The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each EU region as of the fourth quarter of 2020 in millions of euros, the change from five years ago, and the GDP ten years prior. Every single region's economy grew both over the past five and ten years.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the largest GDP, the Western EU, and the region with the smallest, the Northern EU, is €9,229,804.80 million (up from €8,785,981.20 million last quarter and up from €7,208,106.80 million last year). The Western and Northern EU had the largest and smallest GDP respectively both five and ten years ago.
- The Western EU has 9.81 times the GDP that the Northern EU does. The ratio of largest GDP to smallest GDP was down from 10.21 five years ago and up from 9.59 ten years ago.
- Of the four regions, four regions had the GDP rise in current euros over the past five years while zero had a decline.
- Of the four regions, four regions had the GDP rise in current euros over the past ten years while zero had a decline.
Caveats
- Data is from the fourth quarters of 2020, 2015, and 2010.
- The data is seasonally adjusted in current euros.
- The data is annualized by multiplying the quarterly figure by four.
- 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 Northern EU consists of Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
- The Southern EU consists of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta.
- The Western EU consists of Germany, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, and Luxembourg.
Details
In absolute terms, the Northern EU had the worst performance over the past five years with a gain of €93,046.00 million. The Western EU had the best performance with a gain of €536,869.60 million. Over the past ten years, the Southern EU had the worst performance with a gain of €133,848.80 million while the Western EU had the best performance with a gain of €2,229,775.60 million.
In relative terms, the Southern EU had the worst performance over the past five years with a 3.76% rise in GDP while the Eastern EU had the best performance with a 25.45% rise in GDP. Over the past ten years, the Southern EU had the worst performance with a 4.27% rise in GDP while the Eastern EU had the best performance with a 45.88% rise in GDP.
There were zero regions with a GDP of over €10,000,000 million ten years ago, zero regions five years ago, and one region now. On the flip side, there was one region with a GDP of less than €1,000,000 million ten years ago, one region five years ago, and zero regions now.
The Northern EU has a smaller GDP than the GDP of the Eastern EU five years ago. The Northern and Eastern EU have a smaller GDP today than the Southern EU did five and ten years ago. The Northern, Eastern, and Southern EU have a smaller GDP today than the Western EU did five and ten years ago.
Sources
Federal Reserve. 2021. "Foreign Exchange Rates." Accessed March 31, 2021. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g5/.
Office for National Statistics. 2021. "Gross Domestic Product at market prices: Current price: Seasonally adjusted £m - Office for National Statistics." Accessed March 31, 2021. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/timeseries/ybha/ukea.