The nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (Nomenclature des Unités territoriales statistiques – NUTS) is a geographical system, according to which the territory of the European Union is divided into hierarchical levels. The three hierarchical levels are known as NUTS-1, NUTS-2 and NUTS-3. This classification enables cross-border statistical comparisons at various regional levels within the EU.
In most – but not all – cases the classification ties in with the administrative structure of the Member States, with each NUTS level corresponding to a certain administrative level or an aggregation of administrative units.
In Germany, for example, the NUTS-1 regions correspond to the federal states (Bundesländer). The population of all European NUTS-1 regions generally lies between 3 and 7 million inhabitants.
NUTS-2 regions usually have between 800,000 and 3 million inhabitants. In Germany, this level corresponds to governmental regions known as Regierungsbezirke.
NUTS-3 regions generally have a population of 150,000 to 800,000 inhabitants. Germany's NUTS-3 regions are generally districts known as Kreise or as kreisfreie Städte.
Every EU NUTS-region has a unique code. The length of the code depends on the hierarchical level of the NUTS-region. The following example based on the Spanish city of Almería illustrates this:
| Region | NUTS level | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | NUTS-0 | ES |
| Sur | NUTS-1 | ES6 |
| Andalucía | NUTS-2 | ES61 |
| Almería | NUTS-3 | ES611 |
Despite the fact that this classification attempts to create comparable regions at all hierarchical levels, the regions at a given level can differ quite significantly with respect to land area, population, economic strength and administrative importance. Given its relatively small population, Luxembourg for instance is represented simultaneously on the NUTS-1, NUTS-2 and NUTS-3 level. In Germany, the federal states of Berlin, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saarland function as both NUTS-1 and NUTS-2 regions.
Eurostat offers data on all European regions in the theme General and regional statistics.
More information
- Current NUTS classification
- Online reference documents for the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS): Classification by EU countries