The health status of populations is measured by mortality rates, which are age-adjusted to eliminate differences in mortality rates due to different population structures. A value of the age-adjusted mortality rate higher than the OECD average, therefore, indicates that after taking into account the differences in age, that country’s mortality rate is higher than the OECD average.

The delivery of safe, high-quality medical services requires among other things an adequate number of physicians. OECD countries display very different levels in the number of physicians. In 2005, the density of physicians in Turkey (1.5 per 1 000 inhabitants) was half the OECD average, while Greece had 5 practising physicians per 1 000 inhabitants (Figure 26.1). 

Safety is an important component of a region’s attractiveness. Statistics on reported crime are usually affected by how crime is defined in the national legislation and by the statistical criteria used in recording offences. The lack of international standards for crime statistics makes international comparisons difficult. In addition, the public propensity to record offences varies greatly, not only among countries, but among regions in the same countries. 

The number of murders per inhabitant is an indicator of a region’s safety level. Unlike other safety indicators, such as reported property crime, the number of reported murders is not affected by the public propensity to report an offence. It is therefore more suitable for international comparisons.

Waste management has potential impacts on human health and ecosystems. There are also concerns about the treatment and disposal capacity of existing facilities, and on the location and social acceptance of new facilities. The economic, environmental and social impact of waste is relevant in regions also because waste disposal is usually managed at the local level. Many OECD member countries have strengthened measures for waste minimisation, recycling, product life cycle management and extended producer responsibility. 

Transport activity generates pressures on the environment through air pollution and consumption of natural resources such as land and energy. In urban areas, motor vehicles are the main contributors to groundlevel ozone, a major component of smog. The number of private vehicles per capita is the indicator most commonly used to set policy targets for integrating environmental objectives with transportation policies.

Voter turnout is an indication of the degree of public trust in government and of citizens’ participation in the political process. 

In 2006, half of the labour force in OECD countries had an upper secondary education. In the knowledge based economy, the demand for skills is increasing and a high school diploma has become the minimum level to fully participate in the job market and a prerequisite for higher education. Nevertheless, almost one-fourth of the OECD labour force in 2006 had received only a basic education (lower than upper secondary school). This is a result of different patterns among countries. In 2006 Portugal was the country with the highest proportion of people with only basic education attainment (around 70%), while in the Czech Republic this proportion was below 10% (Figure 32.1).