Geography - Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS)

Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS) / Local Administrative Units (LAUs)

NUTS was created by the European Office for Statistics (Eurostat) as a single hierarchical classification of spatial units used for statistical production across the European Union. At the top of the hierarchy are the individual member states of the EU: below that are levels 1 to 3, then LAU levels 1 and 2. Note that LAUs were only introduced in July 2003; before this there had been 5 different NUTS levels.

Relationship of NUTS / LAU hierarchy to UK administrative areas

Within the UK, NUTS areas / LAUs are determined as shown in the table below. NUTS areas are stable and will only be amended periodically. LAUs are amended annually to reflect administrative boundary change.

NUTS level	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Total in UK
1	Government Office Regions (GORs)	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	12
2	Counties/groups of counties	Combinations of council areas, LECs and parts thereof	Groups of unitary authorities	Northern Ireland	37
3	Counties / groups of unitary authorities	Combinations of council areas, LECs and parts thereof	Groups of unitary authorities	Groups of district council areas	133


LAU level	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland	Total in UK
1	Districts/unitary authorities	Combinations of council areas, LECs and parts thereof	Unitary authorities	District council areas	443
2	Electoral wards/divisions	Electoral wards or, rarely, parts thereof	Electoral divisions	Electoral wards	c.11,000

Maps and listings of subdivisions of NUTS / LAU areas

The pages linked below contain listings of the NUTS 2, 3 and LAU 1 subdivisions of the 12 NUTS 1 areas in the UK. Click for information on your chosen area.

North East	North West	Yorkshire and The Humber
East Midlands	West Midlands	East of England
London	South East	South West
Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland

Names and codes of NUTS (Excel format files).

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This page last revised: Friday, 20 February 2009