs. This publication provides detailed
information for anumber of territorial typologies that can
be used to paint apicture of urban developments and
urban life in the EU Member States, as well as EFTA and candidate countries.
Cat. No: KS-01-16-691-ENN
On Eurostats website:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/productsstatisticalbooks/-/KS-01-16-691
Paper editions of the above publications can be ordered free of charge
from: http://bookshop.europa.eu/

Methodological Manual on City

Statistics
This manual contains methodological guidelines,
Glossary, information on the scope of the City statistics
data collection, data sources and quality aspects. It is
available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/cities/publications

Online resources

My capital in abubble

There are three main entry points to access material on subnational statistics
on Eurostats website:
Analyses are made available on Statistics Explained;
Data may be viewed, manipulated or extracted from the Eurostat
database;
Background information is provided through aseries of Dedicated
Sections.

Analyses Statistics
Explained
Articles on cities:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/
statisticsexplained/index.php/
Regions_and_cities

Data - Eurobase
Cities data can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/cities/data/database

My capital in abubble is afun visualisation tool which allows users

to compare data for the capital cities of the EU Member States, Iceland,
Norway, Switzerland and Turkey; it has about 30 indicators grouped into
different themes that are the result of avoluntary data collection on
cities and aperception survey on the quality of life in cities.
It is accessible at:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/BubbleCapital/index.html?lg=en

Information Dedicated sections

Look under general and regional statistics - Subnational statistics:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/browsestatisticsbytheme
The following dedicated sections may be of particular interest:
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/cities/overview
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/degree-of-urbanisation/overview
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/metropolitan-regions/overview
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/nuts/overview
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/rural-development/overview

My Region App
The My region app gives mobile
access to aselection of annual
regional indicators at NUTS 2 level
for the EU Member States, EFTA
and candidate countries. The app
is available in three languages:
English, French and German.
The update function allows to
download the freshest data from
the Eurostat database. This mobile
app is available for both iOS and
Android.

Visualisation tools for exploring

city statistics
There are several interactive applications on the Eurostat website which
provide tools for visualising and analysing territorial data.

City Statistics Illustrated

This application contains data for about 30 statistical indicators across
European cities, with information displayed in amap and in abar chart
for the latest available reference period.
The various visualisations contained in City Statistics Illustrated
(chloropleth map, distribution plot, scatter plot, bar chart and data
table) provide the opportunity to make deeper analyses of city data as
well as comparisons and rankings of different cities.

To access City Statistics Illustrated:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/RSI/#?vis=city.statistics&lang=en

Statistical Atlas

Geographical classifications

The Statistical Atlas is an interactive viewer that allows users to study

statistical data in combination with geographical information (for
example, cities, roads and rivers).

Classification of territorial units for statistics

(NUTS)
Regional statistics are produced and
disseminated according to the classification
of territorial units for statistics the NUTS
classification.

LAU 2

LAU 1

NUTS 3

NUTS is ahierarchical classification with

three levels:

NUTS 2

NUTS 1: major socioeconomic regions;

NUTS 1

NUTS 2: basic regions for the application of

regional policies;
The Statistical Atlas can be used for viewing all of the maps that are
contained within the Eurostat regional yearbook and provides users with
an opportunity to focus on information for asingle administrative region
in Europe; all maps can also be downloaded in highresolution PDF.
Resident population in Urban Audit core cities,
Resident population
in Urban Audit core cities, 1 January 2012 ()
1January2012
() (inhabitants)

Country

NUTS 3: small regions for specific analyses.

Classification of local administrative units

(LAU)
Additionally, Eurostat has defined two levels of local administrative units
(LAUs) compatible with NUTS:

(inhabitants)

Guadeloupe (FR)

Martinique (FR)

25

Guyane (FR)

20

Runion (FR)

LAU 1: defined for most, but not all, countries;

LAU 2: consists of municipalities/communes.
For more information on NUTS and LAUs:

100

Aores (PT)

20

Madeira (PT)

50

20

Canarias (ES)

Malta

100

10

Liechtenstein

(inhabitants)

Administrative boundaries: EuroGeographics UN-FAO Turkstat

< 100 000

500 000 < 1 000 000

100 000 < 250 000

1 000 000 < 3 000 000

250 000 < 500 000

>= 3 000 000

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/nuts/overview

Cartography: Eurostat GISCO, 06/2015

Population grids

Not inhabited
1-4
5 - 19
20 - 199
200 - 499
500 - 5000
>5000
Data not available

Administrative units are useful for

accounting and reporting purposes.
However, subnational statistics can
also be compiled based on aset of
geographically referenced grid cells.
This type of data is particularly useful
for analysing socioeconomic and
environmental phenomena which
are independent of administrative
boundaries, such as flooding, commuting or urban sprawl.
0

200

400

600

800 km

() Luxembourg: 2015. Denmark, Portugal and Norway: 2013. Ireland, France and Sweden (see exceptions that follow): 2011. Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Austria: 2009.
Vsters (SE), Norrkping (SE), Helsingborg (SE), Lund (SE) and Bors (SE): 2008. Turkey: 2004. Croatia: 2001. Dublin, Athina, Barcelona, Bilbao, Paris, Milano, Napoli,
Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Lisboa, Porto, Helsinki / Helsingfors, Stockholm, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Leicester, Portsmouth, Nottingham, Southend-on-Sea, Reading,
Preston, Zrich, Genve, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Luzern and Lugano: greater city. Bulgaria, Ireland, Greece, Paris, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, the United
Kingdom and Turkey: estimates.

Source: Eurostat (online data code: urb_cpop1)

To access the Statistical Atlas:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statisticalatlas/gis/viewer

Aores (PT)

Population density in Europe

(inhabitants per km)

200

400

600

800 km

Administrative boundaries: EuroGeographics UN-FAO

For more information on population grids:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/
Population_grids

Madeira (PT)

50

20

Canarias (ES)

Malta

100

10

 Urban areas composing cities, towns and their

suburbs are now home to almost three quarters of the
European Unions (EUs) population.

PDF: KS-04-16-588-EN-N
Print: KS-04-16-588-EN-C

Did you know?

In 2014, Paris and London the EUs largest cities were

less than one third the size of Tokyo
There were 34 million people living in EU cities who were at
risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2014
People living alone in cities had higher levels of life
satisfaction than those living alone in more rural areas.
The fastest economic growth in recent years was often
recorded in metropolitan regions with hightechnology
industries.
Municipal waste per inhabitant was relatively high in cities
characterised as tourist destinations.
In 2014, the difference between incomes in cities and rural
areas was widest in those EU Member States with the
lowest levels of income.
London was the EU capital with the highest cost of living in
2015.
1 in 20 citydwellers in the EU28 faced severe housing
deprivation in 2014.
The EUs 201420 cohesion policy and more specifically its
urban agenda are designed to invest heavily in urban areas,
with EUR 15 billion directly managed by city authorities for
sustainable urban development.

European Union 2016

Cover: Shutterstock
PDF: KS-04-16-588-EN-N
Print: KS-04-16-588-EN-C

doi:10.2785/626218
doi: 10.2785/605535