According to a press release by Eurostat, consumption per capita in EU member states varied between 53 percent and 132 percent of the EU average in 2016.
Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) is a measure of the material welfare of households. AIC per capita is expressed in Purchasing Power Standards, based on revised purchasing power parities, and the latest GDP and population figures.
Eighteen member states had an AIC per capita that was below the EU average in 2016, while ten states were above the EU average in purchasing power. The highest level was recorded in Luxembourg (32 percent above EU average), followed by Germany, Austria, the UK, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden, which all recorded levels between 10 and 20 percent above the EU average of AIC.
The lowest levels of AIC per capita, more than 30 percent below the EU average, were recorded in Croatia, Bulgaria (both more than 40 percent below average), and Latvia, Hungary and Romania (between 30 and 40 percent below).
According to Eurostat, over the last three years, AIC per capita relative to the EU average remained relatively stable in the majority of member states.
However, clear increases in AIC were seen in Romania (61 percent of the EU average in 2016 compared to 56 percent in 2014), Lithuania and Estonia.
The most noticeable decreases in consumption per capita were in Luxembourg, Austria, Belgium and Greece.