BBSR . Click to enlarge .

This mathematical function details how the population of every municipality in Europe change in the first tenner of the new millennium . It was created by Germany ’s BBSR , the country’sFederal Institute for Research on Building , Urban Affairs and Spatial Developmentusing stats from 2001 - 2011 , the most recent years for which comprehensive population data is available for all of Europe .

Although it ’s incredibly elaborate , the mathematical function is relatively wanton to sympathize . The different colors symbolise average annual population change for each municipality over the ten years studied . Blue means the population shrank , red intend the population grew , and beige typify no significant change either path . The shade grant for a more specific reading : Dark low-spirited patch think an average one-year population descent of 2 percent or more , intermediate bluish patch have in mind a declivity of between 1 and 2 percentage , and the lightest blue patches mean declination of up to 1 percent . It works in reverse with the red : cryptical red ink means an modal annual population maturation of 2 percentage or more , medium bolshy intend growth of between 1 and 2 pct , and the pale pink area stand for growth of up to 1 pct .

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Over atTheAtlantic’sCity Lab , they noticed a few tendency across the continent as a whole . Those annulus of red around Eastern European city represent the increasing   suburbanization that is finally happening in once - Communist countries . Second is the migration aside from the East — especially Albania , Bulgaria , and Latvia — in search of Book of Job . Meanwhile , the Northwest part of Europe is grow , on the   Norse Arctic Coasts and the United Kingdom . The Northeast has shrunk , and the Mediterranean seashore has experience a boom as older Europeans retire to warm weather .