Malta has crept two percentage places closer to the consumption average of the EU over a three-year period, although there was no change between 2015 and 2016.
The consumption per capita, adjusted for the purchasing power of Maltese households, stood at 81% of the EU average in 2016, with Luxembourg as the best spenders at 132% of the average, and Bulgaria languishing at only 53%.
Eurostat reported on Thursday that 10 member states were above the EU average: Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.
In Italy, Ireland and Cyprus, the levels were 10% or less below the EU average, while Spain, Lithuania, Portugal and Malta were between 10% and 20% below.
The Czech Republic, Greece, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland and Estonia were between 20% and 30% below the average. Five Member States recorded AIC per capita more than 30% below the EU average. Latvia, Hungary and Romania were between 30% and 40% below, while Croatia and Bulgaria had AIC per capita more than 40% 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 dtates. However, clear increases have been registered in Romania (61% of the EU average in 2016 compared with 56% in 2014), Lithuania (85% vs. 81%) and Estonia (72% vs. 69%). In contrast, the most noticeable decrease was recorded in Luxembourg (132% in 2016 vs. 138% in 2014), followed by Austria (119% vs. 122%), Belgium (112% vs. 115%) and Greece (77% vs. 80%).
