The economy of EU rural regions

In 2009, gross domestic product (GDP) per inhabitant was 17 100 purchasing power standards (PPS) at current market prices in the predominantly rural regions of the EU (NUTS3), that is 73% of the European GDP average. Between 2008 and 2009, GDP per inhabitant was down by 6.6% in rural regions and by 6.0% in the EU as a whole. The purpose of this paper is to present economic data and the impact of the crisis especially in the context of rural development, making use of the urban-rural typology.