GDP per inhabitant in purchasing power standards<br>GDP per inhabitant in the Member States ranged from 37% to 267% of the EU27 average in 2007

STAT/08/176
11 December 2008

GDP per inhabitant in purchasing power standards
GDP per inhabitant in the Member States ranged from 37% to 267% of the EU27 average in 2007

In 2007, GDP per inhabitant¹ in Luxembourg², expressed in purchasing power standards³ (PPS), was more than two-and-a-half times the EU27 average, while Ireland and the Netherlands recorded levels about 50% and 30% respectively above average. Austria, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland and Germany were between 15% and 25% above the EU27 average.

France, Spain and Italy registered GDP per inhabitant between 0% and 10% above the EU27 average, while Greece and Cyprus were between 0% and 10% below the average.

Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Malta and Portugal were between 10% and 25% lower than the EU27 average. Estonia, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland were between 30% and 50% lower, while Romania and Bulgaria were about 60% below the EU27 average.

These data for 2007, 2006 and 2005, published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, are based on revised⁴ purchasing power parities, and the latest GDP and population figures. They cover the 27 EU Member States, the three EU Candidate Countries, three EFTA Member States and four Western Balkan countries.

1. GDP provides a measure of the total economic activity in a country. All EU Member States 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 Croatia, Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the four Western Balkan countries have not.
2. The high GDP per inhabitant in Luxembourg is partly due to the country's large share of cross-border workers in total employment. While contributing to GDP, these workers are not taken into consideration as part of the resident population which is used to calculate GDP per inhabitant.
3. The Purchasing Power Standard (PPS) is an artificial 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 indices within a close range should not be over-interpreted.
4. The regular publication schedule of PPPs includes four estimates for a particular year. The first estimate for 2007, based on projections, was published in News Release 89/2008 of 24 June 2008. The present News Release corresponds to the second estimate. Since the previous News Release, several revisions to the underlying data have taken place. Most notably, a new approach to the calculation of PPPs for education services has been implemented for all three years. For these reasons, the figures presented here are not fully comparable with the earlier estimates.
5. The euro area (EA15) consists of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia and Finland.
6. The 2007 index for Montenegro is based on an unofficial, preliminary estimate of GDP.

GDP per inhabitant in PPS, EU27 = 100