Living standards in rural areas of European Union countries

The paper deals with the issue of living standards being perceived as a compound phenomenon with strong spatial prerequisites. It focuses on rural-urban divide in terms of overall living conditions allowing to meet human needs. The main aim of the study is to identify international differences across the European Union countries concerning living standards of inhabitants in rural areas relative to city dwellers in a dynamic manner. Situation in rural areas in relation to urban ones is focused on and identified in the period of 2010–2019 using international rankings. A taxonomic method based on the Hellwig approach has been used to fulfill the task, and an aggregate measure of the relative living standards in rural areas has been constructed. Two-dimensional attitude to living standards revealed some detailed patterns in development. It appears that in the EU, residents in rural areas are usually poorer, while they live in a more favourable environment. Moreover, the higher the general level of socioeconomic development of a country, the more favourable the relative living standards in rural areas are, especially concerning the income dimension. However, advanced economies more often face problems with the environmental conditions of living. Generally, a strong and growing heterogeneity within the EU countries concerning the relative living standards in rural areas has been identified as a huge challenge for a cohesion policy.