GDP per capita in the EU: Luxembourg and Ireland are far ahead of the curve
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On 27 March 2025, Eurostat published preliminary estimates of purchasing power parities (PPPs) and GDP per capita for 2024. These data allow a fair comparison of economic well-being across the EU, removing the impact of exchange rate fluctuations and price differences.
Luxembourg was again at the top of the ranking, with a GDP per capita of 241% of the EU average. Such an abnormally high figure is explained by the fact that the calculation takes into account the contribution of "frontier" workers, who come from neighbouring countries and form a significant part of the economy, but are not part of the permanent population. This distorts the real income level of residents, inflating the figure.
Ireland comes next, with 111 per cent above average. In its case, the distortion is due to multinational corporations, especially in intellectual property and contract manufacturing. The revenues from these operations are included in the GDP calculation, but much of the profits go abroad to the owners of the companies.
Other countries with GDP per capita above the EU average include the Netherlands (+35%), Denmark (+28%) and Belgium (+17%).
At the other end of the spectrum is Bulgaria, at 66% of the EU average, i.e. almost four times lower than Luxembourg. Greece (-30%) and Latvia (-29%) also remain well below the median line, reflecting continuing structural difficulties and the living standards gap.
The use of purchasing power parity allows GDP to be analysed not in euros, but in a notional currency - the purchasing power standard (PPS), which makes the comparison more realistic. For example, the same amount of euros buys different amounts of goods and services in Luxembourg and Bulgaria - the PPP levelling out this difference.
