Consumption per capita fell slightly in 2014 when compared to the EU average while prices of goods and services increased, a new Eurostat publication issued yesterday shows.
While Malta’s economy is posting higher growth rates than the rest of the EU, this is not being reflected in consumption trends.
According to Eurostat, Malta’s consumption levels were 21 per cent below the EU average during the past two years (2013 and 2014), one per cent lower than in 2012 when the economy was growing at a slower rate.
According to the Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) mechanism – a measurement to calculate the material welfare of households – Malta stood at 79 per cent of the EU average in 2013 and 2014 compared to 80 per cent in 2012.
On the other hand, price levels increased during the same period.
According to Eurostat, Malta’s price levels stood at 81 per cent of the EU average in 2013 and 2014, three per cent higher than the level of Maltese prices in 2012.
Describing the AIC as a better measurement than GDP to calculate the material welfare of households, the EU’s statistics arm said that Luxembourg had the highest level of wealth per capita in the EU, 41 per cent above the EU average.
Luxembourg is described as belonging to “a division of its own”, followed by Germany (23 per cent above EU average) and Austria (22 per cent).
Malta falls within a group of countries whose consumption levels are between 20 and 30 per cent below EU levels.
Apart from Malta, this category includes a group of Eastern European countries, namely Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland.
Only six EU member states were in a worse situation than Malta when it comes to consumption last year.
These were Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. When it comes to GDP per capita, Eurostat again placed Luxembourg as the country with by far the highest GDP per capita among the member states.
Ireland comes out second among the EU members, at 34 per cent above the EU average followed by the Netherlands and Austria at around 30 per cent above the EU average.
In 2014, Malta’s GDP per capita stood at 84 per cent of the EU average, one per cent lower than in 2013.