Database

ARDECO is the Annual Regional Database of the European Commission's Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, maintained and updated by the Joint Research Centre. The database contains a set of long time-series variables and indicators for EU regions, as well as for regions in some EFTA and candidate countries, at various statistical scales (NUTS1, NUTS2, NUTS3, metro regions).

ARDECO is updated twice a year, following the release of Directorate General ECFIN's short-term economic forecasts in the Spring and in the Autumn (AMECO).

ARDECO is available free of charge.

Data is organised in chapters covering the following topics:

• Population
• Domestic Product
• Employment
• Labour Cost
• Labour Productivity
• Capital Formation
• Capital Stock
• Households

Data can be accessed via ARDECO Explorer

Data sources

The main data source is Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Commission), complemented, where necessary, by other appropriate national and international sources. Authoritative official statistics are available from Eurostat's online database, including the latest revisions to historical data. Consistency with data at the national level from AMECO is also ensured.

Forecasts

ARDECO includes short-term forecasts at the regional level based on forecasts provided by AMECO at the national level. Regional forecasts are produced under the responsibility of the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy and of the Joint Research Centre.

Explanatory Note

Time series

Data for Member States and candidate countries are based on the ESA 2010 system for the last period and on ESA 95 and ESA 79 for the earlier years. Where appropriate, discontinuities of the levels of these series have been removed by applying the growth rates of the old series to the levels of the new series.

Data in national currency for the euro area countries
Starting from 2002, euro area countries publish national series in EUR. National currency data for all years prior to the switch of the country to euro have been converted using the irrevocably fixed euro conversion rate. Cross country comparisons and aggregations should continue to be based only on historical series established in ECU up to 1998 and their statistical continuation in EUR from 1999 onwards. Exchange rates and purchasing power parities have been converted in the same manner.

Contacts

You can report your feedback or ask questions on ARDECO to: JRC-KCTP@ec.europa.eu