Youngest and Oldest Areas of Europe

Which areas in Europe have the largest share of old and young people?

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In blue, we can see the NUTS-3 areas where more than 25% of the population is over the age of 65. In orange, are the NUTS-3 areas where more than 45% of the population is under the age of 35.

We can immediately see that most countries have either a lot of areas with either an older population or a younger population. In only a few countries it’s mixed.

Countries with a large number of blue areas are Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. In Germany, we can see that a lot of these blue areas are concentrated in East Germany. Despite that, Germany has several small orange dots. These are cities, most of them with a large university like Münster and Heidelberg.

France also has quite a few blue areas. However, there are 4 orange areas, located around major cities: Lille, Lyon, Paris and Toulouse.

Greece is the country that has the NUTS-3 area with the largest share of people aged over 65: Evrytania.

Countries with a lot of orange areas are Albania, Cyprus, Iceland, Ireland, Montenegro, Norway and Turkey. Especially Turkey stands out. It has the areas with the highest percentage of people aged under 35. Including Sirnak, the area with the largest share of people under 35 (78%).

There’s another country that stands out. The UK has a large number of both blue and orange areas. Most of the orange areas are located in major cities and most of the blue areas in rural areas. The UK also has several major cities like Manchester, Nottingham and Leicester, that have a much larger share of young people than other major European cities outside of Turkey.