Administrative and statistical divisions

Description

Administrative and statistical divisions are geographical boundaries which essentially form the basis for carrying out public administration of various kinds, or which are used for presenting or analysing statistics and other information.

The divisions, e.g. counties, regions, municipalities, electoral districts, etc., are used in various statistical reports, analyses, and for decision making. Providing harmonized, quality-assured, time-stamped and open access data for different types of divisions is fundamental for ensuring a standard for geospatial information.

Up to now, the datasets which contain administrative and statistical divisions have been distributed through various channels, and there has been uncertainty about quality and timeliness. Furthermore, in some cases, ownership and formal producers of the datasets have been unclear.

Around 100 current administrative and statistical divisions have been identified, as well as around 30 different producers. Ideally, all datasets containing administrative and statistical divisions should be standardized, quality-assured and made accessible as nationally standardized master data through the National Geodata Platform.

Status: Decision taken on start-up for four specifications.

Schedule: 2024-12-31.

Responsible: Statistics Sweden (Statistiska centralbyrån, SCB).

National specifications

National specification on statistical built-up areas

Statistical built-up areas (statistiska bebyggelseområden in Swedish) consist of Statistics Sweden’s geospatial data on localities (statistisk tätort), smaller localities (statistisk småort), holiday-home areas (statistiskt fritidshusområde), activities zones (statistiskt verksamhetsområde), and retail trade areas (statistiskt handelsområde).

Localities are built-up areas which are classified as localities and urban areas with at least 200 inhabitants.

Smaller localities are built-up areas which are classified as localities and urban areas with 50-199 inhabitants.

Holiday-home areas are built-up areas which are contiguous and contain at least 50 holiday homes, where the distance between the holiday homes does not exceed 150 metres.

Activities zones are built-up areas which are characterised either by a concentration of local units (cluster formation) in the zone, or by large scale and industrial land use in the zone, which has at least one local unit. An activities zone measures at least 3 hectares.

Retail trade areas are built-up areas which consist of either at least five retail trade enterprises within a limited distance, or four retail trade enterprises that together have at least 100 employees.

No specification available yet.

Producer: Statistics Sweden.

National specification on demographic statistical areas (DeSO) and regional statistical areas (RegSO)

Demographic statistical areas (DeSO) is a nation-wide local area breakdown that may be aggregated to RegSO, municipal and county level, suitable for presenting and analysing statistics below municipal level (e.g. at district and neighbourhood level). DeSO is stable and generally does not change over time.

Regional Statistical Areas (RegSO) is a nation-wide local area breakdown that may be aggregated to municipal and county level, suitable for presenting and analysing statistics below municipal level (e.g. at district and neighbourhood level). Similar to DeSO, RegSO is stable and generally does not change over time. RegSO units generally consist of aggregated DeSO units.

No specification available yet.

Producer: Statistics Sweden.

National specification administrative units municipal and regional

This part of data theme administrative divides into municipal and regional units. The theme is divided into polygons for each unit. The theme is consolidated into a static version for each year.

The theme is basic for statistic and administrative purpose.

No specification available yet.

Producer: Lantmäteriet, Swedish National Mapping and Cadastral Authority.