Per capita consumption in Belgium was 14% above the European average in 2014, reveal figures published by Eurostat, the European Office of Statistics, on Friday. These figures refer to actual individual consumption which is an indicator of household well-being.
A total of ten member states reached per capita consumption above the EU average in 2014, the highest being Luxemburg with 41% more than the European average, followed by Germany and Austria (20% above average), then Denmark (15%), the UK (15%), Belgium (14%), Finland (14%), the Netherlands (13%), France (12%) and Sweden (11%).
At the same time, consumption was 10% - or less - below the EU average in Italy and in Ireland, whereas Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Portugal and Lithuania reached levels of between 10% and 20% below average. Malta, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland consumed between 20 and 30% less than the average. Lastly, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary and Croatia were between 30 and 40% below average, and Romania (43%) and Bulgaria (50%) were at the bottom of the rankings.
Per capita consumption relative to the EU average stayed relatively stable in most member states in the past three years. However, hikes were noted in the three Baltic member states – Lithuania (81% of EU average in 2014, against 74% in 2012), Latvia (65% vs. 61%) and Estonia (68% vs. 65%), as well as in the Czech Republic (76% vs. 72%) and Slovakia (77% vs. 73%). The greatest declines were registered in Italy (98% in 2014, against 103% in 2012) and Cyprus (90% vs. 95%).
Finally, per capita GDP expressed in PPS (Purchasing Power Standard) terms varied from 47% of EU average in Bulgaria to 266% in Luxemburg in 2014. In Belgium, it reached 119% last year.
The Brussels Times
