The chart above shows the per capita GDP of EU states. Northern and Western European states all have a per capita GDP of over €30,000 while all Southern and Eastern European states fall below that threshold.
Findings
- Luxembourg and Ireland are the only two states with a per capita GDP of over €50,000.
- They are also the only two states who are not bested in per capita GDP by a state from another region.
- Portugal and Greece are the only two states outside of Eastern Europe who have per capita GDPs lower than states from Eastern Europe.
- Slovenia and the Czech Republic are the only two Eastern European states with per capita GDPs higher than states outside of Eastern Europe.
- Nearly half of EU states (13) have a per capita GDP of less than €20,000.
Caveats
- The data is from 2016.
Details
It really pays off to live in a small state in the EU, so long as it is located in either northern or western Europe.
The disparity between the regions is glaring and shows that the EU is a long way away from becoming a truly unified economic bloc. Actually, if it were a singular state, the uneven economic development would qualify it to be a failed state (in that metric at least).
Sources
Eurostat. 2017. "Gross Domestic Product at Market Prices. Accessed October 26, 2017. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/tgm/refreshTableAction.do?tab=table&plugin=1&pcode=tec00001&language=en.