EU Statistics on Income & Living Conditions
The EU-SILC database is a cross-sectional and longitudinal sample survey, coördinated by Eurostat, based on data from the EU member states. EU-SILC provides data on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions in the European Union. EU-SILC stands for 'European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions.'
EU-SILC micro data is gathered by the member states of the European Union and collated by Eurostat. There are two data types:
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Cross-sectional data pertaining to fixed time periods, with variables on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions, and
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Longitudinal data pertaining to individual-level changes over time, observed periodically – usually over four years.
Social exclusion and housing-condition information is collected at household level. Income at a detailed component level is collected at personal level, with some components are included in the 'Household' section. Labour, education and health observations only apply to persons aged 16 and over.
EU-SILC was established to provide data on structural indicators of social cohesion (at-risk-of-poverty rate, S80/S20 and gender pay gap) and to provide relevant data for the two 'open methods of coördination' in the field of social inclusion and pensions in Europe.
[See the related Library resource pages for the EU-LFS database, and for the EUROMOD tax and benefits' microsimulation model (developed by the University of Essex Institute for Social & Economic Research, using underlying EU-SILC data).]
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EU-SILC 2011 cross-sectional (April 2013)
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EU-SILC 2010 cross-sectional (rev.2 / April 2013)
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EU-SILC 2010 longitudinal_rev.1 (April 2013)
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EU-SILC 2009 cross-sectional (rev.4 / April 2013)
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EU-SILC 2009 longitudinal (rev.3 / April 2013)
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EU-SILC 2008 cross-sectional (rev.4 / June 2012)
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EU-SILC 2008 longitudinal (rev.3 / June 2012)
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EU-SILC 2007 cross-sectional (rev.4 / March 2011)
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EU-SILC 2007 longitudinal (rev.3 / March 2011)
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EU-SILC 2006 cross-sectional (rev.1 / March 2010)
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EU-SILC 2006 longitudinal (February 2008)
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EU-SILC 2005 cross-sectional (rev.1 / September 2009)
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EU-SILC 2005 longitudinal (February 2008)
Eurostat periodically issues revisions of earlier EU-SILC waves, requiring hosting institutions to replace earlier versions. Dates of data revisions on the EUI server are indicated above.
The EU-SILC supporting documentation directory is at this link.
GESIS (Leibnitz/Mannheim) provides a list of tools for EU-SILC including transfer routines from .csv to Stata and SPSS.
An overview of the database is given on this Eurostat EU-SILC page.
EUROMOD – using underlying EU-SILC data – is available to current EUI members via an institutional agreement with ISER. Write to econlibrary@eui.eu for further details.
An EU-SILC related book, Income and Living Conditions in Europe edited by Anthony B. Atkinson and Eric Marlier, has been made available by Eurostat.
Access to EU-SILC micro data is restricted to current EUI members who have completed the registration procedures, as follows:
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Current EUI members who wish to use EU-SILC data must first send a project proposal (Word format, approx. one page) to econlibrary@eui.eu. This is forwarded to Eurostat. The proposal should include the name of the scholar/scholars wishing to access the data; academic status (eg. PhD Researcher, Professor, Fellow &c.); name of Supervisor (where applicable) and an outline of the research project.
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Eurostat requires that the proposal include: (a) Country and years of data required; (b) Variables and breakdowns required; (c) A short description of methodology. Further details on the database and variables – are on this EU-SILC page.
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The total application process can take up to two months due to Eurostat's clearing procedures with national statistical agencies.
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If the project proposal is approved by Eurostat, the EUI data applicant must complete the online EUI Data Registration Form (selecting 'EU-SILC' from the dropdown menu).
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The applicant must sign two forms at the Library Economics Office or the Economics Departmental Library: (i) the EUI 'Conditions of Use' agreement and (ii) the Eurostat 'Confidentiality Declaration.'
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The user then receives instructions on how to access EU-SILC via the EUI secured server.
Eurostat and member state statistical agencies reserve the right to decline access to EU-SILC data.
EU-SILC is not available to short-term EUI visitors.
Before using the data, read Section II of this Eurostat statement on Data Access and Use.
GESIS provides SPSS and STATA routines which transfer the EU-SILC 2009 csv-data to SPSS/Stata-system files.
Users of EU-SILC must acknowledge the data source; European Commission, Eurostat, cross sectional and/or longitudinal EU-SILC 'year(s)' users' database and reference to release date(s) – and add a disclaimer that Eurostat has no responsibility for the results and conclusions which are those of the researcher(s) when disseminating the results of the work to which the data access contract relates.
Related resources
EU-Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) micro data from Eurostat is also available at the EUI.
EUROMOD, a micro-simulation model for EU tax and benefits' research, is also available via the EUI's institutional contract with the University of Essex Institute for Social & Economic Research.
More European statistical data resources are accessible via this Library directory.
Data homepage
Contact: Thomas Bourke at econlibrary@eui.eu