INFORMA test

Data extracted: July 2024.

Planned article update: September 2026.

Highlights

Equality between women and men has always been acknowledged as 1 of the core values of the European Union (EU). It was recognised in the Treaty of Rome and EU legislation has reinforced these values during the intervening 67 years. Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union states that any discrimination based on gender, among other forms of discrimination, is prohibited.

Women living in rural areas may experience more limited access (than men) to services, rural organisations, productive infrastructure and technology. In some cases, female achievements may be undervalued or not recognised; sometimes referred to as ‘invisible labour’ (for example, when providing family labour input for agricultural holdings or carrying out a wide range of household chores). Women may also face difficulties in finding/maintaining suitable, stable paid employment. The EU is committed to improving this situation, notably through The long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas: key achievements and ways forward (COM(2024) 450 final), which supports

closing the gender gap for young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET)
the uptake of female entrepreneurship
the provision of adequate services in rural areas (for example, those designed to stimulate female employment rates, as well as flexible education, training and employment opportunities).

Rural areas of the EU are sometimes characterised by gender-selective migration. The number of relatively young women leaving rural areas tends to exceed that for relatively young men. This may be linked, among other factors, to the range of employment opportunities available in rural areas – family farms being predominantly taken on by male descendants – or to a higher proportion of young women leaving rural areas to continue their education. These patterns can result in demographic imbalances both between and within regions and may hamper the socioeconomic development of some rural areas.

This article focuses on gender-based statistics for people living in rural areas: it forms part of Eurostat’s online publication Rural Europe.

Infographic 1: What differences are there between the sexes in the EU’s rural areas?
(%, 2023)
Source: Eurostat (hlth_silc_20), (hlth_silc_19), (ilc_peps01n), (edat_lfs_9913), (lfst_r_ergau), (lfst_r_e2pgaedcu), (lfst_r_e2tgaedcu), (lfst_r_urgau) and EU-SILC

Map 1 presents a set of gridded data based on the GEOSTAT population grid. The map can be zoomed in/out using the tools in the top right corner. It shows that in 2021 there was a slightly higher proportion of females (than males) across most parts of Europe. The Baltic countries were characterised by a considerably higher share of females within their populations, while males accounted for a majority of the population in northern areas of the Nordic EU countries and in some interior parts of Spain and Greece.

Map 1: Population distribution by sex based on the GEOSTAT population grid, 2021
Source: Eurostat (GISCO)

Education

Education can play an important role in determining life chances and raising the quality of life of an individual. It also has social returns, insofar as raising overall educational standards will likely result in a more productive workforce which, in turn, may drive economic growth. In a similar manner, a lack of educational skills and qualifications is likely to restrict access to a variety of jobs/careers.

A Council Resolution on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021/C 66/01) outlines 7 EU-wide policy targets for the period 2021–30. One of these concerns the share of early leavers from education and training in the EU should be less than 9% by 2030.

In 2023, almost 1 in 10 (9.5%) of young people aged 18–24 years in the EU were early leavers from education and training. This share was slightly higher, at 9.9%, for young people living in rural areas. There were considerable differences between the EU countries when this share is studied by sex (see Figure 1)

particularly high rates of early leavers were recorded in the rural areas of Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary
the share of early leavers from education and training was lower than the national average – both for women and for men – within the rural areas of Czechia, Germany, Austria, Poland and Slovenia
across rural areas, Bulgaria and Slovenia were the only EU countries to report a higher share of early leavers among young women (than among young men).

A more detailed study of the gender gap for early leavers from education and training in rural areas is presented in Figure 2. In rural areas of the EU, the share of female early leavers from education and training fell from 11.2% to 8.3% between 2013 and 2023, while the share of male early leavers fell from 15.3% to 11.2%. With a faster decrease in male rates, the EU gender gap narrowed from 4.1 percentage points in 2013 to 2.9 points in 2023. This pattern – a narrowing of the gender gap over time – was repeated in a majority of the EU countries, including

15 of the 19 countries where the share was higher for men in 2013, including Slovenia where the gap was reversed
Luxembourg (2015 instead of 2013) and Czechia, where the share was initially higher for women, but the gap was reversed
Bulgaria, where the share was higher for women.

The gender gap for early leavers from education and training in rural areas widened between 2013 and 2023 in Finland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, France and Hungary.

Figure 1: Early leavers from education and training (18–24 years), by sex, 2021
(%)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_30)

Figure 2: Gender gap for early leavers from education and training (18–24 years) in rural areas, 2013 and 2023
(percentage points)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfse_30)

In 2023, around 1 in 6 (16.5%) of young men aged 25–34 years living in rural areas of the EU had, at most, a lower secondary level of educational attainment (as defined by ISCED levels 0–2). This was 3.1 percentage points higher than the corresponding share for young women (13.4%). A gender gap in educational attainment levels with higher shares for men was repeated in a majority of EU countries. In Portugal, Cyprus, Spain and Estonia, the gap was more than 10.0 percentage points. By contrast, there were 5 exceptions – all in eastern Europe – where a higher share of young women had at most a lower secondary level of educational attainment: Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary.

Within the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training, a target was set to have at least 45% of young people (25–34 years) with a tertiary level of educational attainment (as defined by ISCED levels 5–8) by 2030. Some 38.4% of young women living in rural areas of the EU had a tertiary level of educational attainment in 2023. The corresponding share for young men was lower, at 25.3%; as such, there was a gender gap of 13.1 percentage points. This gap in tertiary educational attainment, with women recording higher shares, was observed in every EU country in 2023. The gap ranged from 0.7 percentage points difference in Germany up to more than 20.0 points in the Baltic countries, Poland and Slovenia, with a peak of 32.8 points in Cyprus.

Figure 3: Educational attainment (25–34 years) in rural areas, by sex, 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfs_9913)

A more detailed study of the gender gap for tertiary educational attainment in rural areas is presented in Figure 4. In rural areas of the EU, the share of women aged 25–34 years with a tertiary level of educational attainment rose from 31.5% to 38.4% between 2013 and 2023. During the same period, the share of young men living in rural areas with a tertiary level of educational attainment rose from 20.1% to 25.3%. With a faster increase in tertiary educational attainment among young women, the EU gender gap widened from 11.4 percentage points in 2013 to 13.1 points in 2023. This pattern – a widening of the gender gap over time – was repeated in 17 EU countries and was particularly pronounced in Czechia, Croatia, Malta (for the period 2013–22) and Cyprus. Among the 10 EU countries where the gender gap in tertiary educational attainment narrowed between 2013 and 2023, the largest changes were in Luxembourg, Ireland and Finland (narrowing by 5.0–6.0 points).

Figure 4: Gender gap for tertiary educational attainment (25–34 years) in rural areas, 2013 and 2023
(percentage points)
Source: Eurostat (edat_lfs_9913)

Gender differences in the labour market

Despite a strong political commitment to promote gender equality across the EU, large differences between women and men still exist in various domains of life. Among these is the labour market, where issues concern, for example, access, equal pay and working conditions, or gender-balanced leadership in decision-making.

As shown in the previous section, every EU country reported that a higher share of women (than men) living in rural areas had a tertiary level of educational attainment in 2023. However, this rarely translated into better labour market outcomes for women (neither in terms of the quantity nor the quality of employment), reflecting – at least in part – the slow pace of change in social expectations which create barriers to participation.

In 2023, 69.7% of all women of working age (20–64 years) living in rural areas of the EU were in employment. The employment rate for men living in rural areas was considerably higher, at 81.0%, resulting in a gender gap of 11.3 percentage points. The gender gap in employment rates was wider for people living in rural areas than it was for the population as a whole (where there was a gap of 10.2 points), suggesting that women living in rural areas had more difficulty to find work, or that the necessary conditions for some women to move into or re-enter the workforce were missing.

Figure 5 shows how EU employment rates for women and men developed during the period 2013–23. Employment rates for rural areas (and for the whole of the EU economy) increased gradually for both women and men, leaving aside falling rates in 2020 (which may be linked to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis). In 2013, the gender employment gap for people living in rural areas was 13.4 points in favour of men. This gap fluctuated between 13.0 and 13.4 points every year from 2013 to 2020. Thereafter, the EU’s gender employment gap narrowed for 3 consecutive years.

Figure 5: Employment rate (20–64 years), by sex, EU, 2013–23
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_r_ergau)

In 2023, the EU employment rate for women aged 20–64 years living in rural areas was 69.7%. This figure was 0.5 percentage points lower than the employment rate for women across the whole of the EU territory (70.2%). By contrast, the employment rate for men living in rural areas was 81.0%, which was slightly higher (0.6 points) than the average rate for men across the whole of the EU territory (80.4%). This pattern – lower employment rates for women living in rural areas (compared with the national average for working-age women) – was repeated in 19 of the 27 EU countries, including all of the eastern countries. The gap was widest in Bulgaria and Romania, where the latest employment rates for women living in rural areas were 11.2 and 11.7 percentage points, respectively, lower than the national average for working-age women. By contrast, employment rates for women living in rural areas were higher than the national average for working-age women in Sweden, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Austria and Germany.

Figure 7 presents information about the gender employment gap for working-age people (20–64 years) living in rural areas. In 2023, the employment rate for men living in rural areas of the EU was 81.0%, which was 11.3 percentage points higher than the corresponding rate for women. This gender gap narrowed during the last decade, as it had been 13.4 points in 2013.

Within rural areas, male employment rates in 2023 were higher than female employment rates across all of the EU countries; this had also been the case in 2013. There were 13 EU countries where the gender employment gap for rural areas was in double-digits in 2023. This gap was more than 20.0 percentage points in Italy, Greece and Romania (where a peak of 27.0 points was observed). These gaps are explained by particularly low female employment rates rather than high male employment rates. For example, the employment rate for working-age women living in rural areas of Romania in 2023 was 22.3 points below the EU average, whereas the equivalent rate for men was 6.6 points below the EU average.

Figure 6: Employment rate (20–64 years), by sex, 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_r_ergau)

Figure 7: Gender employment gap (20–64 years) in rural areas, 2013 and 2023
(percentage points)
Source: Eurostat (tepsr_lm230)

Policy measures that seek to promote, among other actions, childcare support, working from home, flexible working hours, part-time work or other forms of atypical employment – tend to enhance women’s participation within the labour force.

Looking in more detail at part-time work, its prevalence within the EU has steadily increased during recent decades. This can be seen as a positive development if it reflects, on the part of employees, a choice to improve their work-life balance, or if it increases employment opportunities among individuals previously excluded from the labour market. However, some part-time work is involuntary: for example, people who accept part-time work because there is a shortage/absence of full-time posts, or people who can’t reconcile their working lives with family responsibilities without reducing their working hours.

Across the EU, a 17.1% share of employed people aged 20–64 years worked on a part-time basis in 2023. The share of employed people working on a part-time basis differs considerably between EU countries. It was most common in the Netherlands (39.0%), Austria (30.4%) and Germany (28.5%), while the share of employed people working on a part-time basis was much lower across most Baltic and eastern EU countries; the lowest share was observed in Bulgaria (1.4%).

Part-time employment remains a highly gender-specific phenomenon: across the EU in 2023, 27.9% of employed women aged 20–64 years worked on a part-time basis, compared with a much lower share among men (7.7%). These differences often result from women reducing their working hours after childbirth to balance work and care responsibilities.

Within the EU’s rural areas, the share of employed women working on a part-time basis was 26.5% in 2023, which was considerably higher than the corresponding share for employed men living in rural areas (6.0%), resulting in a gender gap of 20.5 percentage points. Within rural areas, the share of employed women working on a part-time basis was higher than the corresponding share for men in all of the EU countries (no data for Malta), except for Bulgaria, where both sexes recorded an identical share of part-time employment (2.3%). More than half of all employed women worked on a part-time basis in the rural areas of Germany (51.2%), Austria (53.7%) and the Netherlands (68.0%).

Figure 8: Part-time employment (20–64 years), by sex, 2023
(% share of total employment)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_r_e2pgaedcu)

Unemployment can have a bearing not just on the macroeconomic performance of a country (lowering productive capacity) but also on the well-being of individuals without work and their families. The personal and social costs of unemployment are varied and include a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion, debt or homelessness, while the stigma of being unemployed may have a potentially detrimental impact on (mental) health.

In 2023, the EU’s unemployment rate (for people aged 15–74 years) was 6.1%: a study by degree of urbanisation reveals that the unemployment rate was somewhat lower in rural areas (5.3%). Among the EU countries, it was more often the case that unemployment rates for rural areas were lower than national rates (observed for the whole of a territory). In 2023, this pattern was repeated in more than half of the EU countries (15 out of 26; incomplete data for Malta), both for female and male unemployment rates, whereas

unemployment rates in rural areas were higher than the national average for both females and males in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia
female unemployment rates for rural areas were higher than the national average in Greece, Spain, Croatia and Luxembourg (while male rates were lower than the national average).

The EU’s gender unemployment gap (for people aged 15–74 years) for rural areas remained relatively stable during the period from 2013 to 2023. The female unemployment rate had been 1.1 percentage points higher (than the male rate) in 2013, with this gap narrowing to 0.7 points by 2023; see Figure 10.

Within rural areas, female unemployment rates were generally higher than male unemployment rates. In 2023, this pattern was observed in 18 out of 27 EU countries, with the largest gender gaps observed in Greece (where the female unemployment rate for rural areas was 6.9 percentage points higher than the male rate) and Spain (where the female rate was 4.6 points higher). In the 7 EU countries where male unemployment rates were higher than female rates (there was no difference between the sexes in Sweden), the gaps were relatively narrow; the largest was observed in Latvia, where the male unemployment rate for rural areas was 2.3 percentage points higher than the female rate.

Figure 9: Unemployment rate (15–74 years), by sex, 2023
(% share of labour force)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_r_urgau)

Figure 10: Gender unemployment gap (15–74 years) in rural areas, 2013 and 2023
(percentage points)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_r_urgau)

Youth unemployment is a major societal issue. In October 2020, a Council Recommendation on A Bridge to Jobs (2020/C 372/01) called on EU countries to ensure that all young people under 30 years of age receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of 4 months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education – the reinforced Youth Guarantee. This recommendation provides comprehensive support across the EU, adopting a more tailored approach by providing young people, in particular vulnerable ones, with guidance especially suited to their individual needs, the green and digital transitions of the EU economy, and the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, the EU’s youth unemployment rate (presented here for people aged 15–24 years) was 14.5%. It is important to note that the youth unemployment rate is calculated on the same basis as the overall unemployment rate, with its denominator being the number of young people in the labour force (in other words, the sum of employed and unemployed people aged 15–24 years). As such, a youth unemployment rate of 14.5% doesn’t mean that 1 in 7 young people were unemployed; rather, it signifies that 1 in 7 young people aged 15–24 years within the labour force were without work. A considerable share of young people are outside the labour force, for example in full-time education or training; these young people aren’t included in the denominator when calculating the youth unemployment rate.

Figure 11 shows that there was little difference in youth unemployment rates when comparing young females living in the EU’s rural areas (13.8%) with those living across the whole of the EU territory (14.0%). By contrast, there was a more pronounced difference for young males: the youth unemployment rate for males in rural areas was 13.1%, some 1.8 percentage points lower than the average for all young males in the EU labour force (14.9%). This difference may be attributed to a concentration of male youth unemployment in cities (a situation that was particularly apparent in Spain, Italy and several western EU countries).

Youth unemployment rates in rural areas were generally lower for males than they were for females. Recent information is available for 24 EU countries, with

7 countries reporting that female youth unemployment rates in rural areas were lower than the corresponding male rates – this group included Slovenia, Estonia (2022 data), the 3 Nordic EU countries, Belgum and Lithuania (where the largest gender gap was recorded, at 8.6 points)
lower youth unemployment rates for males in the remaining countries, with the gender gap peaking in Greece, where the female youth unemployment rate for rural areas was 12.1 points higher than the corresponding rate for males.

Figure 11: Youth unemployment rate (15–24 years), by sex, 2023
(% share of labour force)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_r_urgau)

Across rural areas, the gender youth unemployment gap for the EU narrowed from 2.1 percentage points in 2013 (with a higher youth unemployment rate for females rather than males) to 0.7 points in 2023 (also with a higher rate for females). There was a mixed pattern to developments across 24 EU countries (no data for Malta, incomplete data for Bulgaria and Latvia), as there were

12 countries which recorded a lower male youth unemployment rate for both periods – the gender gap narrowed in 8 of these
4 countries – Estonia and the 3 Nordic EU countries – which recorded a lower female youth unemployment rate for both periods – the gender gap narrowed in 2 of these
5 countries – Germany, Ireland, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia – where the male youth unemployment rate was higher than the female rate in 2013, with the situation reversed in 2023; for example, in Slovakia the gender youth unemployment gap was 7.6 points in 2013 with a higher rate for males, while it was 5.2 points in 2022 with a higher rate for females
3 countries – Belgium, Lithuania and Slovenia – where the female youth unemployment rate was higher than the male rate in 2013, with the situation reversed in 2023; for example, the gender youth unemployment gap in Slovenia was 11.5 points in 2013 with a higher rate for females, while it was 1.0 points in 2023 with a higher rate for males.

Figure 12: Gender youth unemployment gap (15–24 years) in rural areas, 2013 and 2023
(percentage points)
Source: Eurostat (lfst_r_urgau)

Gender differences in living conditions

The number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion is a headline indicator for social protection and inclusion within the European pillar of social rights. This indicator forms the basis for 1 of 3 social targets to be achieved by 2030, namely, that the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion should be reduced by at least 15 million (of which, at least 5 million should be children) when compared with 2019.

More about the data: people at risk of poverty or social exclusion

The risk of poverty and social exclusion isn’t dependent strictly on a household’s level of income, as it may also reflect joblessness, low work intensity, working status, or a range of other socioeconomic characteristics. To calculate the number or share of people who are at risk of poverty or social exclusion 3 separate criteria are combined (see the infographic at the start of this article), covering people who are in at least 1 of the following situations

at risk of poverty – people with an equivalised disposable income (after social transfers) below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold, which is set at 60% of the national median equivalised disposable income
facing severe material and social deprivation – people unable to afford at least 7 out of 13 deprivation items (6 related to the individual and 7 related to the household) that are considered desirable – or even necessary – to lead an adequate quality of life
living in a household with very low work intensity – where working-age adults (aged 18–64 years, excluding students aged 18–24 years and retired people) worked for 20% or less of their combined potential working time during the previous 12 months.

Across the EU, there were 94.6 million people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2023; this was equivalent to more than 1 in 5 (21.4%) of the population. The risk of poverty or social exclusion was somewhat higher among females (22.4%) than it was among males (20.3%). An analysis by degree of urbanisation reveals that people living in rural areas faced a similar risk of poverty or social exclusion (when compared with the average for all people living in the EU), with shares 0.1 percentage points higher both for females and for males.

In 2023, the risk of poverty or social exclusion in rural areas of the EU was 22.5% for females and 20.4% for males. In the vast majority of EU countries, females living in rural areas faced a higher risk of poverty or social exclusion than males

there were 2 exceptions where a higher risk was observed among males (rather than females) living in the rural areas of Poland (0.2 points) and Slovakia (0.9 points)
the biggest gender gaps – where the risk of poverty or social exclusion for females living in rural areas was more than 5.0 percentage points higher than that for males – were recorded in 3 southern EU countries, namely, Cyprus, Croatia and Malta (where the widest gender gap was observed, at 5.7 points).

Figure 13: People at risk of poverty or social exclusion, by sex, 2023
(%)
Source: Eurostat (ilc_peps01n) and Eurostat (EU-SILC)

The gender gap for people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in rural areas of the EU was slightly wider in 2023 (-2.0 percentage points) than it had been 8 years earlier in 2015 (-1.9 points). This gap between the sexes widened between 2015 and 2023 in 15 EU countries and narrowed in 11; the gap remained the same size in Poland, as the risk of poverty or social exclusion had been marginally higher (0.2 points) among females living in rural areas in 2015, a situation that was reversed in 2023 with a higher rate for males (again 0.2 points).

Among the 15 EU countries where the gender gap for people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in rural areas widened between 2015 and 2023, all except 2 recorded higher rates of poverty or social exclusion for females (than for males) in both years; the exceptions were Slovakia (with higher rates for males in both years) and Ireland (where there was no gender gap in 2015, but a higher rate for females (than for males) in 2023. The biggest increases among these 15 countries were recorded in Greece (2.7 points wider), Croatia (2.9 points wider) and Hungary (3.6 points wider), all with higher rates of poverty or social exclusion for females (than for males) in both years.
Among the 11 EU countries where the gender gap narrowed between 2015 and 2023, all recorded higher rates of poverty or social exclusion for females (than for males) in both years. The biggest decreases were recorded in Slovenia (2.3 points narrower) and Malta (7.7 points narrower).

Figure 14: Gender gap for people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in rural areas, 2015 and 2023
(percentage points)
Source: Eurostat (ilc_peps01n) and Eurostat (EU-SILC)

EU median equivalised net income was €20 350 in 2023; on average, males (€20 867) had a higher level of income than females (€19 858). Figure 15 shows the development of median equivalised net income between 2013 and 2023.

Although the growth of income across the EU’s economy as a whole stalled in 2022, income levels in rural areas continued to rise broadly in line with previous years. As a result, the gap between income levels in rural areas and the economy-wide average narrowed. In 2023, the median equivalised net income of males living in rural areas represented 95.8% of the median level of income for males across the whole economy. Similarly, the median equivalised net income of females living in rural areas represented 96.4% of the median level of income observed for females across the whole economy.

In 2023, median equivalised net income levels in the EU for males were higher than income levels observed for females, both across the whole economy and in rural areas. Median male incomes across the whole economy were 4.9% higher than female incomes; this disparity was slightly less in rural areas, where median male incomes were 4.3% higher.

Figure 15: Median equivalised net income, by sex, EU, 2013–23
(€)
Source: Eurostat (ilc_di17) and (ilc_di03)

Figure 16 shows median equivalised net incomes in 2023; note that the values are denominated in terms of purchasing power standards (PPS; a PPS is a unit that takes account of price-level differences between countries. The median equivalised net income of males in the EU was 4.6% higher than for females in 2023; this gender gap was somewhat narrower in rural areas (where the net income of males was 3.7% higher).

In 2023, the average level of income for males living in rural areas was higher than that observed for females in all EU countries. The largest relative differences in income levels among those living in rural areas – with the median equivalised net income of males at least 6.0% higher than for females – were recorded in Lithuania, Bulgaria and Sweden (where a peak of 8.4% was observed).

In 23 countries the gender gap was lower in rural areas than it was, on average, across the whole economy; this was most notably the case in Latvia and Hungary (where the gender gap for the whole economy was 3.0 percentage points higher than for rural areas).
There were 4 countries where the gender gap was higher in rural areas than it was, on average, across the whole economy; this was most notably the case in Sweden, where the gap was 8.4% for rural areas, compared with an average of 4.3% for the whole economy.

Figure 16: Gender gap for median equivalised net income, 2023
(difference between male and female incomes as % of male incomes, based on PPS series)
Source: Eurostat (ilc_di17) and (ilc_di03)

Source data for tables and graphs

Women and men living in rural areas: tables and figures

Context

The President of the European Commission has stated that, ‘Gender equality is a core principle of the European Union, but it is not yet a reality. In business, politics and society as a whole, we can only reach our full potential if we use all of our talent and diversity. Using only half of the population, half of the ideas or half of the energy is not good enough.’

The European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy 2020–25 sets out a range of policy objectives and key actions, designed to help the EU attain the 5th Sustainable Development Goal, namely, to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The key actions include, among others, closing gender gaps in the labour market, achieving equal participation across different sectors of the economy, addressing the gender pay and pension gaps, and attaining gender balance in decision-making and politics. The implementation of the strategy is based on the dual approach of targeted measures for gender equality combined with enhanced gender mainstreaming in all policy areas.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) supports gender equality in rural areas through its strategic plans (for the period 2023–27), in particular under Specific objective 8: Jobs, growth and equality in rural areas). This objective promotes employment, growth, gender equality (including the participation of women in farming), social inclusion and local development in rural areas, as well as the circular bio-economy and sustainable forestry.

Explore further

Database

Thematic section

Publications

Statistical publications

Eurostat regional yearbook – 2024 edition
Key figures on living conditions in Europe – 2023 edition

Methodological publications

Applying the Degree of Urbanisation – A methodological manual to define cities, towns and rural areas for international comparisons – 2021 edition

Methodology

External links

Urban Agenda for the EU

European Commission – Directorate-General Agriculture and rural development

European Commission – Directorate-General Regional and Urban Policy

European Committee of the Regions

European Committee of the Regions – political priorities 2020–25

European networks

United Nations

Legislation

Statistical legislation

Education and training – legislation
Employment and unemployment (LFS) – legislation
Income and living conditions – legislation
Regulation (EU) 2017/2391 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 amending Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 as regards the territorial typologies (Tercet)
Consolidated and amended version of Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS)

Policy legislation

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 522/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1301/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to the detailed rules concerning the principles for the selection and management of innovative actions in the area of sustainable urban development to be supported by the European Regional Development Fund
Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)
Regulation (EU) No 1310/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down certain transitional provisions on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)

Visualisation

Regions and cities illustrated (RCI) – Degree of urbanisation