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The highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in the EU is six times the lowest, according to figures released last week by Eurostat.

GDP per capita ranged from 45 per cent to 263 per cent of the EU average GDP per capita.

In 2014, GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS) ranged between 45 per cent of the EU average in Bulgaria to 263 per cent in Luxembourg. Eleven member states recorded a level of GDP per capita above the EU average in 2014. Malta’s stood at 85 per cent.

Eurostat also look at Actual Individual Consumption (AIC), a measure of material welfare of households. Based on first preliminary estimates for 2014, AIC per capita expressed in PPS varied from 49 per cent to 140 per cent of the EU average across the member states.

Ten member states recorded AIC per capita above the EU average in 2014. The highest level in the EU was recorded in Luxembourg, 40 per cent above the EU average. Germany and Austria were more than 20 per cent above. They were followed by Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Finland, France and the Netherlands, which all recorded levels between 10 per cent and 15 per cent above the EU average.

AIC per capita for 12 member states lay between the EU average and 30 per cent below. In Italy, Ireland, Cyprus and Spain, the levels were 10 per cent or less below the EU average, while Greece, Portugal and Lithuania were between 10 per cent and 20 per cent below. Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia were between 20 per cent and 30 per cent below the average.

Six member states recorded AIC per capita more than 30 per cent below the EU average: Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.