Population and migration
branch Population share in high density regions
Percentage
  2008
Australia 63.68   63.68 
Canada 61.30   61.30 
Iceland 50.43   50.43 
United States 49.96   49.96 
Mexico 46.90   46.90 
Chile 44.77   44.77 
Turkey 43.53   43.53 
Spain 41.53   41.53 
Greece 41.40   41.40 
Sweden 39.55   39.55 
OECD Total 39.34   39.34 
Portugal 38.61   38.61 
New Zealand 38.33   38.33 
Brazil 37.93   37.93 
India 36.56   36.56 
Italy 35.75   35.75 
Korea 35.52   35.52 
Finland 35.46   35.46 
Switzerland 35.15   35.15 
Japan 33.63   33.63 
Austria 33.45   33.45 
Russian Federation 30.31   30.31 
Hungary 28.69   28.69 
United Kingdom 28.39   28.39 
Slovenia 28.27   28.27 
Germany 28.19   28.19 
France 26.73   26.73 
Netherlands 24.30   24.30 
Israel 23.84   23.84 
China 23.58   23.58 
Ireland 22.55   22.55 
Norway 21.68   21.68 
Estonia 19.48   19.48 
South Africa 19.22   19.22 
Belgium 17.40   17.40 
Czech Republic 16.69   16.69 
Denmark 16.14   16.14 
Poland 15.76   15.76 
Slovak Republic 11.88   11.88 

Definition

The number of inhabitants of a given region, i.e. its total population, can be measured as either its average annual population or as the population at a specific date during the year considered. The average population during a calendar year is generally calculated as the arithmetic mean of the population on 1 January of two consecutive years, although some countries estimate it on a date close to 1 July.

The index of geographic concentration offers a picture of the spatial distribution of the population. It compares the share of population and land area over all regions in a given country, and it takes into account both within- and between-country differences in the size of all regions. This index lies between 0 (no concentration) and 100 (maximum concentration) and is suitable for international comparisons.

For more statistics on economic, environmental and social issues visit online the OECD Factbook 2010.