Regions in Europe – 2026 edition
EU countries are often compared with each other. However, contrasting small countries such as Malta or Luxembourg with larger ones such as Germany or France can sometimes be misleading. Analysing regional data can highlight disparities both across the EU or within individual countries, such as an east-west divide in Germany or a north-south divide in Italy.
This publication presents a selection of data visualisations accompanied by short explanatory texts. It is designed to provide a deeper understanding of the social, economic and environmental conditions faced by regions across the EU.
Before exploring the publication, see if you can find your region on the map of Europe.
People and society
In 2024, Spain’s capital region of Comunidad de Madrid recorded the highest life expectancy at birth within the EU, at 85.7 years
Population
Demographic data about EU regions can answer questions such as: how has the in your region changed over time? And are you older or younger than the for people living in your region?
Population and population change
On 1 January 2025, there were 451 million people living in the EU. Almost 40% of EU regions – 95 out of 244 – had between 1.00 and 2.00 million inhabitants. By contrast, some regions were considerably more populated: for example the French capital region, Ile-de-France (12.5 million inhabitants), Lombardia in northern Italy (10.0 million) or Andalucía in southern Spain (8.7 million). At the other end of the scale, there were 30 654 people living in Åland, an archipelago off the south-west coast of Finland and less than 100 000 people living in the Spanish regions of Ciudad de Ceuta and Ciudad de Melilla.
Some highlights from the map below
- other than Ile-de-France, Lombardia and Andalucía, there were also high numbers of people – more than 5.0 million inhabitants – living in several business/cultural hubs of activity: Cataluña, Comunidad de Madrid and Comunitat Valenciana in Spain, Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in France, Lazio and Campania in Italy or Düsseldorf in Germany
- in Ireland and Slovenia, almost half of the national population was living in the capital region
- while high shares, of at least 30% of the national total, were also recorded for the capital regions of Greece, Denmark, Finland, Bulgaria and Lithuania
- by contrast, less than 10% of the national population lived in the capital regions of Italy, Poland and Germany, with Berlin recording the lowest share (4.4% of the German population).
In the map below, each bubble represents a region. The size of the bubble indicates the number of inhabitants on 1 January 2025, while shades show the rate of population change between 1 January 2024 and 1 January 2025.
Natural change and migration
Populations can rise or fall due to the difference between the number of births and deaths
(), or the difference in how many people move to or leave a region
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The EU’s population grew by 1.2 million in 2024, marking one of the largest annual increases in the past 4 decades. In 2024, the iin the EU was −2.8 per 1 000 inhabitants; this was the 13th year in a row with more deaths than births. However, the was positive (5.4 per 1 000 inhabitants), meaning that more people arrived in the EU than left it.
In 2024, the total number of inhabitants increased in 62.3% of all EU regions (152 out of 244 for which data are available). By contrast, the population fell in 36.9% of EU regions and was unchanged in 2 regions.
In the data visualisation below, click on the forward button or on a year in the timeline to see the changes in population from 2015 to 2024.
There were 90 regions across the EU where the total number of inhabitants declined between 2023 and 2024. Severozapaden – a region in north-west Bulgaria – recorded the most rapid decline, with its population falling by 13.0 per 1 000 inhabitants, driven almost entirely by negative natural change (in other words, more deaths than births). Dytiki Makedonia – a region in north-western Greece – recorded the second largest decline, with a fall of 12.0 per 1 000 inhabitants (again largely attributable to negative natural change). This pattern – whereby natural change was the principal contributor to population loss – was common among EU regions experiencing population declines greater than 2.5 per 1 000 inhabitants.
In 2024, largest negative crude rates of natural population change (in other words, where there were notably more deaths than births) were mainly concentrated in Bulgaria, eastern Germany, Greece and Italy. Many of these were rural and/or remote regions characterised by low fertility rates and a relatively elderly population structures. The lowest crude rates of natural population change were recorded in northern Bulgaria, in Severozapaden (−12.3 per 1 000 inhabitants) and Severen tsentralen (−12.2 per 1 000 inhabitants). Double-digit declines were also observed in the eastern German regions of Chemnitz and Sachsen-Anhalt.
In 2024, the Greek island region of Voreio Aigaio recorded the highest crude rate of population change. Its population increased by 38.6 per 1 000 inhabitants, with the rise driven entirely by net inward migration.
Capital regions accounted for several of the regions with the highest rates of population growth. For example, each of the following capital regions recorded a crude rate of population change above 10.0 per 1 000 inhabitants:
- Eastern and Midland in Ireland
- Comunidad de Madrid in Spain
- Grande Lisboa in Portugal
- Helsinki-Uusimaa in Finland
- Wien in Austria
- Hovedstaden in Denmark.
There was also relatively rapid population growth – at least 10.0 per 1 000 inhabitants – in:
- the other 2 regions of Ireland (Southern, and Northern and Western)
- the north-western Greek region of Ipeiros
- 6 more Spanish regions (Comunitat Valenciana, Illes Balears, Cataluña, Ciudad de Melilla, Región de Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha)
- Mayotte in France
- Flevoland in the Netherlands
- 5 more Portuguese regions (Algarve, Península de Setúbal, Oeste e Vale do Tejo, Centro, and Região Autónoma da Madeira)
- this was also the case for Malta, Cyprus and Luxembourg.
In almost all of these regions, population growth in 2024 was mainly driven by net inward migration. The French outermost region of Mayotte was the only exception, with most of its increasing population resulting from natural change (although it also experienced a modest level of net inward migration). It had the highest crude rate of natural change in the EU, at 24.3 per 1 000 inhabitants.
Median age
By analysing the of the population, it is possible to identify EU regions most likely to face the challenges of an ageing society. A high median age may reflect not only higher life expectancy, but also migratory patterns – such as young people leaving a region or older people moving to it – as well as low birth rates.
Is the median age in your region below or above the EU average (44.9 years in 2025)?
In 2025, there were 21 regions across the EU with a median age of at least 50.0 years:
- the Italian regions of Liguria (which had the highest median age in the EU, at 52.6 years), Sardegna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Molise, Umbria, Piemonte, Toscana, Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste, Marche and Abruzzo.
- the eastern German regions of Chemnitz, Sachsen-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Thüringen
- the north-western Spanish regions of Principado de Asturias and Castilla y León and Galicia
- the Bulgarian regions of Severozapaden and Severen tsentralen
- the Greek region of Dytiki Makedonia
- the French outermost region of Martinique
At the other end of the scale, 2 other French outermost regions – Mayotte and Guyane recorded the youngest populations in the EU with median ages of 17.7 and 27.4 years, respectively. The next lowest median ages were in the capital regions of Belgium, France and Ireland and Denmark, and the Spanish autonomous region of Ciudad de Melilla.
Health
How is the health of the population in your region? What is the average ?
Life expectancy at birth
In 2024, life expectancy for a newborn girl in the EU was 84.1 years; this was 5.2 years higher than for a newborn boy (78.9 years).
The data visualisation below shows that life expectancy is higher for women than for men in every single region of the EU.
In 2024, the highest levels of life expectancy at birth were observed for women and were concentrated in Spain. There were 8 (predominantly northern) Spanish regions where female life expectancy was at least 86.7 years, including the capital region of Comunidad de Madrid, which had the highest level (87.9 years). Female life expectancy was also relatively high in the French regions of Ile-de-France and Rhône-Alpes, as well as the northern Italian regions of Provincia Autonoma di Trento and Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen. More generally, newborn girls could be expected to live longest in Spanish, French and Italian regions.
In 2024, the Swedish capital region of Stockholm reported the highest life expectancy at birth for men (83.5 years), followed by the Spanish capital region of Comunidad de Madrid (83.1 years). Several Italian regions – Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen, Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna – along with the Swedish region of Småland med öarna, also recorded male life expectancy of at least 82.5 years. More generally, newborn boys could be expected to live longest in Spanish, Italian and Swedish regions.
Between 2023 and 2024, 77.0% of EU regions (188 out of 244 regions for which data are available) recorded an increase in life expectancy at birth for both sexes combined, while 22 regions had no change. The largest increases – of at least 1.0 years – were observed in the Spanish autonomous region of Ciudad de Melilla and the Portuguese island region of Região Autónoma da Madeira.
Over the same period, life expectancy declined across 34 regions in the EU. The largest decreases were observed in Åland in Finland (−1.6 years), Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste in Italy (−0.7 years) and the Greek island regions of Ionia Nisia and Voreio Aigaio (both −0.6 years).
Causes of death
In 2023, there were 4.8 million across the EU; 85.2% of all deaths were among people aged 65 or over. Diseases of the circulatory system (32.8%) and cancer (23.9%) were the most common causes, together accounting for more than half of all deaths.
Identifying and recording the main cause of death is important for policymakers, health services and the public at large, for example to design preventive health services. The use of improves comparability between different age cohorts, across regions/countries and over time, allowing death rates to be measured independently of a population’s age structure.
Take a look at the data visualisation below: what was the main cause of death in your region?
Heart attacks and strokes are among the most common causes of death from diseases of the circulatory system. Diseases of the circulatory system are related, among other factors, to high blood pressure, heart disease and diseases of the veins and arteries. In late 2025, the European Commission adopted an EU cardiovascular health plan: the safe hearts plan (COM(2025) 1024 final) as its strategic response to the EU’s leading health challenge.
In 2023, the EU’s standardised death rate for diseases of the circulatory system was 313.0 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants. Severozapaden in north-west Bulgaria had the highest death rate among EU regions (1 014.9 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in 2023). This figure was 7.7 times as high as in the French capital region of Ile-de-France (132.1 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants), which had the lowest rate.
Medical advances, screening and check-ups, as well as changes in lifestyle are among the principal reasons why standardised death rates for many cancers have fallen in recent years.
In 2023, the EU’s standardised death rate for cancer (both sexes combined) was 233.1 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants. The most common causes of death from cancer include lung cancer, colorectal cancer and pancreatic cancer, as well as breast cancer (which mainly occurs in women) and prostate cancer (which occurs exclusively in men).
Men were more likely than women to die from cancer. In 2023, the latest standardised death rates across the EU were 302.8 deaths per 100 000 male inhabitants and 183.7 deaths per 100 000 female inhabitants. This pattern – a higher rate for men than for women – was observed across every region of the EU (for which data are available).
The highest standardised death rate for cancer was recorded in the eastern Hungarian region of Észak-Alföld (335.5 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in 2023). This was almost twice as high as in the region with the lowest rate, the French outermost region of Guyane (170.3 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants).
In 2023, the EU’s standardised death rate for diseases of the respiratory system – including asthma, influenza and pneumonia – was 75.2 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants. Men were almost twice as likely as women to die from these diseases, with 103.0 deaths per 100 000 male inhabitants compared with 57.3 deaths per 100 000 female inhabitants.
Among EU regions, the highest death rate (among both sexes combined) for diseases of the respiratory system was in the Portuguese Região Autónoma da Madeira (163.4 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants in 2023). This was 5.7 times as high as the lowest death rate recorded in the Slovenian capital region of Zahodna Slovenija (28.6 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants).
Diseases of the respiratory system are often concentrated in regions with high levels of pollution, relatively high levels of mining activity, or regions characterised by volcanic activity. In 2023, the highest death rates from diseases of the respiratory system – at least 125.0 deaths per 100 000 inhabitants – were recorded in the Portuguese autonomous regions of Madeira and Açores (Portugal), the Vest and Centru regions of Romania, Ciudad de Ceuta in Spain, Prov. Liège and Prov. Luxembourg in Belgium, and Nordjylland in Denmark.
Education
What is the most common level of educational attainment in your region? How easy is it for people who have recently left school with at least an upper secondary level of education to find employment?
Educational attainment
Educational attainment is measured using the and can be used to determine the highest level of education that somebody has successfully completed. Have a look at the map and select a level of educational attainment (low, medium or high).
In 2025, 18.8% of the EU’s working-age population (people aged 25 to 64) had attained a low level of formal education (no more than lower secondary education). The highest regional shares were observed in the French outermost region of Mayotte (72.2%) and the autonomous island regions of Portugal: Região Autónoma dos Açores (56.7%) and Região Autónoma da Madeira (48.7%).
By contrast, the capital regions of Czechia, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Croatia and Hungary each reported that less than 5.0% of their working-age populations had a low level of formal education in 2025. This situation was also observed in the Polish regions of Śląskie, Małopolskie, Podkarpackie and Dolnośląskie, as well as in the Czech regions of Střední Morava and Jihovýchod.
Tertiary education builds on secondary education and provides learning in specialised fields of study. As well as advanced vocational or professional education, it includes academic programmes leading to qualifications such as bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees.
More than a third (36.9%) of the EU’s working-age population had a tertiary (or high) level of formal education in 2025. There were 24 regions across the EU where at least half of the working-age population had a high level of education. These included the capital regions of Lithuania, Poland, Ireland, Sweden, Hungary, France, Denmark, Belgium, Czechia, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Croatia and Spain, as well as Luxembourg and Cyprus.
Other regions in 2025 where at least half of the working-age population had a high level of educational attainment included Prov. Brabant wallon and Prov. Vlaams-Brabant (Belgium), País Vasco and Comunidad Foral de Navarra (Spain), Utrecht (the Netherlands), the Southern and Northern and Western regions of Ireland, and Sydsverige and Västsverige (Sweden).
Employment rate of recent graduates
After completing school or tertiary education, most people consider their transition into the labour market. Among other factors, their chances of finding a job are closely linked to the knowledge and skills they obtained during their studies. Have a look at the data visualisation below to see the (people having recently completed an upper secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary or tertiary education) in your region. Some key findings are presented under the data visualisation.
In the data visualisation below, click on the forward button or on a year in the timeline to see the changes from 2017 to 2025.
In 2025, the EU’s employment rate for people aged 20 to 34 having recently completed an upper secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary or tertiary education was 83.0%. There were 45 regions (out of a total of 217 for which data are available), where this employment rate was at least 90.0%, with the highest rates concentrated in Germany (19 regions), the Netherlands (6 regions) Poland (4 regions) and Austria (3 regions). At the upper end of the distribution there were 7 regions with rates of more than 94.0%:
- Bourgogne in France (96.2%)
- Warmińsko-mazurskie (96.2%) and Warszawski stołeczny (94.3%) in Poland
- Schwaben (95.8%), Braunschweig (95.5%) and Weser-Ems (95.1%) in Germany
- Galicia in Spain (95.7%).
In relative terms, Italy had the widest regional spread of employment rates among recent school leavers or university graduates. In 2025, the lowest employment rate in the EU for this cohort was in the southern region of Calabria (46.3%), while the northern region of Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen recorded a rate almost twice as high (89.5%). Relatively wide variations in employment rates were also observed across regions in France, Romania and Greece.
Labour market
Employment rate
What is the employment situation in the region where you live, study or work? Is the difference in between the sexes small or large?
In 2025, the Czech capital region Praha (91.5%) and the Polish capital region of Warszawski stołeczny (90.3%) recorded the highest male employment rates among people aged 20 to 64, followed by Střední Čechy (89.9%), which surrounds the Czech capital, and Malta (89.1%).
The highest female employment rates were recorded in Lithuanian capital region of Sostinės regionas (86.4% in 2025) and Åland in Finland (85.1%), followed by the Polish, Slovak and Swedish capital regions of Warszawski stołeczny (83.7%), Bratislavský kraj (82.6%) and Stockholm (82.3%); the Swedish region of Mellersta Norrland had the same rate (82.3%).
At the lower end of the distribution, 9 EU regions recorded female employment rates below 50.0% among people aged 20 to 64. Of these, 5 regions were located in southern Italy: Campania, Sicilia, Calabria, Puglia and Basilicata. The lowest female rate was recorded in the French outermost region of Mayotte (27.8%). The remaining regions were the French outermost region of Guyane and the autonomous Spanish regions of Ciudad de Ceuta and Ciudad de Melilla.
For men, 7 EU regions recorded employment rates of no more than 65.0% in 2025. These included all 5 of the outermost regions of France, with the lowest rate in Mayotte (48.0%). The other 2 regions were both located in southern Italy, with the lowest rate in Calabria (63.1%).
The male employment rate in the EU was 80.9% in 2025. This was 9.7 higher than the corresponding rate for women (71.2%). This pattern – a higher male than female employment rate – was repeated in all but 3 regions across the EU. The exceptions were:
- the Lithuanian capital region of Sostinės regionas, where the female employment rate (86.4%) was 3.3 pp higher than the corresponding male rate (83.1%)
- the French outermost regions of Martinique and Guadeloupe, where female employment rates were 5.0 pp and 1.0 pp higher, respectively.
In 2025, there were 18 regions across the EU where the employment gender gap (with a higher rate for men) was at least 20.0 pp. These regions were exclusively located in Greece, southern Italy, Romania and the outermost regions of France. The central Greek region of Sterea Elláda recorded the widest employment gender gap: its male employment rate was 86.9%, which was 29.0 pp higher than its female rate (57.9%).
At the other end of the range, the narrowest employment gender gaps (with higher rates for males) – less than 5.0 pp in 2025 – were mainly concentrated across regions in Belgium, Germany, France, Finland, Sweden and the Baltic countries.
Unemployment rate
In 2025, there were 13.3 million unemployed people aged 15 to 74 in the EU, while the stood at 6.0%.
The map below shows large variations in unemployment rates between EU countries. Regional differences within countries were generally much smaller, although there were wider disparities across Italy, Romania, Belgium, Bulgaria and Slovakia.
Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Austria and Finland were atypical, as their highest unemployment rates occurred in their capital regions. There was a particularly large difference in Austria, as the unemployment rate for Wien, (9.9% in 2025) was almost twice as high as that recorded in any other Austrian region; the second highest rate being 5.0% in Burgenland.
In 2025, the highest regional unemployment rates across the EU were observed in:
- the Spanish regions of Ciudad de Melilla (24.9%), Ciudad de Ceuta (24.3%), Andalucía (15.2%) and Extremadura (14.8%)
- the French outermost regions of Mayotte (24.9%), Guyane (16.9%), Guadeloupe (16.6%) and La Réunion (16.3%)
- the north-western Greek region of Dytiki Makedonia (15.3%)
By contrast, the unemployment rate was no higher than 2.0% across 5 regions of the EU (3 of which were capital regions):
- Yugozapaden in Bulgaria
- Střední Čechy and Praha in Czechia
- Bucureşti-Ilfov in Romania
- Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen in northern Italy.
The EU (for people aged 15 to 29) stood at 11.7% in 2025, almost twice as high as the overall unemployment rate (for people aged 15 to 74). The youth unemployment rate was higher than the overall rate in every region of the EU (for which data are available).
In 2025, the youth unemployment rate was at least 3.0 times as high as the overall unemployment rate in the following regions:
- the Croatian capital region of Grad Zagreb (4.1 times as high)
- the Romanian regions of Sud-Vest Oltenia (3.4) and Centru (3.2)
- the eastern Greek island region of Voreio Aigaio (3.3)
- the southern Italian region of Abruzzo (3.1).
By contrast, the smallest relative differences in 2025 between youth and overall unemployment rates were observed in the following regions:
- the predominantly urban German regions of Hamburg, Berlin and Düsseldorf
- the French outermost region of Mayotte
- the western Hungarian region of Nyugat-Dunántúl
- the capital region of Wien in Austria.
In each of these 6 regions, the youth unemployment rate was no more than 1.4 times as high as the overall unemployment rate.
In 2025, the highest youth unemployment rates tended to be recorded in regions that exhibited the highest overall unemployment rates. The following atypical regions recorded the highest youth unemployment rates:
- the Spanish autonomous cities of Ciudad de Ceuta (43.1%) and Ciudad de Melilla (39.6%)
- the French outermost regions of Mayotte (34.6%), Martinique (33.3%) and Guadeloupe (32.1%)
The next highest rate was observed in the western Spanish region of Extremadura (29.3%).
In 2025, there were 4.2 million people in the EU without a job who had been actively seeking work for at least 12 months; the was 1.9%. There were 4 regions with double-digit long-term unemployment rates:
- the Spanish autonomous cities of Ciudad de Melilla (16.3%) and Ciudad de Ceuta (14.8%)
- the French outermost region of Mayotte (14.8%)
- the Greek region of Dytiki Makedonia (10.0%).
In 39 out of the 186 EU regions for which data are available in 2025, the long-term unemployment rate was less than 1.0%. These regions were mainly concentrated in Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and Poland. The lowest rates were recorded in Prov. West-Vlaanderen (Belgium; 0.3%) and Gelderland (the Netherlands; 0.4%).
Digital society
A majority of the EU’s population use the internet every day: at work, in education, while socialising or at home. The data presented below are from surveys on the use of information and communication technology. These surveys – covering people aged 16 to 74 – generally refer to the first quarter of each reference year and concern internet activities during the previous 3 or 12 months.
Daily internet users
In 2025, 89.5% of people in the EU daily.
Northern and western regions of the EU tended to report relatively high proportions of daily internet users, with the highest shares concentrated in predominantly urban regions.
In 2025, daily internet use ranged from lows of 76.4% in the eastern German region of Sachsen-Anhalt and 77.3% in the Polish region of Podlaskie, to over 99.0% in the Dutch regions of Flevoland and Groningen and Ireland’s Northern and Western and Eastern and Midland regions.
Have a look at the map to compare the EU average against your region.
In 2020, the share of people in the EU using the internet daily was 79.7%. This share increased every year thereafter, rising 9.9 percentage points (based on unrounded data) to 89.5% by 2025. The share of people using the internet on a daily basis tended to increase more rapidly in regions where internet use was initially low; this was particularly the case in Romania.
By contrast, it was already common in 2020 for a relatively high share of people to use the internet on a daily basis in many northern and western regions of the EU. For many of these regions, daily internet use remained relatively unchanged between 2020 and 2025.
Making use of the internet
Have a look at the data visualisation below to see how people aged 16 to 74 in your region made use of the internet for , internet banking or social networks.
In 2025, within the EU:
- 73.6% of people bought/ordered goods or services over the internet during the 12 months prior to the survey
- 69.7% of people used online banking during the 3 months prior to the survey
- 67.3% of people used social media during the 3 months prior to the survey.
In 2025, almost three quarters of all people aged 16 to 74 in the EU bought or ordered goods or services over the internet during the 12 months prior to the survey. Flevoland in the Netherlands had the highest regional share, at 96.2%. More generally, there was a high propensity for online shopping, with at least 90.0% of people using e-commerce, in:
- every region of Ireland and the Netherlands
- 3 out of the 5 regions in Denmark
- Västsverige in Sweden
- the Czech capital region of Praha.
At the lower end of the range, there were 2 regions where fewer than 40.0% of people bought/ordered goods or services over the internet in 2025: the south-eastern Bulgarian region of Yugoiztochen (37.7%) and the southern Italian region of Calabria (39.4%).
In 2025, 69.7% of people aged 16 to 74 across the EU used the internet for banking during the 3 months prior to the survey. At least 90.0% of people made use of internet banking across every region of Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and Finland; this was also the case in the Czech capital region of Praha. The highest shares were recorded in the Danish regions of Syddanmark (98.4%) and Hovedstaden (the capital region; 98.1%), as well as the Dutch region of Zeeland (also 98.1%).
By contrast, across most of Bulgaria and Romania – except for the capital regions of Yugozapaden and Bucureşti-Ilfov, and the Bulgarian region of Severoiztochen – fewer than 1 in 3 people made use of internet banking in 2025. Outside these 2 countries, the southern Italian region of Calabria had the lowest share (35.4%).
One of the most common activities on the internet is participating in social networks, for example, using Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or X. The propensity to make use of such services is closely linked to age, with a higher share of younger people (16 to 24) using social networks on a regular basis.
In 2025, 67.3% of people aged 16 to 74 in the EU participated in social networks during the 3 months prior to the latest survey. The highest share was recorded in the Danish region of Nordjylland (91.1%). There were 5 other regions with shares of at least 85.0%: the 4 remaining Danish regions and Cyprus. Despite relatively low levels of internet access, many eastern regions of the EU reported quite high levels of participation in social networks.
Subject to data availability, there were 4 regions across the EU where, in 2025, fewer than half of all people aged 16 to 74 participated in social networks:
- Calabria (45.5%) in southern Italy
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (47.0%), Brandenburg (47.9%) and Sachsen-Anhalt (48.4%) in eastern Germany.
More generally, relatively low levels of participation were observed across several regions in Germany, Italy and Poland.
Economic activities
The Eastern and Midland region of Ireland had the highest level of GDP per inhabitant among EU regions in 2024, at 107 200 purchasing power standards (PPS).
Economy
What was the level of economic output in the region where you live, study or work? Which part of the economy contributed the most value added?
Gross domestic product
In the map below, a bubble is shown for each region; its size reflects its level of Before checking the value for your region, here are some key findings for 2024.
- The EU’s GDP was valued at €18.0 trillion, equivalent to an average of €39 900 per inhabitant. Both figures increased compared with the previous year (2023), reflecting, at least in part, the continued impact of price increases in recent years.
- The highest levels of regional GDP were recorded in major hubs of business activity. The French capital region of Ile-de-France had, by far, the largest economy (€866 billion) in absolute terms, followed by Lombardia in northern Italy (€505 billion) and Oberbayern in southern Germany (€359 billion).
- There were 7 other regions across the EU where economic output was higher than €250 billion: Eastern and Midland (Ireland), Comunidad de Madrid and Cataluña (both Spain), Rhône-Alpes (France), Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Darmstadt (all Germany).
The colour of the bubbles in the map below reflects GDP per inhabitant, with darker shades indicating higher values.
In relative terms, based on GDP per inhabitant (which is GDP divided by the resident population), the picture is different, since this approach removes the influence of regional population size. To adjust for price level differences across countries, GDP per inhabitant is expressed in an artificial common currency known as a . These figures tend to show less variation than those based on euro values, as regions or countries with high GDP per inhabitant in euro terms also tend to have relatively high price levels.
In 2024, the 3 regions with the highest levels of GDP per inhabitant were the Irish regions of Eastern and Midland (107 200 PPS per inhabitant) and Southern (86 500 PPS), separated by Luxembourg (97 700 PPS). These particularly high levels of GDP per inhabitant may be linked to the presence of multinational enterprises – especially when capital assets are domiciled in a region – and, in the case of Luxembourg, to a relatively high share of the economic output being generated by cross-border commuters (who are not included in the data for the resident population).
There were 16 other EU regions where GDP per inhabitant was at least 60 000 PPS. They included 10 capital regions – those of Czechia, Belgium, Romania, Denmark, the Netherlands, Hungary, France, Poland, Sweden and Slovakia – as well as Hamburg, Oberbayern and Stuttgart in Germany, Utrecht in the Netherlands, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen in Italy and Prov. Brabant wallon in Belgium.
Agriculture, industry and services
To varying degrees, EU regions have developed from agrarian-based economies, through the industrial revolution, into post-industrial societies that are principally based on value added by services. In 2023, services accounted for 72.5% of total gross value added in the EU, with 25.7% of economic activity in industry and construction, and the remaining 1.8% in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Have a look at the map and see whether your region has a higher-than-average share of its economic activity in agriculture, industry and construction, or services.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing remain important activities in predominantly rural regions, especially in southern and eastern EU countries. Many of the regions with relatively high shares of these activities are characterised by extensive agricultural land use and low levels of population density.
There were 7 EU regions where agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for at least 10.0% of total gross value added in 2023.
- Peloponnisos in Greece had the highest share (13.9%), while there were 3 other mainland Greek regions with double-digit shares, Dytiki Makedonia (11.7%), Thessalia (also 11.7%) and Dytiki Elláda (10.7%).
- The others were Alentejo in Portugal (13.7%), Champagne-Ardenne in France (10.7%) and Mazowiecki regionalny in Poland (10.5%).
The Southern region of Ireland was the only region in the EU where a majority (66.4%) of total gross value added in 2023 was generated by industry and construction. This region has a high number of foreign-owned multinationals within its industrial economy, active in areas such as information and communications technology, pharmaceuticals and medical technologies.
The next highest shares for industry and construction were recorded in Közép-Dunántúl (44.6% in 2023) and Észak-Magyarország (42.5%) in Hungary, Yugoiztochen in Bulgaria (43.1%), Tübingen (43.1%) and Stuttgart (42.1%) in Germany, Mazowiecki regionalny in Poland (42.9%), Sterea Elláda in Greece (42.8%) and Northern and Western in Ireland (42.1%). More generally, several regions across eastern EU countries had relatively high shares. Many of these were characterised by high levels of foreign direct investment in activities such as the manufacture of motor vehicles or other types of engineering.
In the Belgian capital region – Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest – 92.6% of total gross value added in 2023 came from services. The services sector accounted for at least 85.0% of total gross value added in 7 additional capital regions: Grande Lisboa (89.8%) in Portugal, Noord-Holland (88.0%) in the Netherlands, Berlin (87.3%) in Germany, Ile-de-France (86.9%) in France, Comunidad de Madrid (86.7%) in Spain, Attiki (86.7%) in Greece and Wien (85.0%) in Austria; Luxembourg (89.6%), Malta (88.0%) and Cyprus (85.9%) also reported shares above this level.
In 2023, services also accounted for at least 85.0% of total gross value added in 13 other regions across the EU. Several of these regions were popular tourist destinations: Notio Aigaio (88.5%) and Ionia Nisia (87.7%) in Greece, Região Autónoma da Madeira (86.6%) and Algarve (85.7%) in Portugal, Canarias (86.1%) and Illes Balears (85.8%) in Spain, as well as 3 of the outermost regions of France – La Réunion (85.3%), Mayotte (85.3%) and Martinique (85.1%). This group also included Utrecht (87.1%) in the Netherlands, Prov. Vlaams-Brabant (86.6%) in Belgium and the 2 autonomous Spanish cities of Melilla (91.5%) and Ceuta (89.8%).
Research and development
How does the region where you live, study or work compare in terms of its expenditure? What share of your region’s workforce is employed as R&D personnel?
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D
In 2023, – measured as – reached 2.26% in the EU, slightly higher than the ratios recorded over the previous decade.
Have a look at the map below to see if your region has relatively high or low R&D intensity.
In 2023, 48 out of the 219 regions for which data are available had a ratio of R&D intensity above the EU average of 2.26%. The German regions of Stuttgart (7.33%), Braunschweig (5.91%) and Karlsruhe (5.88%) had the highest ratios, while Västsverige in Sweden (5.63%) and Steiermark in Austria (5.32%), as well as 2 additional German regions – Rheinhessen-Pfalz (5.28%) and Oberbayern (5.22%) also reported ratios above 5.00%.
At the other end of the scale, 5 regions reported R&D intensity of 0.25% or lower. This group included 3 regions from Romania (with Sud-Est recording the lowest ratio, at 0.12%), the autonomous Spanish region of Ciudad de Ceuta and the Greek island region of Notio Aigaio.
R&D personnel by sector
In 2023, 4.9 million were employed in the EU, representing 2.5% of total employment. Slightly more than half worked in the , just over a third in higher education, around one tenth in government and the remainder in the private non-profit sector.
In 2023, R&D personnel accounted for more than 5.0% of total employment in the capital regions of Czechia, Belgium, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Slovakia and Portugal. Stuttgart and Braunschweig in Germany, as well as Steiermark in Austria also reported shares above this level.
Have a look at the map: what share of total employment is accounted for by R&D personnel in the region where you live, study or work? Are the majority of the R&D personnel in your region working in the business enterprise, higher education or government sectors?
Tourism
In most EU regions, a majority of the total in during 2024 were accounted for by domestic tourists.
Nights spent in tourist accommodation establishments
By 2023, the number of nights spent in EU tourist accommodation establishments had recovered to above pre-pandemic levels. Growth continued in 2024, when the number of nights spent rose by 2.7%, reaching 3.0 billion nights in total.
The island region of Canarias in Spain was the EU’s most frequented destination in 2024, with 99.5 million nights spent in tourist accommodation. The next highest counts were in the coastal regions of Cataluña in Spain (88.7 million) and Jadranska Hrvatska in Croatia (88.4 million), as well as the French capital region of Ile-de-France (83.7 million). The 10 most frequented regions also included Andalucía, Illes Balears and Comunitat Valenciana (all in Spain), Veneto in Italy, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Rhône-Alpes (both in France).
Have a look at the map below, where the size of each bubble reflects the number of nights spent in regional tourist accommodation and the colour identifies whether a region is more dependent on foreign or domestic tourists.
In 2024, the 3 EU regions with the highest numbers of nights spent in tourist accommodation by domestic tourists were all in France: the capital region of Ile-de-France (39.6 million), Rhône-Alpes (38.2 million) and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (38.0 million). There were 4 more French regions – Languedoc-Roussillon, Aquitaine, Pays de la Loire and Bretagne – among the 15 EU regions that had more than 20.0 million nights spent by domestic tourists.
In 2024, domestic tourists spent 35.4 million nights spent in Andalucía, the highest figure across the regions of Spain and the fourth highest regional value in the EU. Schleswig-Holstein (32.5 million) had the highest number of nights spent by domestic tourists in Germany (and the fifth highest across the EU), while Emilia-Romagna (28.6 million) had the highest number in Italy (and the tenth highest across the EU).
In relative terms, domestic tourists accounted for 96.7% of the 29.6 million nights spent in the northern German region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in 2024; this was the highest share among EU regions with more than a million nights spent in tourist accommodation. Applying the same threshold, 3 other regions across the EU reported domestic tourists accounting for at least 95.0% of all nights spent: Sud-Est (96.5%) and Sud-Vest Oltenia (95.8%) in Romania and Kujawsko-pomorskie (95.0%) in Poland.
The highest numbers of nights spent by foreign tourists in 2024 were recorded in the Spanish island regions of Canarias (87.2 million) and Illes Balears (66.6 million), separated by the Croatian coastal region of Jadranska Hrvatska (81.3 million).
There were 13 more regions across the EU which reported more than 20.0 million nights spent by foreign tourists in 2024: 5 in northern/central Italy (including the capital region of Lazio), 3 Mediterranean regions in Spain, 2 island regions in Greece, the French and Dutch capital regions of Ile-de-France and Noord-Holland, and Tirol in Austria.
In approximately a quarter of all EU regions (65 out of 244 for which data are available, or 26.6%) the number of nights spent by foreign tourists was higher than that recorded for domestic tourists. The relative importance of foreign tourists was particularly high in 8 popular holiday destinations, where they accounted for more than 9 out of every 10 nights spent in tourist accommodation: the Greek island regions of Kriti (94.4%), Ionia Nisia (93.5%) and Notio Aigaio (92.2%); Malta (93.7%); Cyprus (92.5%); Jadranska Hrvatska (92.0%); Tirol (90.8%) and Illes Balears (90.2%).
Tourism pressures
There are several popular tourist destinations in the EU (for example, Cataluña, Veneto or Grande Lisboa) that have experienced wide-ranging challenges related to overtourism (environmental degradation, strains on local infrastructure or impacts on the quality of life for local residents).
The statistics presented below likely underestimate tourism pressures, as they exclude same-day visitors and tourists staying in non-rented accommodation such as second homes or stays with friends/relatives. In addition, while some EU regions receive substantial flows of tourists year-round, most receive the bulk of their visitors during a single season.
Have a look at the data visualisation below: how many tourist nights were spent in the regions you would like to visit?
Tourism intensity – defined as the ratio of nights spent in tourist accommodation per 1 000 inhabitants – was 6 726 across the EU in 2024. The regional distribution of tourism pressures is skewed, highlighting that mass tourism tends to be concentrated in relatively few regions. Tourism intensity was higher than the EU average in 83 (34.0%) of the 244 regions for which data are available.
There were 7 regions across the EU where the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation per 1 000 inhabitants was greater than 50 000 in 2024:
- the Greek island regions of Notio Aigaio, Ionia Nisia and Kriti – the first of these had the highest ratio of tourism intensity, at 126 899 nights spent per 1 000 inhabitants
- the Alpine region of Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen in Italy and Tirol in Austria
- the Adriatic region of Jadranska Hrvatska in Croatia
- the island region of Illes Balears in Spain.
Tourism density – defined as the relation between the total number of nights spent in tourist accommodation and the total area of each region – provides an alternative measure to analyse sustainability issues. In 2024, there was an average of 715 nights spent in tourist accommodation for every square kilometre (km²) of the EU’s territory.
Regions where space is scarce generally have high ratios for tourism density. This is particularly true for capital regions, other major urban regions and some coastal (particularly small island) regions. In 2024, 5 regions in the EU reported particularly high ratios of nights spent in tourist accommodation per km²: the capital regions of Wien in Austria (45 900), Region de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest in Belgium (45 500), Praha in Czechia (37 700), Malta (36 200) and Berlin in Germany (35 900).
The predominantly urban region of Hamburg in Germany (21 300), the capital regions of Hungary, Portugal and the Netherlands – Budapest (20 800), Grande Lisboa (14 300) and Noord-Holland (11 800) – as well as the year-round destinations of Illes Balears (14 800), Canarias (13 400) and Região Autónoma da Madeira (11 900), were the only other regions where the number of nights spent in tourist accommodation was greater than 10 000 per km² in 2024.
These figures are influenced to some extent by the administrative boundaries delineating each region. For example, the Belgian capital region of Région de Bruxelles-Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest covers an area of 162 km². By contrast, the French capital region of Ile-de-France – the EU’s 4th most frequented tourist destination – had a considerably larger area, at 12 070 km², although a large share of its tourists stay within the much smaller city of Paris (105 km²).
Environment and natural resources
Between 1995 and 2025, around half of all EU regions saw their number of cooling degree days at least double
Transport
The environmental impact of transport in the EU may be linked, among other factors, to widespread ownership of motor vehicles, a large and increasing share of freight being transported by road, and the rapid growth of air transport.
Air transport
In 2024, the total number of air passengers carried in the EU surpassed its pre-pandemic levels, rising to 1.05 billion.
There were 43 regions in the EU that reported at least 10.0 million air passengers in 2024 (as shown by the largest circles in the map below), reflecting the locations of some of the EU’s busiest .
The regional distribution of air freight and mail is concentrated in some of the most densely populated regions of western EU countries, where an extensive motorway network enables freight forwarders to reach a critical mass of clients efficiently from air freight hubs.
In 2024, air passenger traffic in the EU was highly concentrated in a few major capital and tourist regions.
- The French capital region, Ile-de-France, recorded the highest count, with 103.4 million passengers. There are 3 main airports serving Paris – Charles De Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget – all located within the administrative boundaries of this region.
- The next highest numbers of air passengers were recorded in the Dutch capital region of Noord-Holland (66.8 million), the Spanish capital region of Comunidad de Madrid (66.1 million) and the German region of Darmstadt (61.5 million). These regions contain Schiphol airport, Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas airport and Frankfurt airport, respectively.
- There were 6 other EU regions where the number of air passengers exceeded 40.0 million: the Spanish regions of Cataluña, Canarias and Illes Balears, the Italian regions of Lombardia and Lazio (the capital region), and the German region of Oberbayern.
In 2024, some of the EU’s most popular coastal and island destinations recorded the highest ratios of air passengers per inhabitant. This group included Notio Aigaio (47.4 air passengers per inhabitant, the highest ratio in the EU), Ionia Nisia and Kriti in Greece; Illes Balears and Canarias in Spain; and Algarve and Região Autónoma da Madeira in Portugal. The Dutch capital region of Noord-Holland, the Belgian region of Prov. Vlaams-Brabant (where Brussels airport is located) and the Austrian region of Niederösterreich (where Wien-Schwechat airport is located) also recorded high ratios.
In 2024, the quantity of air freight and mail loaded and unloaded in the EU was 14.3 million tonnes. Some main findings:
- the quantity of air freight and mail loaded and unloaded in the EU equated to an average of 31.7 kg per inhabitant
- 3 of the top 4 regions with the highest quantities of air freight and mail loaded and unloaded were the same as those with the highest numbers of air passengers: Darmstadt (2.0 million tonnes), Ile-de-France (also 2.0 million tonnes) and Noord-Holland (1.5 million tonnes)
- other regions with high quantities included
- Leipzig in Germany (1.4 million tonnes), Prov. Liège in Belgium (1.1 million tonnes) and Köln in Germany (0.8 million tonnes), all major logistics hubs for international courier services
- Luxembourg (0.8 million tonnes), home to one of the world’s largest cargo airlines
- the major economic and business hubs of Lombardia in Italy and Comunidad de Madrid in Spain (both 0.8 million tonnes).
Road safety
The EU’s roads are among the safest in the world and have generally become safer over time. Nevertheless, road accidents remain a considerable issue with a major societal impact. In 2024, there were 20 210 in the EU. Have a look at the map to see how your region compares in terms of road fatalities and road .
In 2024, the EU recorded an average of 44.9 road fatalities per million inhabitants, with the highest regional rates observed across several EU countries:
- Severozapaden (148 road fatalities per million inhabitants) in Bulgaria
- Alentejo (137) in Portugal
- Notio Aigaio (132), Ionia Nisia (129) and Sterea Elláda (113) in Greece (all data refer to 2022)
- Guadeloupe (131), Guyane (114) and Corse (113) in France
- Sud-Vest Oltenia (111) in Romania.
Overall, there were 1.2 million road injuries across the EU in 2024, equivalent to an average of 2 581 per million inhabitants. Unsurprisingly, some of the highest numbers of road injuries were recorded in some of the most populous regions. The only regions in the EU to record more than 20 000 road injury victims were:
- Lombardia (38 969), Lazio (27 694) and Emilia-Romagna (21 632) in Italy
- Cataluña (31 186) and Andalucía (24 957) in Spain
- Oberbayern (23 427), Düsseldorf (22 921) and Köln (20 489) in Germany.
In 2024, there were 20 210 road fatalities in the EU, a decrease of 1.9% compared with the previous year. Looking at the longer-term development, the total number of road fatalities in the EU declined overall by 16.7% between 2014 and 2024.
Key highlights for developments across EU regions.
- The incidence rate of road fatalities fell between 2014 and 2024 in approximately three quarters (76.2%) of all regions for which data are available.
- With the exception of, Åland (Finland), (the only EU region where there were no road fatalities in 2024), the most rapid decline was observed in the westernmost region of Austria, Vorarlberg, where the incidence rate fell by 70.7%.
- The next largest decline was recorded in the Belgian capital region, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale / Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (down 62.5%).
- There were 8 other regions across the EU where the incidence of road fatalities fell by more than 50.0%: Luxembourg, Sostinės regionas and Vidurio ir vakarų Lietuvos regionas in Lithuania, Warszawski stołeczny (from 2017 to 2024) and Opolskie in Poland, Pest in Hungary, Prov. Vlaams-Brabant in Belgium and Molise in Italy.
- By contrast, 48 regions across the EU recorded an increase in their incidence of road fatalities during the period under consideration.
- The highest increases – of more than 50.0% – were observed in Ionia Nisia in Greece (from 2014 to 2022), Flevoland in the Netherlands, Corse in France and Região Autónoma dos Açores in Portugal.
The highest incidence rate of road injuries in 2024 was recorded in the northern Italian region of Liguria, with 6 468 road injuries per million inhabitants. The next highest rates were registered in 3 Austrian regions – Salzburg, Tirol and Kärnten – all of which recorded between 5 862 and 6 429 road injuries per million inhabitants, as did the autonomous region of Ciudad de Melilla.
There were 11 additional regions across the EU where the incidence rate was at least 5 000 road injuries per million inhabitants in 2024:
- Algarve (Portugal)
- Vorarlberg, Oberösterreich, Steiermark and Niederösterreich (all Austria)
- Weser-Ems, Hannover, Schleswig-Holstein and Lüneburg (all Germany)
- Toscana (Italy)
- Ciudad de Ceuta (Spain).
As with road fatalities, there was a marked decline in the number of road injuries across the EU in recent years. Between 2014 and 2024 the incidence of road injuries fell in a majority of EU regions (163 out of 227 for which data are available). The biggest falls – of at least 50.0% – were recorded in:
- Cyprus
- the Polish regions of Śląskie and Warmińsko-mazurskie
- the Finnish regions of Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomi and Länsi-Suomi.
- the French region of Mayotte (from 2017 to 2024)
- the Greek region of Dytiki Makedonia (from 2014 to 2022).
By contrast, the incidence of road injuries more than trebled in Región de Murcia (Spain) and more than doubled in Severozapaden (Bulgaria), while the next highest increase was registered in Voreio Aigaio (Greece), up 94.4% between 2014 and 2022.
Environment
The EU faces a number of different challenges in relation to the environment, including loss, resource use, impacts and environmental risks to health and well-being.
Heating and cooling degree days
Climate change is expected to influence energy demand for the heating and cooling of buildings. As average temperatures rise across the EU, demand for cooling (air-conditioning) during increasingly hot summers is likely to increase, while demand for winter-related heating is likely to fall during increasingly mild winters. In 2024, the main use of energy by households in the EU was for heating and cooling (77.9% of final energy consumption in the residential sector).
are measures designed to describe the need for heating and cooling in buildings. Have a look at the map below to see how your region compares to others in terms of heating and cooling requirements.
During the period from 1995 to 2025, the average number of HDDs in the EU followed a clear downward development. At the start of this period, there were 3 255 HDDs per year. Some 3 decades later in 2025, this figure has fallen to 2 828 per year (an overall decrease of 13.1%). This decline in heating needs may be linked, in part, to rising global temperatures.
In 2025, the EU regions with the highest number of HDDs were in the Nordic countries. The numbers were particularly high in the northernmost regions of Övre Norrland (5 730 HDDs per year) and Mellersta Norrland (4 909 HDDs per year) in Sweden and Pohjois- ja Itä-Suomi (5 427 HDDs per year) in Finland. By contrast, the lowest number of HDDs was recorded in the Spanish island region of Canarias (48 HDDs per year), with very low values also observed in the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as in Malta.
Comparing the situation in 1995 with that in 2025, the number of HDDs decreased in 220 out of 230 regions for which data are available. The largest decreases were generally observed across regions in southern Europe, as:
- the number of HDDs decreased most rapidly in the Spanish region of Ciudad de Ceuta (down 40.3%), followed by Malta (down 39.2%) and Cyprus (down 36.7%)
- there were also considerable falls in several Greek regions, Ionia Nisia (down 36.6%), Notio Aigaio (down 35.8%) and Voreio Aigaio (down 30.4%).
In contrast to the situation for heating, the EU’s average number of CDDs increased between 1995 and 2025. At the start of this period, the average was 56 CDDs per year. By 2025, this had more than doubled to 128 days per year.
In 2025, the highest numbers of CDDs were recorded in the Mediterranean island regions of Cyprus (854 per year) and Malta (727), with values also higher than 600 CDDs per year in the Greek regions of Attiki, Voreio Aigaio and Notio Aigaio, and in the Spanish regions of Extremadura, Región de Murcia and Andalucía. By contrast, all of the regions in Denmark, Ireland, Finland and Sweden recorded fewer than 10 CDDs per year; this was also the case in the Baltic EU countries.
A comparison over time (1995 to 2025) reveals that the number of CDDs have at least doubled in 122 out of the 235 regions for which data are available, with the largest increases (upwards of 300 CDDs per year) recorded in:
- Puglia (Italy), where the number of CDDs increased by 341 days
- Región de Murcia and Comunitat Valenciana (Spain; up 336 days and 313 days, respectively)
- Ionia Nisia (Greece; up 322 days).
Agriculture
In 2023, there were an estimated 8.8 million in the EU; together they used approximately 156 million hectares (or 1.56 million km²) of land for agricultural production.
Farm managers
are responsible for the normal daily financial and production routines of running a farm, such as what and how much to plant or rear and what labour, materials and equipment to employ. Often the farm manager is also the holder of the farm, but this is not always necessarily the case.
The analysis of farm managers below excludes very small farms/holdings, in order to enable comparisons across EU regions; it is based on a subset of 6.1 million farms.
Agriculture is characterised by slow generational renewal and a comparatively high average age among farm managers. In 2023, these characteristics were widespread across most EU countries.
- Around a third (32%) of all farm managers in the EU were aged 65 or over, while farm managers younger than 40 accounted for 12% the total.
- Franche-Comté (28%) and Bourgogne (25%) in France, Oberösterreich (27%) and Vorarlberg (26%) in Austria, and Åland (26%) in Finland were the only regions across the EU where over a quarter of all farm managers were younger than 40. More generally, the highest shares of young farm managers were located in regions across France, Austria and Poland.
- At the other end of the age spectrum, all mainland regions of Portugal – except Alentejo – had over half of all farm managers aged 65 or over, with Algarve recording the highest share in the EU at 64%. The only other EU regions where at least half of all farm managers were aged 65 or over were Puglia, Umbria and Marche in Italy, the Greek region of Ionia Nisia, and Cyprus.
Livestock
The majority of the animals farmed in the EU are reared for meat. Others are raised for breeding, some cows, sheep and goats are reared to be milked, while sheep are also reared for wool.
In 2025, there were 131.5 million head of (pigs), 71.6 million head of animals (such as cattle and buffalo), 55.3 million head of and 10.2 million head of in the EU.
Have a look at the data visualisation below to see the size of the various livestock populations in your region.
In December 2025, the EU regions with the largest swine populations included Aragón (9.4 million head) and Cataluña (8.3 million) in Spain and Bretagne in France (6.4 million). Data are only available for NUTS level 1 regions in Germany, where the highest counts were in Niedersachsen (7.2 million head) and Nordrhein-Westfalen (5.9 million).
Germany and Spain are the main producers of pigmeat in the EU. Their pig farming activities were highly concentrated: as of December 2025, Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen together accounted for 60.7% of the swine population in Germany, while Aragón and Cataluña together accounted for 52.7% in Spain.
Denmark was also relatively specialised in the production of pigmeat, with its largest swine population in Midtjylland (4.3 million head).
Bovine animals – cattle, buffalos and hybrids – are principally reared in rural, north-western regions of the EU, characterised by a temperate climate and abundant pastures. In December 2025, there were 71.6 million head of bovine animals in the EU.
Almost two fifths (38.3%) of the total bovine population of the EU was reared in 1 of 17 regions (each of which had at least 1.0 million head of bovine animals). The highest regional counts were in Southern (3.3 million in December 2025), Northern and Western (1.6 million) and Eastern and Midland (1.4 million) in Ireland, Pays-de-la-Loire (2.0 million), Bretagne (1.6 million), Auvergne (1.5 million) and Basse-Normandie (1.4 million) in France, Lombardia (1.5 million) in Italy, and Castilla y León (1.4 million) in Spain. Data are again only available for NUTS level 1 regions in Germany, where the highest counts of bovine animals were in Bayern (2.7 million) and Niedersachsen (2.2 million).
Spain, Romania, France, Greece, Italy and Ireland had the largest sheep populations in the EU, together accounting for 83.8% of the EU total in December 2025. As well as meat and wool production, sheep are also farmed to produce milk and derived dairy products, such as cheese; this was particularly the case in Romania and Italy.
In December 2025, the highest regional counts of sheep were observed in Extremadura (2.9 million), Castilla-la Mancha (2.3 million), Castilla y León (2.1 million) and Andalucía (2.0 million) in Spain, Sardegna (2.9 million) in Italy, Centru (2.5 million) in Romania, Kriti (2.1 million) in Greece and Northern and Western (2.0 million) in Ireland. Together, these 8 regions – the only regions with at least 2.0 million head of sheep – accounted for approximately a third (33.9%) of the EU’s total sheep population.
It is common for goat farming to take place in relatively hilly/mountainous, remote and arid regions of the EU; some goats are reared on common land. In December 2025, the goat population of the EU was 10.2 million head.
Regional data are available for December 2025 – some highlights.
- Andalucía in Spain had the highest regional count – 902 100 head of goats; the next highest number was recorded in the Greek island region of Kriti (463 600 head).
- The only other regions in the EU to record more than 250 000 head of goats were 3 more regions in Greece, Dytiki Elláda, Peloponnisos and Thessalia; Sud-Est and Sud-Vest Oltenia in Romania, Castilla-la Mancha in Spain, Poitou-Charentes in France and Sardegna in Italy.
- Canarias in Spain was the only EU region where goats constituted the majority of livestock, with 120 200 head recorded. The Greek regions of Peloponnisos and Notio Aigaio were the only other regions where goats outnumbered each of the other categories of livestock.
Harvested cereal production
are among the most important outputs from the EU’s agricultural sector. They are primarily used for human consumption and animal feed but may also be used to make industrial products.
Cereals production is intrinsically linked to weather conditions throughout the growing season and at harvest time. In the spring and summer of 2024, Europe experienced record high temperatures, with several regions facing extreme heat. Rainfall was uneven: western parts of the EU experienced wetter than average conditions, while south-eastern Europe endured prolonged dry spells. These weather patterns influenced the growth and harvesting of cereals across the EU. In 2024, harvested production was 258 million tonnes, a relatively low level, down 5.1% compared with 2023.
There is considerable diversity in the types of cereals grown across EU regions, reflecting, among other factors, topography, soil type, climate, rainfall and competing land uses. The 4 EU regions with the highest levels of cereals production in 2024 were:
- Castilla y León (8.0 million tonnes) in Spain
- Centre – Val de Loire (6.8 million tonnes) in France
- Bayern (6.6 million tonnes) and Niedersachsen (5.5 million tonnes) in Germany; note that all of the cereals data for Germany are presented for NUTS level 1 regions.
Have a look at the map below to see if your region specialises in growing a particular cereal.
Across the EU, the harvested production of common wheat and spelt was higher than any other cereal category, with 112 million tonnes harvested in 2024; this was equivalent to 43.3% of total cereals output.
The principal areas in the EU for producing common wheat and spelt generally ran in a band of regions from France, through Germany, extending into eastern regions of the EU alongside the course of the Danube. In 2024, there were 5 regions that had more than 3.0 million tonnes of harvested production of common wheat and spelt: Vidurio ir vakarų Lietuvos regionas (4.0 million tonnes) in Lithuania, Castilla y León (3.4 million tonnes) in Spain, Centre – Val de Loire (3.3 million tonnes) and Picardie (3.2 million tonnes) in France and Bayern (3.1 million tonnes) in Germany.
A majority of the EU’s production of grain maize and corn-cob mix is used by livestock farmers as a high energy ingredient in animal feed; the statistics presented here exclude the production of sweet corn cobs for human consumption.
In 2024, 59 million tonnes of grain maize and corn-cob mix were harvested in the EU; this was equivalent to 22.9% of the EU’s total cereal production.
The principal regions for the production of grain maize and corn-cob mix are typically in southern and eastern EU countries. However, in 2024, the highest levels of output were recorded in Aquitaine (2.5 million tonnes), Bretagne (1.5 million tonnes) and Midi-Pyrénées (1.4 million tonnes) in France, Wielkopolskie (1.6 million tonnes) in Poland and Piemonte (1.4 million tonnes) in Italy.
Barley is generally used as animal fodder and for the manufacture of beer and whisky. It was the third most commonly harvested cereal in the EU, with 49 million tonnes of production in 2024 (equivalent to 19.0% of total cereals output).
In regions where climatic conditions deter farmers from cultivating wheat, barley is often grown as an alternative. This was particularly notable in Ireland, some south-eastern regions of Spain and Nordic regions; in these areas, barley often accounted for more than 50% of all cereals production.
In 2024, the highest levels of barley output were in some of the most prominent cereals producing regions of the EU: Castilla y León (2.7 million tonnes) and Castilla-La Mancha (2.1 million tonnes) in Spain, Centre – Val de Loire (1.7 million tonnes) and Champagne-Ardenne (1.5 million tonnes) in France and Bayern (1.7 million tonnes) in Germany.
Triticale is a hybrid crop species – a man-made cross between wheat and rye. It has a variety of uses, including feed for livestock, the manufacture of bread and pasta, or as a raw material for biofuels.
In 2024, the EU’s harvested production of triticale was 9.9 million tonnes (or 3.8% of the EU’s total cereals output). The highest levels of harvested production were recorded in Poland, Germany and France: together they accounted for more than three quarters of the EU’s output. The 5 regions with the highest levels of triticale output in the EU were all located in Poland: Wielkopolskie (with a peak of 1.0 million tonnes), Mazowiecki regionalny, Łódzkie, Lubelskie and Kujawsko-pomorskie.
Rye and winter cereal mixtures (maslin) are grains used to produce a variety of food and drink products, including flour, crispbreads, beer and vodka.
In 2024, the EU’s harvested production of rye and winter cereal mixtures was 7.1 million tonnes (or 2.8% of the EU’s total cereals production).
The production of rye and winter cereal mixtures in the EU was largely concentrated in Germany and Poland. Together they accounted for 72.2% of the EU’s total output in 2024. The highest levels of regional output were in the German regions of Niedersachsen (659 000 tonnes) and Brandenburg (472 000 tonnes), and the Polish region of Wielkopolskie (529 000 tonnes).
Durum wheat is primarily grown around the Mediterranean basin and is principally used in the manufacture of food products (for example, pasta, semolina, couscous, bulgur and bread).
In 2024, the total harvested production of durum wheat in the EU was 7.9 million tonnes (or 3.1% of the EU’s total cereals output).
Italy alone accounted for 46.2% of the EU’s harvested production of durum wheat in 2024, with the highest levels of regional production in Puglia (793 000 tonnes) and Sicilia (768 000 tonnes). Andalucía (588 000 tonnes) in southern Spain was the only other region in the EU to record more than 400 000 tonnes of output.
Oats are suitable for human consumption (breakfast cereals, oatmeal and oat milk), but a majority of the EU’s harvested production is destined for use as animal feed.
In 2024, the EU’s harvested production of oats was 7.8 million tonnes (or 3.0% of the EU’s total cereals production).
Just over half (51.6%) of the EU’s harvested production of oats in 2024 was concentrated in Finland, Spain and Poland. The highest levels of regional output were in Länsi-Suomi (561 000 tonnes) and Etelä-Suomi (419 000 tonnes) in Finland, Castilla-La Mancha (388 000 tonnes) and Castilla y León (330 000 tonnes) in Spain, Västsverige (263 000 tonnes) in Sweden, Latvia (also 263 000 tonnes) and Lubelskie (243 000 tonnes) in Poland.
Although it is not a major global producer of rice, the EU is self-sufficient in the production of short and medium grain (japonica) varieties, while it is a net importer of long grain (indica) rice.
In 2024, the EU harvested 2.6 million tonnes of rice (equivalent to 1.0% of its total cereals production). Within the EU, the cultivation of rice is concentrated principally in southern regions. In fact, rice is only grown in 7 EU countries, with Italy and Spain together accounting for more than three quarters of the EU’s production. The highest levels of harvested rice production were in Piemonte (791 000 tonnes) and Lombardia (584 000 tonnes) in Italy, Kentriki Makedonia (221 000 tonnes) in Greece and Andalucía (215 000 tonnes), Extremadura (132 000 tonnes), Cataluña (125 000 tonnes) and Comunitat Valenciana (102 000 tonnes) in Spain; no other region across the EU recorded more than 100 000 tonnes of output.
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About this publication
Regions in Europe is an interactive publication released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU.
Information on data
The information presented in this edition is based on the classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS 2024). This publication usually presents data for NUTS level 2 regions, of which there are 244 across the EU; at the same level, there are 16 statistical regions for the EFTA countries. Sometimes the data visualisations also present data for more disaggregated NUTS level 3 regions (of which there are 1 165 in the EU) and more aggregated NUTS level 1 regions (of which there are 92).
The data visualisations are linked directly to the online database up to the reference year mentioned in the title of each visualisation. The accompanying text was finalised during July 2026 and reflects the data situation at that moment in time.
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The data presented in this publication are complemented by additional codes (flags) that are used to explain and define specific characteristics of data. The full set of flags is available on Eurostat’s website via the link to the dataset provided below each data visualisation.
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- Statistical Atlas for regional data
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Identifiers
Catalogue number: KS-01-26-040-EN-Q
ISBN 978-92-68-40870-4
ISSN 2600-3368
doi: 10.2785/2586184
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