Half of Europe’s towns and villages have fewer residents than 60 years ago
Summary
CORRECTIV.Europe, using JRC data, finds that while Europe's total population rises, about half of its municipalities have lost residents since 1961. The article highlights two trends—rural depopulation and emigration from Eastern Europe—and explains the dasymetric-mapping method used to reallocate historic populations to today’s borders. It discusses implications for rural services and living conditions as regional differences intensify.