Brussels, Oct 5 (IANS): At least 40 percent of the European Union (EU) population was living in densely-populated areas (cities) in 2014, according to the report published by the EU's statistical office on Monday.

Over 28 percent of population was living in thinly-populated (rural) areas and 32 in intermediate areas (towns and suburbs), the Eurostat report said.

There are significant discrepancies between the EU member states, some of them having a mainly urban population while in others the population is mainly rural, said Eurostat.

Across EU member states, over 50 percent population was living in cities in Britain and Cyprus. A large part of the population was also concentrated in urban areas notably in Spain, Malta, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.

In contrast, the largest share of the population lived in rural areas in Luxembourg, followed by Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Denmark, Ireland and Romania.

The population living in intermediate areas was predominant in Belgium, while the population was almost evenly distributed between urban, intermediate and rural areas in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Finland.

With an overall average score of 6.9 on a scale from zero to 10, the EU urban population aged 16 and over was globally satisfied with their city's offer of recreational and green spaces, albeit to a lesser extent than the population living in thinly-populated areas, said Eurostat.