94/2009 - 25 June 2009
First estimates for 2008
GDP per inhabitant varied by one to six across the EU27 Member States
Based on first preliminary estimates for 20081, Gross Domestic Product2 (GDP) per inhabitant expressed in Purchasing Power Standards3 (PPS) varied from 40% to 253% of the EU27 average across the Member States.
In France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus, GDP per inhabitant was within 10% of the EU27 average. Austria, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany and Belgium were between 10% and 30% above the average, while the highest levels of GDP per inhabitant in the EU27 were recorded in Luxembourg4, Ireland and the Netherlands.
Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia were between 10% and 30% lower than the EU27 average. Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Latvia were between 30% and 50% lower, while Romania and Bulgaria were between 50% and 60% below the EU27 average.
These figures for GDP per inhabitant, expressed in PPS, are published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. They cover the 27 EU Member States, the three candidate countries, three EFTA Member States and four Western Balkan countries.
1 The figures are based on the latest GDP data for 2008 and the most recent PPPs available. Revised estimates will be published in December 2009.
2 GDP provides a measure of the total economic activity in a country. All EU and EFTA Member States included here, as well as Croatia and Turkey, have adapted their national accounts to comply with methodological improvements agreed upon internationally concerning the allocation of "financial intermediation services indirectly measured" (FISIM) to user sectors, while the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the four Western Balkan countries have not.
3 The Purchasing Power Standard (PPS) is an artificial reference currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries. Thus one PPS buys the same volume of goods and services in all countries. This unit allows meaningful volume comparisons of economic indicators across countries. Aggregates expressed in PPS are derived by dividing aggregates in current prices and national currency by the respective Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). The level of uncertainty associated with the basic price and national accounts data, and the methods used for compiling PPPs imply that differences between countries that have indexes within a close range should be interpreted with care.
4 The high level of GDP per inhabitant in Luxembourg is partly due to the large share of cross-border workers in total employment. While contributing to GDP, they are not taken into consideration as part of the resident population which is used to calculate GDP per inhabitant.
5 The figure for Montenegro is based on a preliminary Eurostat estimate of GDP.
Source: EUROSTAT, 25.06.2009
Published on 01.07.2009
