Consumption per capita varied between 51% and 141% of the EU average

Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) is a measure of material welfare of households. Across the Member States in 2014, AIC per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) varied from 51% of the European Union (EU) average in Bulgaria to 141% in Luxembourg.

Ten Member States recorded AIC per capita above the EU average in 2014. The highest level in the EU was recorded in Luxembourg, 41% above the EU average. Germany and Austria were more than 20% above. They were followed by Denmark, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, France and Sweden which all recorded levels between 10% and 15% above the EU average.

AIC per capita for twelve Member States lay between the EU average and 30% below. In Italy and Ireland, the levels were less than 10% below the EU average, while Cyprus, Spain, Greece, Portugal and Lithuania were between 10% and 20% below. Malta, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Poland were between 20% and 30% below the average.

Six Member States recorded AIC per capita more than 30% below the EU average. Estonia, Latvia, Hungary and Croatia were between 30% and 40% below, while Romania had AIC per capita 43% below the EU average and Bulgaria was around 50% below.

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 the three Baltic Member States – Lithuania (81% of the EU average in 2014 compared with 74% in 2012), Latvia (65% vs. 61%) and Estonia (68% vs. 65%) – as well as in the Czech Republic (76% vs. 72%) and Slovakia (77% vs. 73%), while the most noticeable decreases were recorded in Italy (98% in 2014 vs. 103% in 2012) and Cyprus (90% vs. 95%).

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a measure of economic activity. In 2014, GDP per capita expressed in PPS ranged between 47% of the EU average in Bulgaria and 266% in Luxembourg.