Introduction

This edition of Trends in Europe and North America - The Statistical Pocketbook of the Economic Commission for Europe is the compilation of basic socio-economic statistics for the member countries of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The decision that a publication of this kind should be published by the UNECE was taken by the Plenary Session of the Conference of European Statisticians in June 1994, and the first edition came out in late 1995.

"Trends" is a conscientious pocketbook intended to be of very general interest and is aimed at a wide audience of users of international statistics who are not necessarily familiar with statistical terminology or with interpreting statistical tables. It presents economic and social "profiles", in statistics, of all 55 member countries of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. The data for these profiles are for the most recent year available, usually 2003.

The information presented in this issue of "Trends" has been obtained from the national statistical agencies and statistical departments of other international organizations, which are data collectors and have expertise in a given field. The sources of the data are given below each table and chart together with specific table notes. A consolidated list of the Internet address of sources used is given at the end of the publication.

The publication "Trends in Europe and North America" is complemented by a CD and a public website (http://www.unece.org/stats). The CD-ROM contains the Thematic Atlas of Europe and North America.

Readers should be aware that cross-country comparability is not always perfect and that the original sources with their more detailed statistics and descriptions of technical notes should be consulted to avoid dubious conclusions. Every effort has been made to harmonize the definitions and ensure international comparability. Exceptions to the definitions provided in the Glossary are given in the footnotes. To assist readers in looking for further data, a list of Internet addresses is provided at the end of the publication. Although increasing efforts are deployed to ensure data consistency between "Trends" and the World Statistics Pocketbook of the UN Statistics Division, some slight inconsistencies in the data are unavoidable because of the continuous update of the underlying databases and different publication dates. Moreover, whenever internationally standardized series are used for showing trends, minor deviations from national data are to be expected.

Any comments on the data or contents of the sixth edition would be very welcome and should be addressed to the Director, Statistical Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva (trends@unece.org).

Brigita Schmögnerová           
UNECE Executive Secretary       

This publication was prepared with a collective input from the staff of the UNECE Statistical Division. The cover design, maps and layout were prepared by the UNECE Graphics Design Unit

The editor would like to acknowledge the invaluable help, in compiling this book, of the national statistical offices of the ECE member countries and many of our colleagues in the Council of Europe, EUROSTAT, ILO, ITU, OECD, UNESCO, UNSD, WHO, WTO and others for their contributions.

The Thematic Atlas on the CD-ROM was prepared in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.