Terms used in official statistics

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The Classification of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS)


Definition:

A list of names of territorial units and their territorial symbols organized into different levels of territorial division of the country used in the process of collecting, analysis as well as dissemination of harmonised regional statistics in the European Union.



The NUTS classification is hierarchical – each Member State of the European Union is divided into territorial units of NUTS 1 level, each of which is further divided into territorial units of NUTS 2 level, and finally each NUTS 2 level unit is divided into territorial units of NUTS 3 level. One territorial unit may represent more than one NUTS level.
The purpose of this classification is to create on each NUTS level territorial units which are similar to one another in all Member States of the European Union in terms of population.The Regulation on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics indicates that existing administrative units within the Member States shall constitute the first criterion used for the definition of statistical territorial units.If for a given level of NUTS no administrative units of a suitable scale exist in a Member State, in accordance with the population criteria, this NUTS level shall be constituted by aggregating an appropriate number of existing smaller contiguous administrative units.


Source:
  • Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS)
    Place of publication: Dz. Urz. UE L 154 z 21.6.2003, str. 1—41

Low-level terms:

Contact person on methodology:
GUS – Departament Innowacji
e-mail:
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