Demographic Change in Central Europe. A socio - economic background analysis.

The study provides a basic comparative demographic analysis of regions in the Central European area. It is particularly focused on population shrinkage and population ageing which is present at the regional level in all the countries in Central Europe. Firtly, information about the territorial scope and thematic focus of the study is described. Secondly, a demographic and socio-economic analysis of shrinking and growing regions and cities in Central Europe for the last ten years is provided.  Basic information about population distribution, ageing and the shrinking dimensions of demographic change as well as changes in age structure and future prospects of population development are described with means of maps and statistical information. Thirdly, a shrinking regions are defined at the NUTS 3 level for the whole Central European area. Population shrinkage is measured as a relative decline of the total population size in a region in a ten year period. Shrinking regions are also defined at the LAU 2 (municipal) level for all ADAPT2DC pilot regions using the same definition principle. Fourth part contains policy analysis for the countries in Central Europe and for the EU and also chapters providing a detailed description of pilot regions of the ADAPT2DC project. Finally, the document conclude stating that current population shrinkage and population ageing is already a relevant issue to deal with in Central Europe and its regions. Demographic change is expected to become also an issue for other European regions it is important to develop innovative solutions for how to adapt to it.