As urban centres grow, rural areas, particularly those most remote, see their attractiveness decrease. Shrinking and ageing populations threaten opportunities for development and investment and access to services decline. Quality rural education is important for individual growth and social cohesion as well as regional economic productivity and innovation.

Trends in rural population

On average, rural areas are losing attractiveness across OECD countries, especially among the youngest (OECD, 2016c). As Figure 1 shows, this is particularly the case for remote rural regions, such as those found in Canada, Finland and Norway. In Norway, for example, the share of the overall population living in remote rural areas declined 2.9% between 2000 and 2014, which would be equivalent to about 150 000 people in a country of 5 million.

Between 2001 and 2016, the number of population aged 0 to 14 decreased by almost 10% in rural Norway (OECD, 2017b). This trend is also present in rural regions close to cities, although to a lesser extent. In fact, exceptions to this decline in rural areas close to cities can be found in Chile, Ireland and the US.

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