NUTS2 level dataset on land use and land cover projections for Europe under the shared socio-economic pathways through 2050

This dataset provides projections of land use and land cover from 2020 to 2050, spanning an uncertainty range consistent with the five Shared Socio-Economic Pathways. For Europe, results are reported at both the national and the sub-national level of administrative NUTS2 regions, while regions outside Europe are represented at the national or aggregated level. The dataset distinguishes eight land cover types (e.g. cropland, pastureland, shrubland) and 65 corresponding land use categories (e.g. individual crops) and is available at two- and five-year intervals. The projections are generated using G-RDEM, a recursive-dynamic global Computable General Equilibrium model designed to capture long-term structural change on both the supply and demand sides. Implemented via the modelling platform CGEBox, G-RDEM simulates economic and land use dynamics directly at the NUTS2 level, eliminating the need for multi-model coupling and post-model downscaling used in existing SSP-based LULC quantifications. The modelling framework is open-source, reproducible, and transparent, and enables researchers to build upon or extend the projections. By outlining land transitions across socio-economic scenarios, the dataset supports research requiring detailed LULC projections as input, for example in climate impact or biodiversity conservation studies. The projections are particularly valuable for researchers and policymakers working on economically grounded assessments of long-term land system change in Europe. As an independent, scenario-based projection set grounded in a distinct economic approach, the dataset contributes to uncertainty analysis in land use and land cover futures, supports multi-model comparisons and ensemble modelling, and broadens the understanding of regional land use and land cover developments.