Per Capita GDP by EU and US Region, First Quarter 2020

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 2020 in US dollars, the change from the previous quarter, and the per capita GDP one year prior.  All eight regions had negative growth in per capita GDP over the previous quarter.

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 $62,381.54 (down from $62,805.04 last quarter and up from $60,968.44 last year).  The Northeastern US and the Eastern EU had the largest and smallest per capita GDP respectively both last quarter and last year.
• The Northeastern US has 4.96 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 4.90 last quarter and up from 4.85 last year.
• Zero regions (0 EU, 0 US) saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars from the previous quarter while eight (4 EU, 4 US) saw it drop.
• Four regions (0 EU, 4 US) saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars from last year while four (4 EU, 0 US) saw it drop.
• Some EU drops in per capita GDP are attributed to currency rate fluctuations.

Caveats

• GDP data is from the first quarter of 2019, the fourth quarter of 2019, and the first quarter of 2020.
• US census data is from 2010, EU census data is from 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, 1.11 for the fourth quarter of 2019, and 1.10 for the first quarter of 2020 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 Eastern EU consists of Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
• The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
• The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
• The Northern EU consists of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
• The Southern EU consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
• 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 EU consists of Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
• The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.

Details

In absolute terms, the Southern EU had the worst performance over the previous quarter with a drop of $1,700.94.  The Eastern EU had the best performance with a drop of $332.12.  Year over year, the Southern EU had the worst performance with a drop of $2,081.78 while the Western US had the best performance with a gain of $1,873.88.

In relative terms, the Southern EU had the worst performance over the previous quarter with a 5.66% drop in per capita GDP while the Western US had the best performance with a 0.73% drop in per capita GDP.  Year over year, the Southern EU had the worst performance with a 6.84% drop in per capita GDP while the Western US had the best performance with a 2.47% rise in per capita GDP.

The Northern EU has the smallest range in per capita GDP with a low of $49,028.63 in Finland to a high of $61,542.40 in Denmark.  The Western EU has the greatest range with a low of $39,534.62 in France to a high of $136,032.59 in Luxembourg.

No region overcame another region in the quarter or over the past year.  The Northeastern US has a per capita GDP that is higher than all Southern US and Eastern, Northern, and Southern EU states and is bested by nine states in total.  The Eastern EU has a per capita GDP that is lower than all states in all other regions and only bests five states from the Eastern EU.

Sources

Eurostat.  2020.  "GDP and Main Components."  Accessed July 15, 2020.  https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-406779_QID_-65D7EB62_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 on 1 January by Age Groups and Sex - Functional Urban Areas."  Accessed December 11, 2017.  http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=urb_lpop1&lang=en.

Federal Reserve.  2020.  "Foreign Exchange Rates."  Accessed July 16, 2020.  https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g5/.

US Bureau of Economic Analysis.  2020.  "GDP by State."  Accessed July 14, 2020.  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.