Commission launches interactive tool to monitor and anticipate demographic change in the EU

The Commission is today launching the EU ‘Atlas of Demography‘ – an interactive online tool to visualise, monitor and anticipate demographic change in the European Union, which has been developed by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre. Thee atlas provides quick and easy access to a comprehensive body of demographic data and knowledge, collected at EU, national, regional and local level. It contains official statistics and projections from Eurostat, new data at high spatial resolution, as well as thematic stories, which link demographic trends to specific policy areas. The atlas is a ‘living’ tool, that can be adapted and expanded to the needs of different policies, and can support policy-making that promotes social cohesion and brings benefits for all EU citizens. Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica, said: “The Atlas of Demography will improve our understanding of how demographic change is occurring. This innovative tool will help us ensure that EU policies are more closely matched to the needs of our citizens to ensure that nobody feels left behind. This Atlas will support all our initiatives with timely, robust and comparable demographic data.” Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said: “The Atlas of Demography is an excellent tool. A great example of use of high-quality data. I can imagine many applications including in our classrooms for our young people to learn more about their region, about Europe and be part of its construction.” The ‘Atlas of Demography’ is publicly available and can support activities for a variety of policy areas, including health, employment, education, access to services, as well as territorial and cohesion policies. A press release is online.