The share of tradable goods and services explains more than half of the Gross Value Added of three (Chungcheongnam-do, Gyeonsangbuk-do and Jeollanam-do) out of five predominantly rural regions in 2016, in contrast to the remaining two rural regions (Jeju-do and Gangwon-do), which depend more on non-tradable sectors have recorded lower rates of GDP per capita growth over 2000-14,. However, challenges related to the quality of environment are not rural specific per se in Korea as it concerns the country as a whole. The level of air pollution is slightly lower in the selected TL2 region than at the national level.