GfK releases updated maps for all of Europe

Bruchsal, Germany, October 29, 2018 – GfK has released its Europe Map Edition 2018/2019, which includes thousands of changes to Europe’s regions. The digital maps render the current administrative and postcode boundaries for 42 European countries. In combination with geomarketing software or business intelligent systems, the maps offer a reliable basis for location-related analyses for companies from all industries.

GfK’s Europe Edition includes approximately 1,000 digital maps, available immediately. The maps reflect the latest regional status and feature numerous new details and regional levels. With the exception of Moldova, changes occurred in all European countries due to boundary adjustments related to newly created or dissolved regions. With just several exceptions, the included maps offer coverage down to the most detailed postcode and administrative levels for the featured countries. The Europe Edition also includes updated 2018 GfK purchasing power data as well as information on inhabitants and households.

The new maps feature updated coverage of the hundreds of regions such as municipalities and postcodes that change from year to year in Europe. This allows administrative bodies and postal organizations to manage and plan their coverage areas with greater accuracy and efficiency. An example is the municipal reform in France, which has been ongoing since 2015. A precise, up-to-date cartographic basis is a precondition for accurate geographic analyses.

“Efficiency is crucial for administrative bodies and postal organizations,” explains Klaus Dittmann, head of cartography in GfK’s Geomarketing solution area. “Staying on top of the latest reforms is part of this. Two examples along these lines are the recently implemented municipal reform in Esto-nia, which reduced the number of municipalities from 213 to 79, and smaller-scale modifications such as the merging or creation of individual postcodes that occurred in almost all European coun-tries. These changes are reflected in our annually updated administrative and postcode maps, which give our customers a reliable foundation for their location-related analyses.”

Outdated postcode boundaries are problematic, because these are the means by which companies and organizations typically geocode their address-related data. For example, if the postcode of a company site changes, any turnover generated by this site would be attributed to the wrong post-code if the underlying postcode boundaries are incorrect or outdated. An up-to-date cartographic basis ensures that all turnover information is correctly geocoded and cross-referenced with other location-specific data.

New additions
GfK’s Europe Edition 2018/2019 reflects the changes to postcode and administrative levels that occurred in almost all European countries. The new edition features coverage of these thousands of changes, some of the most comprehensive of which are listed here.

Belarus
The map set for Belarus now includes a map of the country’s cities with between 500,000 and one million in-habitants.

Belgium
The map set for Belgium has been expanded to include a new map of the country’s 19,782 statistical sectors (census regions).

Croatia

• 5-digit postcodes: 34 dissolved and 4 new, 10 boundary changes

Estonia
The map set for Estonia now includes a new layer of the nation’s 4,711 settlements.

• municipalities: 134 dissolved
• 5-digit postcodes: 13 dissolved and 20 new

Faroe Islands

• All boundaries have been newly rendered on the basis of the latest official and highly granular sources.

France
The maps for France now include a map of the country’s 49,406 IRIS regions (Ilots Regroupés pour l'Infor-mation Statistique). These are street blocks that are merged to form census regions. All boundaries were also newly rendered on the basis of the latest official and highly granular sources.

• municipalities: 59 dissolved and 86 name changes

Hungary

• 4-digit postcodes: 4 name changes, 1 name correction, 2 boundary changes, 17% boundary corrections

Iceland

• 3-digit postcodes: 35 new, 2 name changes, 4 boundary changes

Ireland

• municipalities: 32 dissolved, 32 ID changes, 34 name changes

Lithuania

• The map set for Lithuania was expanded through the addition of a new map of the country’s 521 wards.

Luxembourg

• municipalities: 34 dissolved
• 4-digit postcodes: 25 new

Netherlands

• neighborhoods: 388 new, numerous boundary changes
• 6-digit postcodes: 1,646 new, numerous boundary changes

Norway

• basic statistical units: 8 new, 1,713 ID changes, 10 name changes, 21 boundary changes
• 4-digit postcodes: 1 dissolved and 2 new, 1 name change, 39 boundary changes

Poland

• municipal subdivisions: 6 new, 6 ID changes, 35 name changes
• 5-digit postcodes: 32 dissolved and 93 new, 60 name changes

Sweden

• 5-digit postcodes: 86 dissolved and 250 new, 37 boundary changes

Turkey

• districts/neighborhoods: 109 dissolved and 1,236 new, 33 ID changes, 33 name changes, numerous boundary corrections
• 5-digit postcodes: 18 dissolved and 13 new, 50 boundary changes and corrections, numerous name changes and corrections

Ukraine
The map featuring the country’s three- and five-digit postcode boundaries was expanded to include coverage of the five-digit postcodes for the city of Saporischschja.

Availability
The approximately 1,000 maps for 42 European countries are available in all standard map formats, including *.shp (ESRI), *.tab (MapInfo), *.lay (RegioGraph) and Oracle Spatial. In addition to maps of postcode and administrative levels, the country editions also include topographic details such as streets, bodies of water and city points categorized by number of inhabitants. All maps are vector-based and consequently offer infinite zoom and flexible viewing options.