Type of indicator

Socio-economic

Indicator C04

Population density

Definition 

This indicator is calculated as the annual average population divided by the land area and refers to the number of inhabitants  per km2.

It consists of  2 sub-indicators:

  1. total population density 
  2. population density in predominantly rural areas

Unit of measurement

 

1 – 2: Inhabitants/km2

Data source

Eurostat – Demography and migration 

Eurostat – Demography statistics by other typologies

References/

location of the data

National and regional data: Table: Population density by NUTS 3 region [demo_r_d3dens]

National data, by typology: table Population density by other typologies [urt_d3dens] 

Data collection level

EU, National (NUTS 0), Regional (NUTS 1, 2 and 3)

by type of region (predominantly rural, intermediate and predominantly urban) 

Frequency

Annual

Delay

1 year 

Comments/caveats

The distribution of population by type of region has been calculated using the Commission's urban-rural typology, which classifies NUTS 3 regions into predominantly rural, intermediate and predominantly urban.

Total area (including inland waters) is used when land area is not available. 

All tables at regional level include data at national level.

Starting with the year 2016, the population density included in the table [demo_r_d3dens] is computed using the area data included in the table [reg_area3]. 

Regional data by type of region calculated as demo_r_gind3 (average population) / demo_r_d3area and classified according to the Commission's urban-rural typology.

Most recent urban-rural typology: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/rural-development/methodology