Glossary:Local administrative unit (LAU)

Short definition: local administrative units (LAUs) are used to divide up the territory of the EU for the purpose of providing statistics at a local level. They are low level administrative divisions of a country below that of a province, region or state. Not all countries classify their locally governed areas in the same way and LAUs may refer to a range of different administrative units, including municipalities, communes, parishes or wards.

Statistics for LAUs may be used to establish local typologies including the degree of urbanisation (cities; towns and suburbs; rural areas); functional urban areas (cities and their surrounding commuting zones); coastal areas (coastal and non-coastal areas).

Further information

• See the introduction of Eurostat's Territorial typologies manual
• Local administrative units (LAU)