GfK Purchasing Power Europe for 2014/15
Purchasing power in Europe climbed by around two percent this year. The amount of disposable income available to Europe's inhabitants depends largely on their country of residence. There are especially notable differences between northern and western European countries as well as between central, southern and eastern European countries. But purchasing power also varies significantly within individual countries. These are some of the results of GfK's current study "GfK Purchasing Power Europe 2014/2015".
According to the GfK study, a total of approximately €8.83 trillion is available to European consumers in 2014 for spending and saving. This corresponds to an average per-capita purchasing power of €13,112 for the 42 countries under review. Europeans consequently have around two percent more disposable income than they did in the previous year. This equates to a slight rise for consumers in most countries. According to the European Central Bank, the inflation rate for 2014 will be one percent for the 28 European Union member countries.
There are considerable differences among the European countries in terms of the amount available to private consumers for consumption-related purchases. While Norway has a disposable per-capita income of €30,560, Bulgaria has a mere €3,097, which is around only one-tenth of the Norwegian figure.
Top 10 countries based on per-capita purchasing power
source: © GfK Purchasing Power 2014 / 2015
* index per inhab.: European average = 100
Purchasing power in Europe climbed by around two percent this year. The amount of disposable income available to Europe's inhabitants depends largely on their country of residence. There are especially notable differences between northern and western European countries as well as between central, southern and eastern European countries. But purchasing power also varies significantly within individual countries. These are some of the results of GfK's current study "GfK Purchasing Power Europe 2014/2015".
According to the GfK study, a total of approximately €8.83 trillion is available to European consumers in 2014 for spending and saving. This corresponds to an average per-capita purchasing power of €13,112 for the 42 countries under review. Europeans consequently have around two percent more disposable income than they did in the previous year. This equates to a slight rise for consumers in most countries. According to the European Central Bank, the inflation rate for 2014 will be one percent for the 28 European Union member countries.
There are considerable differences among the European countries in terms of the amount available to private consumers for consumption-related purchases. While Norway has a disposable per-capita income of €30,560, Bulgaria has a mere €3,097, which is around only one-tenth of the Norwegian figure.
Top 10 countries based on per-capita purchasing power
| rank | country | 2014 per-capita purchasing power € | European index* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liechtenstein | 54,840 | 418.3 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 37,153 | 283.4 |
| 3 | Norway | 30,560 | 233.1 |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 28,851 | 220.0 |
| 5 | Denmark | 22,044 | 168.1 |
| 6 | Austria | 21,891 | 167.0 |
| 7 | Germany | 21,579 | 164.6 |
| 8 | Sweden | 21,320 | 162.6 |
| 9 | France | 19,643 | 149.8 |
| 10 | Finland | 19,379 | 147.8 |
| | Europe | 13,112 | 100 |
source: © GfK Purchasing Power 2014 / 2015
* index per inhab.: European average = 100