Throughout over 500 pages, the Statistical Office of the European Communities reels off a complete portrait of Europe, the candidate countries and in some cases, EFTA, U.S. and Japan. Topics as diverse as creativity, education, quality of life and agriculture have their space in this directory.

How much have infant mortality rates in the EU fallen since 1965? In which fields are there the most PhD students and what is the split between men and women? Which sectors have increased their importance in the EU economy in recent years? What proportion of those employed in the EU have a second job? The answers to these questions and to many more can be found in the 13 th edition of the Eurostat yearbook, published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities .

Europe in figures – Eurostat yearbook 2009 presents in more than 500 pages a comprehensive selection of the available statistical data at Eurostat, together with explanatory text. The yearbook may be viewed as an introduction to EU statistics and provides guidance to the vast range of data freely available from the Eurostat website and its online databases. The yearbook shows how key indicators have developed in the EU27 , the euro area , the Member States and the Candidate countries. Data for the EFTA countries, the US and Japan are included when available.

The 2009 yearbook has sixteen main chapters on different statistical areas. The first chapter puts creativity and innovation – the theme of the European year 2009 – in the spotlight. The other chapters cover all major statistical domains: economy, population, education, health, living conditions and welfare, labour market, industry and services, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, external trade, transport, environment, energy, science and technology, Europe's regions and finally a chapter devoted to the links between statistics and European policies.