What is the population of the various cities in the EU? In which EU region do people shop over the internet the most? Which EU region do tourists visit the most? How many people live in a coastal region of the EU? In which EU region is the GDP per inhabitant the highest?

The answers to these questions and many more are found in the 2010 regional yearbook from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The publication gives an overview of the most recent economic, social and demographic developments in the 27 NUTS level 2 regions of the 27 Member States of the European Union as well as, when available, regions in the four EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) and the three candidate countries (Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey).

The Eurostat regional yearbook 2010 includes for the first time a chapter on coastal regions as well as a chapter on a new method for classifying regions as urban or rural. It also contains chapters on population, cities, labour market, gross domestic product, household accounts, structural business statistics, information society, science, technology & innovation, education, transport, tourism, health and agriculture.

To illustrate the diversity of data found in the Eurostat regional yearbook, this article presents some indicators from different statistical fields.

Highest population increase in Guyane, Illes Balears, Murcia and Valenciana

The total population change at a regional level is the result of the difference between the number of live births and deaths and the regional net migration. In the EU27, the annual average population change over the period 2004-2008 was an increase of 4.4 persons per 1000 inhabitants. The regions with the highest annual average population growth over this period were Guyane (34.0 persons per 1000 inhabitants) a French Overseas Department, Illes Balears (27.7‰), Región de Murcia (26.2‰) and Comunidad Valenciana (25.2‰) in Spain, Border, Midland & Western (22.1‰) in Ireland and Canarias (21.5‰) and Castilla-La Mancha (20.8‰) in Spain. There was a population growth of over 10‰ in 37 EU27 regions. Twelve of these regions were found in Spain, seven in Italy, five in France, two each in the Czech Republic, Ireland and the United Kingdom and one each in Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden as well as Cyprus and Luxembourg.

The regions with the largest declines in population were Severozapaden (-15.8 persons per 1000 inhabitants) in Bulgaria, Sachsen-Anhalt (-11.5‰), Chemnitz (-10.7‰) and Thüringen (-9.1‰) in Germany, Észak-Magyarország (-9.1‰) in Hungary and Severen tsentralen (-9.0‰) in Bulgaria. There was a population decline of -3‰ and over in 31 EU27 regions: fourteen regions in Germany, four each in Bulgaria and Hungary, three in Poland, two in Romania and one each in the Netherlands and Finland as well as Lithuania and Latvia.

Highest employment rates among those aged 55 to 64 in the Nordic regions of Åland, Småland and Stockholm

The employment rate of those aged 55 to 64 in the EU27 in 2008 was 45.6%. This rate varied among regions, with the highest rates in Åland (75.9%) in Finland, Småland med öarna (75.6%), Stockholm (71.7%), Västsverige (70.5%), Östra Mellansverige (69.8%) and Sydsverige (69.2%) in Sweden and Berkshire, Bucks & Oxfordshire (67.8%) in the United Kingdom. The lowest rates were observed in Dél-Dunántúl (21.9%) in Hungary, Slaskie (24.0%) in Poland, Észak-Alföld (26.5%) and Észak-Magyarország (26.9%) in Hungary, Warminsko-Mazurskie and Zachodniopomorskie (both 28.6%) and Kujawsko-Pomorskie (28.7%) in Poland.

In 31 EU27 regions, the employment rates for those aged 55 to 64 was over 60%: fourteen regions in the United Kingdom, all eight regions in Sweden, four in Germany, two in Finland, one each in the Czech Republic and Portugal as well as Estonia. The share was below 30% in 16 EU27 regions: five in Poland, four in Hungary, two in France, one each in Belgium, Spain, Italy and Slovenia as well as Malta.

Highest rates of road accident deaths in Greek regions of Peloponnisos, Sterea Ellada and Dytiki Ellada

In response to the growing concern over road safety, the EU set the target of halving the number of road fatalities between 2000 and 2010. Despite a strong growth in road traffic in Europe, the number of deaths in the EU has decreased by 30% between 2000 and 2008. While this positive trend can be seen across almost every Member State, there are significant variations between different regions in the rate of deaths in road accidents.

The regions with the highest rate of deaths in road traffic accidents in 2008 were Peloponnisos (251 road traffic deaths per million inhabitants), Sterea Ellada (231) and Dytiki Ellada (229) in Greece, Yugoiztochen (212) in Bulgaria, Province de Luxembourg (204) in Belgium, Notio Aigaio (203) and Anatoliki Makedonia & Thraki (198) in Greece, and the lowest in Ciudad Autónoma de Ceuta (0) in Spain, Wien (16) in Austria, Berlin (16) and Bremen (18) in Germany, Stockholm (23) in Sweden, West Midlands (23) in the United Kingdom and Hamburg (23) in Germany. For comparison, there were 78 deaths in road traffic accidents per million inhabitants in the EU27 in 2008.

The number of deaths in road accidents was higher than 140 per million inhabitants in 32 EU27 regions. Nine each of these regions were found in Greece and Poland, five in Romania, two each in Belgium, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic and one each in Portugal and Finland as well as Lithuania.

In 29 regions in the EU27, the number of deaths in road accidents was lower than 40 in per million inhabitants. Among these regions, eight were capital regions. Eleven were found in the United Kingdom, six in Germany, three each in Spain and the Netherlands and one each in Belgium, Denmark, France, Austria and Sweden as well as Malta.

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