The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire (except North and North East Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. The region has an area of 15,627 km2 (6,034 sq mi), with a population over 4.5 million in 2011.

The most populous settlements in the region are Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Mansfield, Northampton and Nottingham. Other notable settlements include Boston, Buxton, Chesterfield, Corby, Gainsborough, Glossop, Grantham, Hinckley, Kettering, Loughborough, Louth, Market Harborough, Matlock, Newark-on-Trent, Oakham, Skegness, Wellingborough and Worksop.

Relative proximity to both London and the Northern Powerhouse cities, as well as its position on the national motorway and trunk road networks, help the East Midlands to thrive as an economic hub.[

With a sufficiency-level world cranking, Nottingham is the only settlement in the region to be classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. The region is primarily served by East Midlands Airport, which lies between Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.