Cyprus Mail 14 December 2019 - Cyprus News Agency
The material wealth of households in Cyprus was around the EU average in 2018, according to new figures.
The Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) ranged from 56 per cent of the European Union (EU) average in Bulgaria to 134 per cent in Luxembourg. In Cyprus this rate was 94 per cent.
Ten Member States recorded AIC per capita above the EU average in 2018. The highest level in the EU was recorded in Luxembourg, 34 per cent above the EU average, ahead of Germany (20 per cent above). They were followed by Austria, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden and France with levels of seven to 17 per cent above the EU average.
AIC per capita for 14 Member States lay between the EU average and 30 per cent below. In Italy, Ireland, Cyprus and Spain the levels were 10 per cent or less below the EU average, while Lithuania, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Malta were between 10 and 20 per cent below. Slovenia, Greece, Poland, Estonia, Slovakia and Romania were between 20 and 30 per cent below the average.
Four Member States recorded AIC per capita more than 30 per cent below the EU average. Latvia, Croatia and Hungary were between 30 and 40 per cent below, while Bulgaria had AIC per capita more than 40 per cent below the EU average.
Over the last three years, AIC per capita relative to the EU average remained relatively stable in a majority of Member States. However, clear increases have been registered in Romania (71 per cent in 2018 compared to 65 per cent in 2016), Slovakia (73 per cent vs. 68 per cent) and Lithuania (89 per cent vs. 85 per cent).
In 2018, GDP per capita expressed in PPS ranged between 51 per cent of the EU average in Bulgaria and 261 per cent in Luxembourg. In Cyprus GDP per capita was 89 per cent.
