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The North East has the lowest proportion of people living in rural areas of any English region (10%). Two-thirds of the region, primarily to the north and west are rural in character, sparsely populated with large swathes of attractive upland countryside.
Generally the proportions of different age groups in rural and urban areas in the North East are similar to the rest of England. However, the remote rural districts tend to have an older age structure due to outward migration ofyoung people and inward migration of older people. In line with national trends there was a net outflow from rural districts for the 16-24 year age group and a net inflow in urban districts.
In line with national trends, people in the region's rural areas tend to have better health and live longer than people living in urban areas.
However, the North East population has the poorest health status of all English regions based on standard health outcome indicators.
Educational and training attainments are an important measure of the potential wealth of the region and there are several positive trends in both for the region's rural area. Overall, pupils in the region's rural areas have higher educational attainment rates that their urban counterparts for Key Stage 2 and 3. Evidence of GCSE results suggests that differential patterns do exist, not only between rural and urban areas, but also within rural areas. For instance in rural Northumberland the percentage of pupils achieving five or more GCSE (A-C grade) varies between 36.2% (Berwick upon Tweed) and 61.4% (Tynedale).
The rural North East has a higher proportion of adults with no qualifications than rural England overall, being the highest in England alongside the East of England. However, between 2000 and 2003, the proportion of the NVQ qualified workforce in the region's rural areas has increased at a greater rate than the national average.
