The National Statistics Institute (INE) has published a new dashboard for the DEGURBA (Degree of Urbanization) application, featuring results from the 2024 Population and Housing Census, which includes population pyramids for each category, as well as regional-level indicators on the characteristics of persons, housing, and households, access to services, and transport. INE has also published a document that delves deeper into the sociodemographic trends identified for each class of DEGURBA across the country.

This methodology, which was developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, classifies the territory into two levels consisting of three (3) and seven (7) classes, respectively. The classification is defined according to population density in cells of one square kilometer and population thresholds with which uniform parameters for comparing data across countries can be established while recognizing a diversity of settlement categories along the urban-rural continuum and moving beyond the traditional dichotomous classification.

Among the main findings identified varying demographic patterns according to the categories defined in the methodology. Thus, cities have a higher proportion of the population in the potentially economically active age brackets (ages 25 to 29 and 30 to 34), while less densely populated rural areas have noticeably older population structures, with a marked concentration of persons between the ages of 50 and 65.

Another factor is internet access: in regions such as the Metropolitan Region, access via fixed-line internet connections is prevalent, while in the more sparsely populated areas of the outlying regions (such as Arica y Parinacota and Aysén), the percentage of households reporting that they have a satellite internet connection is higher.

The application of the DEGURBA methodology to data from the 2024 Population and Housing Census, with its potential utility in disseminating various economic, social, and demographic statistics, is a valuable tool for strengthening the management of various public institutions. This new application of the methodology opens up new opportunities for targeting public policies and develops more detailed territorial analyses, thus contributing to evidence-based decision-making and a better response to the country’s diverse needs.

This application marks the second implementation of the methodology in Chile, and it follows an initial effort carried out in 2021 and 2022 using data from the 2017 Population and Housing Census, which formed part of an international pilot project promoted by UN-Habitat and published in October 2023, titled “Report of the results from the application of the degree of urbanization (DEGURBA) pilot test in Chile and the calculation of priority indicators of Sustainable Development Goals” (English translation).

See:

Dashboard “DEGURBA Methodology – Degree of Urbanization” (in Spanish)