Compared to 2019, there are 5% less due to COVID-19, according to the „GfK Purchasing Power Europe 2020“
Europeans have just under €9.5 trillion at their disposal in 2020. This corresponds to an average per capita purchasing power of €13,894. However, disposable net income among the 42 studied countries varies significantly. These are some of the results of the newly released study “GfK Purchasing Power Europe 2020”. The per capita purchasing power shows a nominal decline of almost 5.3 percent in 2020 compared to last year’s revised value, which can be attributed mainly to the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting economic impact.
Purchasing power is the amount available to citizens for food, living, services, energy, private pensions, insurance, vacation, mobility and consumer purchases.
Liechtenstein once again takes first place among the 42 European countries with a per capita purchasing power of €64,240. This far exceeds the values of the other countries and is more than 4.6 times the European average. Completing the top three of the purchasing power rankings are Switzerland and Luxembourg, as was the case last year. The Swiss have €41,998 per capita available for spending – more than three times the European average – while Luxembourgers have a per capita purchasing power of €34,119. This is more than 2.5 times the European average.
All other countries in the top ten also have significantly above-average per capita purchasing power – at least 50 percent higher than the European average. Ireland makes it into the top ten this year with a per capita purchasing power of €21,030, putting it in ninth place and ousting Finland from the top ten.
Sixteen of the countries considered by the study have above-average per capita purchasing power, while twenty-six fall below the European average. Ukraine takes last place with a per capita purchasing power of €1,703.
The study “GfK Purchasing Power Europe 2020” is available for 42 European countries at detailed regional levels such as municipalities and postcodes, along with seamlessly fitting data on inhabitants and households as well as digital maps.
(03.11.2020, USA: 11.03.2020)
