EU economic output in 2024 was 5.6% higher in real terms than in 2019, with 197 of 244 regions for which data are available recording growth.
Eurostat compared regional gross domestic product (GDP) — a standard measure of economic activity — between 2019, the last pre-COVID-19 year, and 2024, and found wide variation across NUTS 2 regions, a statistical division used across the EU.
The strongest rise was in Ireland’s Eastern and Midland region, where GDP increased 38.0% over the period and GDP per inhabitant was the highest in the EU in 2024, Eurostat informed on Thursday.
Ireland’s Northern and Western region rose 36.4%, while the Southern region increased 26.0%.
Outside Ireland, the biggest increases were in Bucureşti-Ilfov in Romania (up 33.0%), Malta (up 32.9%) and Mayotte, a French outermost region, (up 32.1%).
Capitals mostly grew, but some regions contracted
Almost all EU capital regions expanded between 2019 and 2024, with Finland’s Helsinki-Uusimaa the only exception as its GDP fell 1.9% in real terms, Eurostat reported.
At the other end of the scale, Bulgaria’s Yugoiztochen region recorded the largest fall, with GDP down 20.5% over the period.
Four other regions saw double-digit declines: Dytiki Makedonia in Greece (down 18.0%), Groningen in the Netherlands (down 14.0%), and Romania’s Sud-Muntenia (down 13.5%) and Sud-Vest Oltenia (down 11.3%).
GDP fell in 46 regions and was unchanged in one — Ciudad de Ceuta in Spain — while the remaining regions recorded growth.
