The average for 2023 based on 27 countries was 147715 sq. km. The highest value was in France: 538950 sq. km and the lowest value was in Malta: 320 sq. km. The indicator is available from 1961 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

As of 2023, ******* was the largest country in the European Union in terms of population. The central European country comprised almost one-fifth of the total population of the EU in that year, with ****** in second place with ***** percent, and ***** in third at ***** percent. While there are ** member states of the European Union in total, approximately two-thirds of the population of the bloc is made up by the * largest countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, and the Netherlands. Of the remaining ** member states, no country makes up more than * percent of the EU's total population, with the smallest country, Malta, comprising just **** percent of the total.

In 2024, Russia had the largest population among European countries at ***** million people. The next largest countries in terms of their population size were Turkey at **** million, Germany at **** million, the United Kingdom at **** million, and France at **** million. Europe is also home to some of the world’s smallest countries, such as the microstates of Liechtenstein and San Marino, with populations of ****** and ****** respectively. Europe’s largest economies Germany was Europe’s largest economy in 2023, with a Gross Domestic Product of around *** trillion Euros, while the UK and France are the second and third largest economies, at *** trillion and *** trillion euros respectively. Prior to the mid-2000s, Europe’s fourth-largest economy, Italy, had an economy that was of a similar sized to France and the UK, before diverging growth patterns saw the UK and France become far larger economies than Italy. Moscow and Istanbul the megacities of Europe Two cities on the eastern borders of Europe were Europe’s largest in 2023. The Turkish city of Istanbul, with a population of 15.8 million, and the Russian capital, Moscow, with a population of 12.7 million. Istanbul is arguably the world’s most famous transcontinental city with territory in both Europe and Asia and has been an important center for commerce and culture for over 2,000 years. Paris was the third largest European city with a population of ** million, with London being the fourth largest at *** million.

This dataset provides values for GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Context

The European Union is a unique economic and political union between twenty-eight countries that together cover much of the continent. It was created in the aftermath of the Second World War to foster economic cooperation and thus avoid conflict. The result was the European Economic Community (EEC), established in 1958, with Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands as its members. What began as an economic union has evolved into an organization spanning policy areas, from climate, environment and health to external relations and security, justice and migration. The 1993 name change from the European Economic Community (EEC) to the European Union (EU) reflected this.

The European Union has delivered more than half a century of peace, stability and prosperity, helped raise living standards and launched a single European currency: the Euro. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The single market is the EU's main economic engine, enabling most goods, services, money and people to move freely.

Content

The European Union covers over 4 million square kilometers and has 508 million inhabitants — the world’s third largest population after China and India. This dataset includes information on each EU member state, candidate state, or European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) signatory state.

Acknowledgements

The membership, population, and economic data was published by the European Commission's Eurostat. Gross domestic product and GDP per capita in US dollars was provided by the World Bank.

Inspiration

How has the European Union grown in the past fifty years? What is the largest country by population or surface area? Which country has the largest economy by gross domestic product? How many different languages are spoken across all the member states?

The European Union is a supranational organization founded in 1957 (under the name European Economic Community) currently comprised of 27 European states, which aims to facilitate economic and political cooperation on the European continent. The current member states of the EU, in alphabetical order, are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. Additionally, the United Kingdom was a member of the EU from 1973 until 2020, with the country voting to leave the European Union in 2016. There are currently also nine candidate countries (countries in the process of joining the EU): Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Georgia, and Ukraine; as well as a potential candidate, Kosovo. The Founding Six: 1957 The European Economic Community was founded through the 1957 Treaty of Rome by Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The six countries were united by the aim of integrating their economies together in such a way which would provide economic prosperity on the European continent and to prevent future conflicts from arising between the countries. This was particularly informed by the French and German politicians, who wished to prevent their countries going to war, as they had done three times over the preceding century (1870-71, 1914-18, and 1939-45). The treaty is considered fundamental to the functioning of the European Union, with the famous statement at its beginning that the countries were seeking to pursue "ever closer union". The First Enlargement: 1973 In 1973, additional countries joined the European Community for the first time. Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom joined the community on the 1st of January 1973, with Ireland and Denmark having held referendums during 1972, with 83 percent voting in favor in Ireland and 63 percent voting in favor in Denmark. Norway had planned to join along with the three other countries, however, their citizens rejected the proposal in a referendum with 54 percent voting against it. The United Kingdom held a referendum in 1975, two years after joining, in which its citizens confirmed the government's decision to join, with 67 percent voting in favor. The UK had been an applicant to join the community since 1963, but had been blocked by French President Charles de Gaulle numerous times, due to his suspicions that the British were too influenced by the United States. The Southern Enlargement: 1981-1986 In 1981 Greece became the first of three southern European countries who had recently transitioned from military dictatorship to democracy to join the European Community. Greek democracy had been restored in 1975, following seven years of rule by a military junta. Portugal and Spain later joined in 1986, as the Carnation Revolution of 1974 had moved Portugal towards free, multi-party elections, while the death of Spain's long-serving dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975 opened up the space for democracy to re-emerge. Some European politicians were hesitant to admit countries with such short histories of democracy and lower living standards than the rest of the bloc, however, there was also a desire to integrate these countries and to prevent a slide back towards authoritarianism. The Third Enlargement: 1995 In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden became the next three countries to join the European Union (the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 had renamed the EEC to the EU). These three countries had a long history of cooperation with EU countries, being closely tied historically and culturally to certain member states (Sweden and Finland to Denmark, and Austria to Germany), as well as having been long-standing members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), an organization which facilitates the economic integration of non-EU countries with the EU. Norway had once again planned to join along with these three states, however, its citizens rejected the proposal with 52 percent voting against in a 1994 referendum. The same occurred in Switzerland, whose voters rejected joining the EU by a razor-thin margin, with 50.3 percent voting against. The Eastern Enlargement: 2004-present Since 2004, 13 countries have joined the European Union, almost doubling the size of the bloc. The 2004 enlargement is often referred to as the 'eastern enlargement' as eight post-communist states in central and eastern Europe (Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) joined. Alongside these countries, the Mediterranean island states of Cyprus and Malta also joined the EU in 2004. Later, in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania became the next post-communist countries to join, while Croatia became the second country from the former Yugoslavia (a communis...

The European Union's total Imports in 2024 were valued at US$2.64 Trillion, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. The European Union's main import partners were: China, the United States and the United Kingdom. The top three import commodities were: Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products; Electrical, electronic equipment and Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers. Total Exports were valued at US$2.80 Trillion. In 2024, The European Union had a trade surplus of US$159.68 Billion.

The European Union's total Exports in 2024 were valued at US$2.80 Trillion, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. The European Union's main export partners were: the United States, the United Kingdom and China. The top three export commodities were: Machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers; Pharmaceutical products and Vehicles other than railway, tramway. Total Imports were valued at US$2.64 Trillion. In 2024, The European Union had a trade surplus of US$159.68 Billion.

With a Gross Domestic Product of over 4.3 trillion Euros, the German economy was by far the largest in Europe in 2024. The similarly sized economies of the United Kingdom and France were the second and third largest economies in Europe during this year, followed by Italy and Spain. The smallest economy in this statistic is that of the small Balkan nation of Montenegro, which had a GDP of 7.4 billion Euros. In this year, the combined GDP of the 27 member states that compose the European Union amounted to approximately 17.95 trillion Euros. The big five Germany’s economy has consistently had the largest economy in Europe since 1980, even before the reunification of West and East Germany. The United Kingdom, by contrast, has had mixed fortunes during the same period and had a smaller economy than Italy in the late 1980s. The UK also suffered more than the other major economies during the recession of the late 2000s, meaning the French economy was the second largest on the continent for some time afterward. The Spanish economy was continually the fifth-largest in Europe in this 38-year period, and from 2004 onwards, has been worth more than one trillion Euros. The smallest GDP, the highest economic growth in Europe Despite having the smallerst GDP of Europe, Montenegro emerged as the fastest growing economy in the continent, achieving an impressive annual growth rate of 4.5 percent, surpassing Turkey's growth rate of 4 percent. Overall,this Balkan nation has shown a remarkable economic recovery since the 2010 financial crisis, with its GDP projected to grow by 28.71 percent between 2024 and 2029. Contributing to this positive trend are successful tourism seasons in recent years, along with increased private consumption and rising imports. Europe's economic stagnation Malta, Albania, Iceland, and Croatia were among the countries reporting some of the highest growth rates this year. However, Europe's overall performance reflected a general slowdown in growth compared to the trend seen in 2021, during the post-pandemic recovery. Estonia experienced the sharpest negative growth in 2023, with its economy shrinking by 2.3% compared to 2022, primarily due to the negative impact of sanctions placed on its large neighbor, Russia. Other nations, including Sweden, Germany, and Finland, also recorded slight negative growth.

This dataset provides values for GDP ANNUAL GROWTH RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Historical dataset showing European Union military size by year from 1985 to 2020.

The European Union is comprised of 27 member states who share the European Single Market, a common trade area which ensures the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people. As of 2024, the largest economies in the EU were Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, with these countries making up the vast majority of the EU's almost 17 trillion Euro GDP. The relatively small island member states of Cyprus and Malta come in at the bottom of the list, with GDPs of around 23 and 33 billion Euros respectively.

This dataset provides values for GOVERNMENT DEBT TO GDP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

In 2023 Germany's contribution to the budget of the European Union was more than 29 billion Euros, the highest of any EU member state. France was the next highest contributor at 26 billion Euros. followed by Italy at 16 billion Euros and Spain at 11.1 billion Euros. The country which contributed the lowest amount was the small island nation of Malta, at 151.9 million Euros. Largest economies in Europe The amount which EU member states contribute to the EU budget is heavily linked to the size of its economy. Germany, for example, has the largest economy in the whole of the EU, with Gross domestic product reaching almost 4.12 trillion Euros in 2023. France and Italy have the second and third largest economies in Europe with GDPs of 2.8 and 2.1 trillion euros respectively.

Abstract

EU-SILC has become the EU reference source for comparative statistics on income distribution and social exclusion at European level, particularly in the context of the "Program of Community action to encourage cooperation between Member States to combat social exclusion" and for producing structural indicators on social cohesion for the annual spring report to the European Council. The first priority is to be given to the delivery of comparable, timely and high quality cross-sectional data.

There are two types of datasets: 1) Cross-sectional data pertaining to fixed time periods, with variables on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions. 2) Longitudinal data pertaining to individual-level changes over time, observed periodically - usually over four years.

Longitudinal data is limited to income information and a limited set of critical qualitative, non-monetary variables of deprivation, aimed at identifying the incidence and dynamic processes of persistence of poverty and social exclusion among subgroups in the population. The longitudinal component is also more limited in sample size compared to the primary, cross-sectional component. Furthermore, for any given set of individuals, microlevel changes are followed up only for a limited duration, such as a period of four years. For both the cross-sectional and longitudinal components, all household and personal data are linkable. Furthermore, modules providing updated information in the field of social exclusion is included starting from 2005.

Social exclusion and housing-condition information is collected at household level. Income at a detailed component level is collected at personal level, with some components included in the "Household" section. Labour, education and health observations only apply to persons 16 and older. EU-SILC was established to provide data on structural indicators of social cohesion (at-risk-of-poverty rate, S80/S20 and gender pay gap) and to provide relevant data for the two 'open methods of coordination' in the field of social inclusion and pensions in Europe.

This is the 4th release of 2008 Longitudinal Dataset, as published by Eurostat in March 2012.

Geographic coverage

The survey covers following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway.

Small parts of the national territory amounting to no more than 2% of the national population and the national territories listed below may be excluded from EU-SILC: France - French Overseas Departments and territories; Netherlands - The West Frisian Islands with the exception of Texel; Ireland - All offshore islands with the exception of Achill, Bull, Cruit, Gorumna, Inishnee, Lettermore, Lettermullan and Valentia; United kingdom - Scotland north of the Caledonian Canal, the Scilly Islands.

Analysis unit

• Households;
• Individuals 16 years and older.

Universe

The survey covered all household members over 16 years old. Persons living in collective households and in institutions are generally excluded from the target population.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

On the basis of various statistical and practical considerations and the precision requirements for the most critical variables, the minimum effective sample sizes to be achieved were defined. Sample size for the longitudinal component refers, for any pair of consecutive years, to the number of households successfully interviewed in the first year in which all or at least a majority of the household members aged 16 or over are successfully interviewed in both the years.

For the cross-sectional component, the plans are to achieve the minimum effective sample size of around 131.000 households in the EU as a whole (137.000 including Iceland and Norway). The allocation of the EU sample among countries represents a compromise between two objectives: the production of results at the level of individual countries, and production for the EU as a whole. Requirements for the longitudinal data will be less important. For this component, an effective sample size of around 98.000 households (103.000 including Iceland and Norway) is planned.

Member States using registers for income and other data may use a sample of persons (selected respondents) rather than a sample of complete households in the interview survey. The minimum effective sample size in terms of the number of persons aged 16 or over to be interviewed in detail is in this case taken as 75 % of the figures shown in columns 3 and 4 of the table I, for the cross-sectional and longitudinal components respectively.

The reference is to the effective sample size, which is the size required if the survey were based on simple random sampling (design effect in relation to the 'risk of poverty rate' variable = 1.0). The actual sample sizes will have to be larger to the extent that the design effects exceed 1.0 and to compensate for all kinds of non-response. Furthermore, the sample size refers to the number of valid households which are households for which, and for all members of which, all or nearly all the required information has been obtained. For countries with a sample of persons design, information on income and other data shall be collected for the household of each selected respondent and for all its members.

At the beginning, a cross-sectional representative sample of households is selected. It is divided into say 4 sub-samples, each by itself representative of the whole population and similar in structure to the whole sample. One sub-sample is purely cross-sectional and is not followed up after the first round. Respondents in the second sub-sample are requested to participate in the panel for 2 years, in the third sub-sample for 3 years, and in the fourth for 4 years. From year 2 onwards, one new panel is introduced each year, with request for participation for 4 years. In any one year, the sample consists of 4 sub-samples, which together constitute the cross-sectional sample. In year 1 they are all new samples; in all subsequent years, only one is new sample. In year 2, three are panels in the second year; in year 3, one is a panel in the second year and two in the third year; in subsequent years, one is a panel for the second year, one for the third year, and one for the fourth (final) year.

According to the Commission Regulation on sampling and tracing rules, the selection of the sample will be drawn according to the following requirements:

1. For all components of EU-SILC (whether survey or register based), the cross-sectional and longitudinal (initial sample) data shall be based on a nationally representative probability sample of the population residing in private households within the country, irrespective of language, nationality or legal residence status. All private households and all persons aged 16 and over within the household are eligible for the operation.
2. Representative probability samples shall be achieved both for households, which form the basic units of sampling, data collection and data analysis, and for individual persons in the target population.
3. The sampling frame and methods of sample selection shall ensure that every individual and household in the target population is assigned a known and non-zero probability of selection.
4. By way of exception, paragraphs 1 to 3 shall apply in Germany exclusively to the part of the sample based on probability sampling according to Article 8 of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC) No 1177/2003 concerning

Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. Article 8 of the EU-SILC Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council mentions: 1. The cross-sectional and longitudinal data shall be based on nationally representative probability samples. 2. By way of exception to paragraph 1, Germany shall supply cross-sectional data based on a nationally representative probability sample for the first time for the year 2008. For the year 2005, Germany shall supply data for one fourth based on probability sampling and for three fourths based on quota samples, the latter to be progressively replaced by random selection so as to achieve fully representative probability sampling by 2008. For the longitudinal component, Germany shall supply for the year 2006 one third of longitudinal data (data for year 2005 and 2006) based on probability sampling and two thirds based on quota samples. For the year 2007, half of the longitudinal data relating to years 2005, 2006 and 2007 shall be based on probability sampling and half on quota sample. After 2007 all of the longitudinal data shall be based on probability sampling.

Detailed information about sampling is available in Quality Reports in Documentation.

Mode of data collection

Mixed

This dataset provides values for INFLATION RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

European Union Imports from United States was US$355.76 Billion during 2024, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. European Union Imports from United States - data, historical chart and statistics - was last updated on December of 2025.

Attitude towards the EU. EU enlargement and the European Constitution. Economy in the EU and in the world. Innovative products and services.

Topics: 1. Attitude towards the EU: frequency of political discussions with friends and personal opinion leadership; life satisfaction; expected development for the next twelve months regarding: personal life in general, the financial situation of the own household, the personal job situation, the national economic and employment situation; comparison of the current personal situation with five years ago and expected development in the next five years; trust in institutions (justice, political parties, national government, national parliament, European Union, and the United Nations); assessment of the EU membership of the own country as a good thing; benefits from the EU membership for the own country; (in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Croatia, and Northern Cyprus was asked: assessment of a future EU membership as a good thing; advantages of a future EU membership for the own country); image of the EU from the perspective of the respondent; attitude towards a European political union; meaning of the EU to the respondent; feelings towards the EU (enthusiasm or rejection); attitude towards the EU: feeling of safety, more stable economically and politically through existing or future EU membership of the own country, own political efficacy, understanding of the processes of the EU, national interests are taken into account by the EU, growing influence of the own country in the EU, superiority of the large countries in the EU; expected and desired role of the EU in daily life in five years; fears related to the European Union: power loss for smaller member states, increase in drug trafficking, less frequent use of the national language, increasing payments of the own country to the EU, loss of social benefits, loss of national identity and culture, economic crisis, transfer of jobs to other EU member countries with lower production costs, more difficulties for farmers; frequency of the reception of news on television, in newspapers, or on the radio; self-assessment of the personal knowledge on the EU (scale); used information sources about the EU; assessment of the extent of media coverage in the own country by topics regarding the EU as well as the image evoked; knowledge of EU institutions: European Parliament, European Commission, Council of the European Union, Court of Justice of the European Communities, and European Central Bank; importance of each of these EU institutions and trust in them; knowledge test on the European Union (number of member states, electoral procedure for the European Parliament, anthem, time of the last elections to the European Parliament); most important problems in the own country; attitude towards the role of the European Union in selected national issues; attitude towards: a European Monetary Union with the euro as common currency, a common foreign policy towards countries outside the EU, a common security and defence policy, EU enlargement, an EU constitution, a two-speed Europe, teaching about EU institutions at school; prioritized future EU issues; attitude towards increasing the budget of the European Union given political goals; knowledge of the field on which most of the EU budget is spent; attitude towards selected suggestions regarding the further development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the European Security and Defence Policy (rapid military reaction force, common position of the EU member states in international crisis, own foreign minister as spokesman for the EU, own seat on the UN Security Council, independence of the EU´s foreign policy of the one of the USA, worldwide efforts of the EU to guarantee human rights, common immigration and asylum policy); positive or negative role of the United States and the European Union regarding the following topics: peace in the world, fight against terrorism, global economic growth, fight against poverty in the world, and environmental protection; comparison of the importance of the European Union at present with five years ago; satisfaction with the democracy in the own country and in the European Union; personal attachment to the own city, the own region, the own country, and Europe; positive or negative connotation of selected terms (company, monopoly, competitiveness, social security, free trade, protectionism, globalisation, public service, trade union, reforms).

1. EU enlarge...

Statistical parameters of indicators determining the level of the EU countries in terms of digitalization and robotization of large enterprises.

Abstract

In 2010, the EU-SILC instrument covered 32 countries, that is, all EU Member States plus Iceland, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland and Croatia. EU-SILC has become the EU reference source for comparative statistics on income distribution and social exclusion at European level, particularly in the context of the "Program of Community action to encourage cooperation between Member States to combat social exclusion" and for producing structural indicators on social cohesion for the annual spring report to the European Council. The first priority is to be given to the delivery of comparable, timely and high quality cross-sectional data.

There are two types of datasets: 1) Cross-sectional data pertaining to fixed time periods, with variables on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions. 2) Longitudinal data pertaining to individual-level changes over time, observed periodically - usually over four years.

Social exclusion and housing-condition information is collected at household level. Income at a detailed component level is collected at personal level, with some components included in the "Household" section. Labor, education and health observations only apply to persons aged 16 and over. EU-SILC was established to provide data on structural indicators of social cohesion (at-risk-of-poverty rate, S80/S20 and gender pay gap) and to provide relevant data for the two 'open methods of coordination' in the field of social inclusion and pensions in Europe.

The 6th version of the 2010 Cross-Sectional User Database as released in July 2015 is documented here.

Geographic coverage

The survey covers following countries: Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Spain; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Hungary; Malta; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovenia; Slovakia; Sweden; United Kingdom; Iceland; Norway; Turkey; Switzerland

Small parts of the national territory amounting to no more than 2% of the national population and the national territories listed below may be excluded from EU-SILC: France - French Overseas Departments and territories; Netherlands - The West Frisian Islands with the exception of Texel; Ireland - All offshore islands with the exception of Achill, Bull, Cruit, Gorumna, Inishnee, Lettermore, Lettermullan and Valentia; United kingdom - Scotland north of the Caledonian Canal, the Scilly Islands.

Analysis unit

• Households;
• Individuals 16 years and older.

Universe

The survey covered all household members over 16 years old. Persons living in collective households and in institutions are generally excluded from the target population.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

On the basis of various statistical and practical considerations and the precision requirements for the most critical variables, the minimum effective sample sizes to be achieved were defined. Sample size for the longitudinal component refers, for any pair of consecutive years, to the number of households successfully interviewed in the first year in which all or at least a majority of the household members aged 16 or over are successfully interviewed in both the years.

For the cross-sectional component, the plans are to achieve the minimum effective sample size of around 131.000 households in the EU as a whole (137.000 including Iceland and Norway). The allocation of the EU sample among countries represents a compromise between two objectives: the production of results at the level of individual countries, and production for the EU as a whole. Requirements for the longitudinal data will be less important. For this component, an effective sample size of around 98.000 households (103.000 including Iceland and Norway) is planned.

Member States using registers for income and other data may use a sample of persons (selected respondents) rather than a sample of complete households in the interview survey. The minimum effective sample size in terms of the number of persons aged 16 or over to be interviewed in detail is in this case taken as 75 % of the figures shown in columns 3 and 4 of the table I, for the cross-sectional and longitudinal components respectively.

The reference is to the effective sample size, which is the size required if the survey were based on simple random sampling (design effect in relation to the 'risk of poverty rate' variable = 1.0). The actual sample sizes will have to be larger to the extent that the design effects exceed 1.0 and to compensate for all kinds of non-response. Furthermore, the sample size refers to the number of valid households which are households for which, and for all members of which, all or nearly all the required information has been obtained. For countries with a sample of persons design, information on income and other data shall be collected for the household of each selected respondent and for all its members.

At the beginning, a cross-sectional representative sample of households is selected. It is divided into say 4 sub-samples, each by itself representative of the whole population and similar in structure to the whole sample. One sub-sample is purely cross-sectional and is not followed up after the first round. Respondents in the second sub-sample are requested to participate in the panel for 2 years, in the third sub-sample for 3 years, and in the fourth for 4 years. From year 2 onwards, one new panel is introduced each year, with request for participation for 4 years. In any one year, the sample consists of 4 sub-samples, which together constitute the cross-sectional sample. In year 1 they are all new samples; in all subsequent years, only one is new sample. In year 2, three are panels in the second year; in year 3, one is a panel in the second year and two in the third year; in subsequent years, one is a panel for the second year, one for the third year, and one for the fourth (final) year.

According to the Commission Regulation on sampling and tracing rules, the selection of the sample will be drawn according to the following requirements:

1. For all components of EU-SILC (whether survey or register based), the crosssectional and longitudinal (initial sample) data shall be based on a nationally representative probability sample of the population residing in private households within the country, irrespective of language, nationality or legal residence status. All private households and all persons aged 16 and over within the household are eligible for the operation.
2. Representative probability samples shall be achieved both for households, which form the basic units of sampling, data collection and data analysis, and for individual persons in the target population.
3. The sampling frame and methods of sample selection shall ensure that every individual and household in the target population is assigned a known and non-zero probability of selection.
4. By way of exception, paragraphs 1 to 3 shall apply in Germany exclusively to the part of the sample based on probability sampling according to Article 8 of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC) No 1177/2003 concerning

Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. Article 8 of the EU-SILC Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council mentions: 1. The cross-sectional and longitudinal data shall be based on nationally representative probability samples. 2. By way of exception to paragraph 1, Germany shall supply cross-sectional data based on a nationally representative probability sample for the first time for the year 2008. For the year 2005, Germany shall supply data for one fourth based on probability sampling and for three fourths based on quota samples, the latter to be progressively replaced by random selection so as to achieve fully representative probability sampling by 2008. For the longitudinal component, Germany shall supply for the year 2006 one third of longitudinal data (data for year 2005 and 2006) based on probability sampling and two thirds based on quota samples. For the year 2007, half of the longitudinal data relating to years 2005, 2006 and 2007 shall be based on probability sampling and half on quota sample. After 2007 all of the longitudinal data shall be based on probability sampling.

Detailed information about sampling is available in Quality Reports in Related Materials.

Mode of data collection

Mixed