Regions at a Glance
National economic performance is often compared across countries, and such comparisons are frequently used to highlight countries whose national policies appear to promote growth and development more successfully. However, national averages can hide wide regional differences in economic conditions and performances. OECD Regions at a Glance therefore presents a set of regional indicators − mainly in the form of graphs and maps − in order to identify those regions that outperform their country as a whole or the OECD area and those that lag behind. The patterns of development may differ widely in urban and rural areas, for example, and some areas may lag behind even when the national economy is performing well.
In most countries, the concentration of the population has been increasing in recent years, partly owing to increasing urbanisation, a pattern that is reinforced by the greater availability of economic opportunities and services in urban areas. In 2003, almost half of the total OECD population (46%) was living in urban regions, and the concentration was particularly high in the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. By the same token, the proportion of the population living in rural areas has declined. The fact that younger people tend to migrate from rural to urban areas to a greater extent than older ones has also contributed to an increasing concentration of the elderly population in rural and intermediate regions. In most countries, dependency rates (the ratio of the elderly population to the working age population) are already high in rural areas, with implications for the capacity of such regions to provide adequate health care and other services as populations continue to age.



The elderly population (those aged 65 years and over), in European countries increased almost three times faster than total population between 1995 and 2007. In Italian regions Toscana and Liguria the elderly population was more than 25% of total population in 2007. On the other extreme, in Inner London the elderly population represented only 10% of the total population. In 2007, 35% of the elderly population lived in only 10% of European regions; thus regions face different economic and social challenges raised by an ageing population. In Germany the concentration of the elderly population is higher in the old East Germany region such as Chemnitz. In Poland, Belgium, the Slovak Republic and Hungary the share of the elderly population seems to be higher where population is more concentrated, generally in urban regions.