Regional population density across the European Union
- Eurostat dataset
- demo_r_d3dens
- Reference period
- 2024
- Unit of measure
- inhabitants per km²
Key estimates
- EU aggregate (2024): 109.7 inhabitants per km².
- Highest value: Malta at 1 817 inhabitants per km²; lowest: Iceland at 3.80 inhabitants per km².
- Cross-country mean 172.4 inhabitants per km², standard deviation 301.5, coefficient of variation 174.9% across 35 reporting countries.
- Aggregate change 2013→2024: +12.1% on a constant panel of 35 countries.
How unevenly is the European population distributed across its territories? Eurostat dataset demo_r_d3dens reports regional population density across the European Union for 35 reporting countries, with 2024 as the most recent period carrying broad coverage. The European aggregate stands at 109.7 inhabitants per km². Population density is the denominator of almost every regional policy indicator; its dispersion sets the cost structure of public service provision.
The five highest values in 2024 are recorded by Malta (1 817), Netherlands (529.5), Belgium (389.1), Luxembourg (261.8), Liechtenstein (256.0), all expressed in inhabitants per km². At the opposite end of the distribution sit Iceland (3.80), Norway (15.3), Finland (18.5), Sweden (26.0), Latvia (30.0). The ratio between the highest and the lowest observation is 478.26, while the median country reports 105.6 inhabitants per km² against a mean of 172.4 inhabitants per km².
Dispersion is wide: the standard deviation across countries is 301.5 inhabitants per km², giving a coefficient of variation of 174.9%. The mean sits above the median, which indicates that the distribution is pulled by the upper tail rather than being symmetric. Any European average quoted for this indicator therefore describes a synthetic country that few Member States resemble.
Between 2013 and 2024 the summed value across the 35 countries reporting in both periods moved by +12.1%. The largest relative increases are observed in Malta (+34.8%), Luxembourg (+24.6%), Iceland (+18.7%); the largest decreases, or the smallest increases, in Albania (-15.9%), Bulgaria (-12.1%), North Macedonia (-11.5%). Because the panel is held constant, this change is not an artefact of countries entering or leaving the sample.
This indicator has no normatively preferred direction; its analytical value lies in the structure of the distribution and in how national positions move relative to each other over time. The estimates above are reproducible: the dataset identifier, filter dimensions and reference period are stated in the methodological note, and the series can be re-downloaded from the Eurostat dissemination API at any time.
Methodological note
Source: Eurostat, dataset demo_r_d3dens ('Population density by NUTS 3 region'), extracted from the Eurostat dissemination API (JSON-stat 2.0) on the dataset update of 2026-02-25. Filter dimensions: no dimension filters applied. Unit of measure: inhabitants per km². Reference period: 2024. Geographic perimeter: national reporting units with two-character geo codes (35 countries with a non-missing observation); European and euro-area aggregates are excluded from the cross-country statistics and reported separately. Descriptive statistics (mean, median, population standard deviation, coefficient of variation) are computed unweighted over reporting countries. Change over time is computed on a constant panel: only countries with a non-missing observation in both the base and the reference period enter the calculation, which removes composition effects but may differ from the officially published aggregate. No imputation, seasonal adjustment or re-scaling has been applied beyond what Eurostat performs at source. Flagged provisional and estimated observations are retained as published.
Source data
The underlying series can be inspected and re-downloaded from the Eurostat data browser.