Consumption per capita among member states: Highest rate nearly triple lowest

Actual Individual Consumption (AIC)¹ is a measure of material welfare of households. Based on first preliminary estimates for 2013², AIC per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards³ (PPS) varied from 49% to 138% of the EU-28 average across the member states.

Actual individual consumption per capita in PPS in 2013, EU28 = 100

The highest level of Actual Individual Consumption per capita in the EU28 was recorded in Luxembourg with a level of almost 40% above the EU28 average. Germany was 25% above the average and Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, France and the United Kingdom recorded levels between 10% and 20% above the average, while the Netherlands was just below 10% above.

In Ireland, Italy, Cyprus and Spain,the levels were up to 10% below the EU28 average, while Malta and Greece were between 10% and 20% below. Lithuania, Slovenia, Portugal, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic werebetween 20% and 30% below the average, while Latvia, Estonia, Hungary and Croatia were between 30% and 40% below. Romania and Bulgaria were around 50% below the average.

These figures for actual individual consumption per capita, expressed in PPS, are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

GDP per capita varied by one to six across the member states

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, a measure of economic activity, shows substantial differences between the member states. In 2013, GDP per capita expressed in PPS ranged between 47% of the EU average in Bulgaria to 264% in Luxembourg⁴.

Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) and GDP per capita in PPS in 2013, EU28 = 100

1.   Actual Individual Consumption consists of goods and services actually consumed by individuals, irrespective of whether these goods and services are purchased and paid for by households, by government, or by non-profit organisations. In international volume comparisons of consumption, AIC is often seen as the preferable measure, since it is not influenced by the fact that the organisation of certain important services consumed by households, like health and education services, differs a lot across countries. This indicator is listed among the recommendations of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi report.

2. The figures are based on GDP and population data for 2013, extracted on 1 June 2014, and the most recent PPPs available. Revised estimates will be published in December 2014.
3. The Purchasing Power Standard (PPS) is an artificial currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries. Thus one PPS buys the same volume of goods and services in all countries. This unit allows meaningful volume comparisons of economic indicators across countries. Aggregates expressed in PPS are derived by dividing aggregates in current prices and national currency by the respective Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). The level of uncertainty associated with the basic price and national accounts data, and the methods used for compiling PPPs imply that differences between countries that have indices within a close range should not be over-interpreted.

For further information, see the Statistics Explained article on the Eurostat website.

4. The high GDP per capita in Luxembourg is partly due to the country's large share of cross-border workers in total employment. While contributing to GDP, these workers are not taken into consideration as part of the resident population which is used to calculate GDP per capita.
5. The eurozone consists of Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

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