Eurostat the statistics bureau of the EU recently presented in Luxembourg a statistical study of the economic and social situation of the 254 Regions comprised by the 25 member states of the Union. The publication, which can be consulted on line on the Eurostat website http://www.eurostat.ce.eu.int, contains among other things data of GDP, employment rate, number of general practitioners per inhabitants, safety in cities, and the cost of public utilities. There are, for instance, 21 Regions in which the employment rate of persons aged between 15 and 64 exceeds 75% (11 of which in the UK, which with the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire holds the European record of 79.4%). Contrariwise, 19 Regions have an employment rate below the 50% threshold (6 of them in Italy, 5 in France most in the overseas territories and in Poland). It is striking that the GDP league table is opened and closed by two Italian Regions: respectively the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and Calabria.
