Recent shocks to gas and energy supply and widespread increases in costs of living are challenging people’s living standards in nearly all places in the OECD area. These shocks have put further pressure on cities and regions around the world, which, in the last few years, have been facing global megatrends and a global pandemic. Ageing, climate change and digital transformation, among others, were already challenging our economies and societies when the COVID-19 pandemic started at the beginning of 2020. All these developments have had unequal consequences within countries and the need to cope with them is increasing the demand for geographically granular evidence, indicators and statistics to support policy makers at all levels of government.

OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance 2022 provides a comprehensive assessment of how regions and cities across the OECD are progressing in their efforts to build stronger, more sustainable and more resilient economies and societies. The publication provides a unique comparative picture in a number of aspects connected to economic development, well-being, demographic change and environmental transition across regions and cities in OECD and selected non-OECD countries. The report assesses how regions and cities are adapting differently to the challenges of a strong recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, the increasing pressure for energy transition and for ensuring affordable costs of living. The report focuses on the spatially heterogeneous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as of those triggered by ongoing megatrends, such as urbanisation, digitalisation and demographic change.

As regions and cities aim to recoup losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, sharply higher energy prices and shocks to gas supply pose new challenges for OECD economies. Despite the robust and widespread economic recovery in most OECD regions over the last two years, these shocks are affecting regions and cities differently. Many businesses now face higher costs of production, especially in energy-intensive industries and regions that rely on natural gas and fuel imports. For households, those living in cold regions will spend more on heating this winter and poorer households will experience relatively greater disruptions from rising energy prices. Finding affordable housing is also proving increasingly difficult in many places, but especially in large metropolitan areas, where housing demand is shifting towards more suburban locations. Policy makers need granular and timely evidence to understand patterns and trends in their regions and cities in order to respond effectively to people’s needs.