What percentage of the population is overweight or obese? How many foreign languages are learnt by pupils in the EU? In which Member State are gasoline and diesel most expensive? How much waste is generated per inhabitant? The answers to these questions, and to many more, can be found in the 11^th edition of the statistical Yearbook¹, published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Commission.

The Eurostat Yearbook 2006/07 includes almost 400 statistical tables, graphs and maps, which are accompanied by information relating to European policies, explanations of statistical concepts and other useful information. It shows how key indicators have developed during the last eleven years in the EU25, the Eurozone, the Member States and the Candidate countries. Data for the EFTA countries, the US and Japan are included when available.

The 2006/07 Yearbook has fourteen main chapters on different statistical areas. After an overview of Eurostat’s services, the first chapter puts the energy domain in the spotlight. The other chapters cover all major statistical domains: population, education, health, living conditions and welfare, labour market, economy, international trade, industry and services, science and technology, environment, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and Europe's regions and finally there is a chapter devoted to linking statistics to European policies. An annex contains a useful glossary and details of the nomenclatures used. The paper version of the Eurostat Yearbook is accompanied by a CD-ROM which contains the yearbook in pdf format, as well as the tables and graphs in Excel format.

The tables presented in this News Release give an idea of the diversity of the data presented in the Yearbook.

Obesity varies from around a quarter of the population to less than 10% in the Member States

Based on the Body Mass Index³ (BMI), around half of men in Greece and Austria (both 50.8%) and Germany (48.0%) were overweight³ and around a third of women in Greece (36.5%), the United Kingdom (33.6%) and Portugal (32.4%). The lowest percentages for overweight men were found in Latvia (32.5%), Estonia (33.4%) and France (35.1%) and for women in Austria (20.3%), France (21.2%) and Slovakia (22.4%). In all Member States a higher proportion of men were overweight than women.

Around a quarter of men in Malta (25.1%) were obese³, followed by the United Kingdom (22.3%). For women, the highest shares of obesity were found in the United Kingdom (23.0%) and Germany (21.7%). The lowest shares of obesity for men were observed in Romania (7.7%) and the Netherlands (7.9%) and for women in Italy (7.9%) and Austria (8.6%). In half of the Member States, a higher proportion of women than men were obese.

Overweight and obese persons,

% of the population aged 15 and over*

* Source: National Health Interview Surveys (HIS) covering 2000-2003 data depending on Member State, except for Estonia and Poland: 1996, Germany: 1998 and Portugal: 1999. Austria has the European Household Panel as a source (2001 data). The methodology might differ slightly between Member States.

** UK: only England

: Data not available

English is learnt as a foreign language by 85% of pupils in secondary education in the EU27

In the EU27 in 2004, pupils in lower and upper secondary education learned on average 1.4 foreign languages. This ranged from 0.6 languages per pupil in the United Kingdom to 2.6 in Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

In 2004, 85% of pupils in lower and upper secondary education in the EU27 were learning English. Among the Member States for which data are available, English was the foreign language mostly commonly learned by pupils in lower and upper secondary education in all Member States, except for Luxembourg, where French and German were more common. The share of pupils learning English ranged from 100% in Sweden, and 99% in both Denmark and Finland to 61% in Hungary, 63% in Luxembourg and 69% in Slovakia and Bulgaria.

In the EU27, 23% of pupils were learning French as a foreign language and 17% German. The share of pupils learning French as a foreign language was highest in Luxembourg (99%), Romania (86%) and Ireland (68%), while the share of pupils learning German was highest in Luxembourg (99%), Denmark (85%) and Hungary (47%).

Foreign languages in lower and upper secondary education

* Excluding the German speaking community
** All other languages than Luxembourgish are considered a foreign language
*** UK: figures based on examination data and may therefore be underestimated
: Data not available

Strong variations in gasoline prices within the EU

Even if gasoline prices have fluctuated since the second half of 2005, the comparison of price levels gives an idea of the strong variations in gasoline prices within the EU. In the second half of 2005, the price (consumer prices at the pump) of premium unleaded gasoline Euro-super 95 including taxes ranged from 0.83 euro per litre in Latvia to 1.40 euro in the Netherlands, while prices for diesel oil varied between 0.83 euro per litre in Estonia and 1.35 euro in the United Kingdom.

In the price of premium unleaded gasoline, the share of taxes was lowest in Cyprus (47.4%) and Lithuania (48.0%) and highest in the United Kingdom (68.1%) and Finland (66.9%). For diesel oil, the share of taxes was lowest in Cyprus (41.7%) and Greece (43.2%) and highest in the United Kingdom (65.7%) and Germany (56.2%).

Price of premium unleaded gasoline Euro-super 95 and diesel oil

second half of 2005, in euro per litre, all taxes included

Source: Eurostat and Directorate-General for Energy and Transport
: Data not available

More than 500 kg municipal waste per inhabitant in the EU27 in 2004

The municipal waste generated consists of waste collected by or on behalf of municipal authorities and disposed through the waste management system. It also includes estimates of similar waste generated in areas not covered by the municipal waste collection system. There was 518 kg per inhabitant of municipal waste in the EU27 in 2004, with highest values in Ireland (753 kg), Cyprus (739 kg), Denmark and Luxembourg (both 696 kg).

Deposit on land is still the most common way to treat waste: in 2004, 243 kg per inhabitant of municipal waste was landfilled in the EU27. The most municipal waste per inhabitant was landfilled in Cyprus (659 kg), Malta (569 kg), Ireland (451 kg) and the United Kingdom (419 kg). The least waste per inhabitant was landfilled in the Netherlands (11 kg), Denmark (31 kg), Sweden (42 kg) and Belgium (47 kg).

In the EU27, 88 kg of municipal waste per inhabitant was incinerated in 2004. Many Member States have no incineration plants. Denmark (379 kg), Luxembourg (260 kg) and Sweden (217 kg) had the highest amount of waste incinerated per inhabitant.

Municipal waste, kg per capita, 2004

* Recycling is not included.
** Poland: The figures give only the amount of municipal waste collected.
e estimated
In order to take into account revisions made since the preparation of the Yearbook, data in this table have been updated.
 

1. “Europe in figures - Eurostat Yearbook 2006/07”, EUR 30 (excluding VAT) for printed version. Download free The German and the French versions of the Yearbook will become available shortly. This edition of the yearbook does not take into account either the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union or the accession of Slovenia to the Eurozone at the start of 2007, as data was extracted and analysed in June and July 2006.