Luxembourg, 20/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - 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, are to be found in the 11th edition of the statistical yearbook, published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, on Tuesday 20 February.
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 euro area, the member states and the candidate countries. Data for the EFTA countries, the US and Japan are included when available. The yearbook provides users of official statistics with an overview of the wealth of information that is available on the Eurostat website. The 2006/07 Yearbook has 14 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 areas: 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. 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, which sells at €30, is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing the yearbook in pdf format, as well as the tables and graphs in Excel format. (ol)