Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) is a measure of material welfare of households.
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Across the Member States in 2019, AIC per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) varied from 58% of the European Union (EU) average in Bulgaria to 135% in Luxembourg.
These data, published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, are based on revised purchasing power parities, and the latest GDP and population figures. Eighteen Member States below the EU average Nine Member States recorded AIC per capita above the EU average in 2019.
Eighteen Member States below the EU average
Nine Member States recorded AIC per capita above the EU average in 2019. The highest level in the EU was recorded in Luxembourg, 35% above the EU average, ahead of Germany (22% above). They were followed by Austria, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, France and Sweden with levels of 9 to 18% above the EU average.
AIC per capita for thirteen Member States lay between the EU average and 25% below. In Italy, Ireland, Cyprus, Lithuania and Spain the levels were 10% or less below the EU average, while Portugal, Czechia, Malta and Slovenia were between 10% and 20% below. Poland, Romania, Greece and Estonia were between 20% and 25% below the average.
Five Member States recorded AIC per capita more than 25% below the EU average.
Latvia, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia between 25% and 35% below, while Bulgaria had AIC per capita 42% below the EU average.
Over the last three years, AIC per capita relative to the EU average remained relatively stable in a majority of Member States. However, a clear increase was registered in Romania (79% of the EU average in 2019 compared with 70% in 2017), followed by Lithuania (92% vs. 89%), Portugal (86% vs. 83%), Malta (85% vs. 82%), Slovenia (83% vs 80%) and Bulgaria (58% vs. 55%).
In contrast, the most noticeable decrease was recorded in Sweden (109% in 2019 vs. 113% in 2017), ahead of Germany (122% vs. 124%), Austria (118% vs. 120%) and Spain (91% vs. 93%).
GDP per capita ranged from 53% of EU average in Bulgaria to 260% in Luxembourg
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, a measure of economic activity, also shows substantial differences between the EU Member States. In 2019, GDP per capita expressed in PPS ranged between 53% of the EU average in Bulgaria and 260% in Luxembourg. Ten Member States recorded a level of GDP per capita above the EU average in 2019.
European Union (EU27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
Euro area: Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. ■