Long-Term Per Capita GDP by EU and US Region, First Quarter 2019

The chart above shows the per capita annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each EU and US region as of the first quarter of 2019 in US dollars, the change from five years ago, and the per capita GDP ten years prior.  US regions have had a very good past five years.

Findings

• The difference between the region with the largest per capita GDP, the Northeastern US, and the region with the smallest, the Eastern EU, is $61,397.69 (up from $49,172.29 five years ago and up from $44,973.26 ten years ago).  The Northeastern US had the largest per capita GDP both five and ten years ago.  The Eastern EU had the smallest per capita GDP both five and ten years ago.
• The Northeastern US has 4.90 times the per capita GDP that the Eastern EU does.  The ratio of largest per capita GDP to smallest per capita GDP went up from 4.45 five years ago and down from 5.17 ten years ago.
• Five regions (one EU, four US) saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars over the past five years while three (all from the EU) saw it drop.
• Seven regions (three EU, four US) saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars over the past ten years while one (from the EU) saw it drop.
• All EU drops in per capita GDP are attributed to currency rate fluctuations.

Caveats

• GDP data is from the first quarters of 2009, 2014, and 2019.
• US census data is from 2000 and 2010; EU census data is from 2001 and 2011.
• The data is seasonally adjusted in current dollars.
• Euros are converted to dollars at an average exchange rate of 1.14 for the first quarter of 2019, 1.37 for the first quarter of 2014, and 1.30 for the first quarter of 2009 according to historic rates listed at the Federal Reserve (see source link below).
• US data comes in an annualized format which the EU does not, thus EU data is annualized by multiplying the quarterly figure by four.
• US growth rates may differ from those provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis as the BEA's growth rates are based on chained dollars in conjunction with the chain index or the quality index for real GDP.  The growth rates listed here are based on nominal GDP.
• All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
• The Western EU consists of Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
• The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
• The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
• The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
• The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
• The Southern EU consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
• The Eastern EU consists of Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
• The Northern EU consists of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.

Details

In absolute terms, the Northern EU saw the largest decrease over the past five years with a drop of $4,062.23.  The Western US had the largest growth with a gain of $17,158.78.  Over the past ten years, the Southern EU had the largest decrease with a drop of $3,169.78 while the Northeastern US had the greatest increase with a gain of $21,397.31.

In relative terms, the Northern EU had the largest decrease over the past five years with a 6.65% drop in per capita GDP while the Western US had the greatest increase with a 29.66% rise in per capita GDP.  Over the past ten years, the Southern EU had the largest decrease with a 9.50% drop in per capita GDP while the Eastern EU had the largest growth with a 46.16% rise in per capita GDP.

There were zero regions with a per capita GDP of over $60,000 ten years ago, two regions (1 EU, 1 US) five years ago, and four regions (all US) now.  On the flip side, there were six regions (4 EU, 2 US) with a per capita GDP of less than $50,000 ten years ago, four regions (3 EU, 1 US) five years ago, and three regions (all EU) now.

The biggest gainers in terms of rank over the past five years were the Western, Midwestern, and Southern US which all moved up one spot while the biggest loser was the Northern EU which fell three spots from the 2nd highest per capita GDP to the 5th.  Over the past ten years, the Midwestern US was the biggest gainer moving up two spots from 5th highest per capita GDP to 3rd while the Northern EU fell two spots from 3rd to 5th.

The Western US's per capita GDP grew by more over the past five years than the per capita GDP of the Eastern EU.  Over the past ten years, the Midwestern, Western, and Northeastern US's per capita GDP each grew by more than the per capita GDP of the Eastern EU.

Sources

Eurostat.  2019.  "GDP and Main Components."  Accessed August 19, 2019.  https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-406779_QID_-64A128D_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;UNIT,L,Z,0;S_ADJ,L,Z,1;NA_ITEM,L,Z,2;INDICATORS,C,Z,3;&zSelection=DS-406779UNIT,CP_MEUR;DS-406779INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;DS-406779S_ADJ,SCA;DS-406779NA_ITEM,B1GQ;&rankName1=UNIT_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=NA-ITEM_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=S-ADJ_1_2_-1_2&rankName5=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName6=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.

Eurostat.  2017.  "Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates at national level."  Accessed December 11, 2017.  http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-054722_QID_690C8C0A_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;INDIC_DE,L,Z,0;INDICATORS,C,Z,1;&zSelection=DS-054722INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;DS-054722INDIC_DE,JAN;&rankName1=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INDIC-DE_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName4=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.

Federal Reserve.  2019.  "Foreign Exchange Rates."  Accessed May 26, 2019.  https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g5/.

US Bureau of Economic Analysis.  2019.  "GDP by State."  Accessed August 18, 2019.  https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state.

United States Census Bureau.  September 2012.  "United States Summary: 2010: Population and Housing Unit Counts."  Accessed January 23, 2018.  https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-1.pdf.