(26 February 2019) – Three quarters of the EU population live in regions where regional GDP per capita is above 75% of the EU average, and 253 of the EU regions (90%) saw their employment grow in 2017.
In 2017, regional GDP per capita, expressed in terms of purchasing power standards, ranged from 31% of the European Union average in the Bulgarian region of North-West, to 626% of the average in Inner London – West in the United Kingdom.
There were 21 regions (population: 52.3 million) with GDP per capita 50% or more above the EU average in 2017: five were in Germany, two each in Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and one each in Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Slovakia, Poland and Sweden as well as Luxembourg.
The highest employment growth rates were recorded in Mayotte in France (+7.7%), Malta, Algarve in Portugal and Central Bohemia in Czechia (all +5.3%), followed by Herefordshire, Worcestershire & Warwickshire in the United Kingdom (+4.7%), South-Central in Bulgaria and Lisbon Metropolitan Area in Portugal (both +4.1%).
At the opposite end of the scale, the biggest decreases in employment were registered in Basilicata in Italy (-2.7%), Cumbria in the United Kingdom (-2.4%), Central and Western Region in Lithuania (-2.1%), South Yorkshire in the United Kingdom (-2.0%) and Liguria in Italy (-1.9%).