Making Decentralisation Work

Annex C. Subnational governments in the OECD

The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.

Table A C.1. Type and numbers of subnational governments in the OECD: Country by country, 2017-18

	Municipal level	Intermediate level	Regional or state level
Federations and quasi-federations
Australia	562 (local government areas)		8 (6 states + 2 territories)
Austria	2 098 (municipalities)		9 (Bundesländer)
Belgium	589 (municipalities)	10 (provinces)	6 (3 regions + 3 communities)
Canada	3 959 (census subdivisions)		13 (provinces and territories)
Germany	11 054 (municipalities)	401 (294 rural districts and 107 district-free cities)	16 (länder)
Mexico	2 463 (municipalities)		32 (31 states + federal district)
Spain	8 124 (municipalities)	50 (provinces)	17 (autonomous communities)
Switzerland	2 222 (municipalities)		26 (cantons)
United States	35 879 (municipalities, towns and townships)	3 031 (counties)	50 (states)
Unitary countries
Chile	345 (municipalities)		16 (regions)*
Czech Republic	6 258 (municipalities)		14 (regions)
Denmark	98 (municipalities)		5 (regions)
Estonia	79 (municipalities)
Finland	311 (municipalities)		1 (autonomous region of Aland)
France	35 357 (municipalities)	101 (départements)	18 (regions)
Greece	325 (municipalities)		13 (regions)
Hungary	3 178 (municipalities)		19 (counties)
Iceland	74 (municipalities)
Ireland	31 (county and city councils)
Israel	255 (local governments)
Italy	7 960 (municipalities)		20 (regions)
Japan	1 741 (municipalities)		47 (prefectures)
Korea	229 (cities, counties and autonomous districts)		17 (regional-level entities)
Latvia	119 (municipalities)
Luxembourg	102 (municipalities)
Netherlands	390 (municipalities)		12 (provinces)
New Zealand	67 (territorial authorities)		11 (regional councils)
Norway	422 (municipalities)		18 (counties)
Poland	2 478 (municipalities)	380 (314 counties and 66 cities having the status of county)	16 (regions)
Portugal	308 (municipalities)		2 (Azores and Madeira)
Slovak Republic	2 930 (municipalities)		8 (higher territorial units)
Slovenia	212 (municipalities)
Sweden	290 (municipalities)		21 (county councils)
Turkey	1 397 (municipalities)		81 (provinces and metropolitan municipalities)
United Kingdom	391 (local councils)	27 (county counties, only in England)	3 (Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales)
OECD35	132 287	4 000	519
EU28	86 840	969	263

Note:There are 589 municipalities to date in Belgium. From 2019 onwards, some mergers of municipalities are foreseen (in the Flemish Region), that will result in 581 municipalities.

Sources: Adapted from OECD (2018[5]), Subnational Governments in OECD Countries: Key Data (brochure), http://www.oecd.org/regional/regional‑policy; OECD (2017[6]), Multi‑level Governance Reforms: Overview of OECD Country Experiences, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264272866-en.