Dependency ratio - Cities and FUAs

This dataset provides an indicator of dependency ratios for OECD Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) and cities.

Data sources and methodology

Dependency ratios are derived from population by age and sex data collected at the level of small administrative units (e.g. municipalities) and aggregated at the FUA and city level. The correspondence table between SAUs and FUAs/cities is available in parquet and csv format.

Defining FUAs and cities

The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised definition of functional urban areas (FUAs) to capture the economic and functional reach of cities based on daily commuting patterns (OECD, 2012). FUAs consist of:

1. A city – defined by urban centres in the degree of urbanisation, adapted to the closest local administrative units to define a city.


2. A commuting zone – including all local areas where at least 15% of employed residents work in the city.

• Assigning municipalities surrounded by a single FUA to that FUA.


• Excluding non-contiguous municipalities.

The definition identifies 1 272 FUAs and 1 269 cities in all OECD member countries except Costa Rica and three accession countries.

Cite this dataset

OECD Regions, cities and local areas database (Dependency ratio - Cities and FUAs), http://oe.cd/geostats

Further information

• OECD Local Data Portal


• OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance

For questions and/or comments, please email [email protected]