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Economy of the European Union

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Driftwoodzebulin (talk | contribs) at 18:00, 24 September 2014 (clarified wording to indicate that the economy of the EU is being ranked as the economy of a single country in this context). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Infobox Economy of the European Union The economy of the European Union generates a GDP (nominal) of about €14.303 trillion (US$18.451 trillion in 2014) and a GDP (PPP) of about €12.710 trillion (US$16.773 trillion in 2014) according to International Monetary Fund,[1] which makes it the largest and second largest economy in the world respectively if treated as the economy of a single country.

The European Union (EU) economy consists of an internal market and the EU is represented as a unified entity in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Currency

Main articles: Euro and Eurozone

The official currency of the European Union is the euro used in all its documents and policies. The Stability and Growth Pact sets out the fiscal criteria to maintain for stability and (economic) convergence. The euro is also the most widely used currency in the EU, which is in use in 18 member states known as the Eurozone.

All other member states, apart from Denmark and the United Kingdom, which have special opt-outs, have committed to adopting the euro once they have fulfilled the requirements needed to do so. Also, Sweden can effectively opt out by choosing when or whether to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, which is the preliminary step towards joining. The remaining states are committed to join the Euro through their Treaties of Accession.

Budget

Further information: Budget of the European Union

The operation of the EU has an agreed budget of €141 billion for the year 2011, and €862 billion for the period 2007–2013,[2] this represents around 1% of the EU's GDP.

Economic variation

Below is a table showing, respectively, the GDP and the GDP (PPP) per capita for the European Union and for each of its member states, sorted by GDP (PPP). This can be used as a rough gauge to the relative standards of living among member states, with Luxembourg the highest and Bulgaria the lowest. Eurostat, based in Luxembourg, is the Official Statistical Office of the European Communities releasing yearly GDP figures for the member states as well as the EU as a whole, which are regularly updated, supporting this way a measure of wealth and a base for the European Union's budgetary and economic policies. Figures are stated in euro.

Member states GDP 2013
millions of
euro 		Population
in millions[3]
 		GDP (PPP)
per capita 2013
euro 		GDP (Nominal)
per capita 2013
euro 		GDP (PPP)
per capita 2013
EU27 = 100
Eurozone
yes/no
 European Union 13,069,730 505.7 25,700 25,700 100%
 Germany 2,737,600 80.5 32,000 33,300 124% yes
 France 2,059,852 65.6 27,800 31,300 108% yes
 United Kingdom 1,899,098 63.9 27,200 29,600(p) 106% no
 Italy 1,560,024 59.7 25,200 25,600 98% yes
 Spain 1,022,988 46.7 24,500 22,300 95% yes
 Netherlands 602,658 16.8 32,600 35,900 127% yes
 Sweden 420,849 9.6 32,700 43,800 127% no
 Poland 389,695 38.5 17,500 10,100 68% no
 Belgium 382,692 11.2 30,500 34,500 119% yes
 Austria 313,067 8.5 33,200 37,000 129% yes
 Denmark 249,125 5.6 32,100 44,400 125% no
 Finland 193,443 5.4 28,700 35,600 112% yes
 Greece 182,054 11.29 19,500(2012) 17,400(2012) 75% yes
 Portugal 165,690 10.5 19,400 15,800 75% yes
 Ireland 164,050 4.6 32,500 35,600 126% yes
 Czech Republic 149,491 10.5 20,600 14,200 80% no
 Romania 142,245 19.9 13,900 7,100 54% no
 Hungary 97,948 9.9 17,200 9,900 67% no
 Slovakia 72,134 5.4 19,600 13,300 76% yes
 Croatia 43,128 4.3 15,600 10,100 61% no
 Luxembourg 45,478 0.5 67,900 83,400 264% yes
 Bulgaria 39,940 7.3 12,000 5,500 47% no
 Slovenia 35,275 2.1 21,300 17,100 83% yes
 Lithuania 34,631 3.0 19,100 11,700 74% no
 Latvia 23,372 2.0 17,300(b) 11,600(b) 67% yes
 Estonia 18,435 1.3 18,600 13,800 72% yes
 Cyprus 16,504 0.9 22,100 19,000 86% yes
 Malta 7,221 0.4 22,600 17,100 87% yes
EU Candidates GDP 2013
millions of
euro 		Population
in millions
 		GDP (PPP)
per capita 2013
euro 		GDP (Nominal)
per capita 2013
euro 		GDP (PPP)
per capita 2013
perc. of EU27
Eurozone
yes/no
 Iceland 11,000 0.3 30,000 34,000 116% no
 Turkey 616,345 75.6 13,400(2011) 7,500(2011) 55% no
 Macedonia 7,454 (2012) 2.1 9,000(2011) 3,600(2011) 35% no
 Montenegro 3149(2012) 0.6 42% no
 Serbia 31,988 7.2 9,000(2012) 4,100(2012) 36% no
 Albania 8,975[4] 3.2 7,800(e) 2,803 30% no
Current EU applicants GDP 2010
millions of
euro 		Population
in millions
 		GDP (PPP)
per capita 2011
euro 		GDP (Nominal)
per capita 2009
euro 		GDP (PPP)
per capita 2013
perc. of EU27
Eurozone
yes/no
 Bosnia & Herzegovina[5] 3.8 7,300 29% no
EFTA members GDP 2013
millions of
euro 		Population
in millions
 		GDP (PPP)
per capita 2013
euro 		GDP (Nominal)
per capita 2013
euro 		GDP (PPP)
per capita 2013
perc. of EU27
Eurozone
yes/no
 Norway 385,747 5.1 49,200 75,900 191% no
  Switzerland 490,027 8.1 40,700 61,100 158% no

p: provisional value
e: estimated value
Source: GDP Millions of PPS:EUROSTAT,[6] GDP(PPP) per inhabitant: EUROSTAT,[6] GDP per capita in PPS :EUROSTAT,[7] GDP per capita expressed in PPS in percentage of EU (2013): EUROSTAT[8]

Economies of member states

GDP per capita in 2012

Economic performance varies from state to state. The Growth and Stability Pact governs fiscal policy with the European Union. It applies to all member states, with specific rules which apply to the eurozone members that stipulate that each state's deficit must not exceed 3% of GDP and its public debt must not exceed 60% of GDP. However, many larger members have consistently run deficits substantially in excess of 3%, and the eurozone as a whole has a debt percentage exceeding 60% (see below).

The following table shows information relating to the member states of the European Union, ordered according to the 'Size' of their economies. (NB: Were the table ordered according to 'GDP per capita' this would perhaps better reflect the strength of an individual economy. But this is not how such tables are commonly structured.) The colours denote how a member state is performing relative to the rest of the European Union, above average (green) or below average (red). The smallest and greatest values in each column are emphasised.

The data for GDP and GDP per capita (PPP) are based on the World Economic Outlook, October 2013 (International Monetary Fund).[9]

Member State
sorted by GDP 		GDP
in billions
of USD
(2013)[9] 		GDP
% of EU
(2013) 		Annual
change
 % of GDP
(2013) 		GDP
per capita
in PPP US$
(2013) 		Public Debt[10]
% of GDP
(2013) 		Deficit (-)/
Surplus (+)[11]
% of GDP
(2013) 		Inflation
% Annual[12]
(2013) 		Unemp.[13]
%
2014 M2
 European Union[14] 17,371.6 100.0 0.1 32,152 87.1 −3.1 1.5 10.4
 Germany 3,636.0 20.9% 0.4 40,007 78.4 0.0 1.6 5.2
 France 2,737.4 15.8% 0.2 35,784 93.5 −4.3 1.0 10.4
 United Kingdom 2,535.8 14.6% 1.7 37,307 90.6 −5.7 2.6 6.6
 Italy 2,072.0 11.9% −1.9 30,289 132.6 −3.1 1.3 12.6
 Spain 1,358.7 7.8% −1.2 29,851 93.9 −6.6 1.5 25.1
 Netherlands 880.0 5.1% −0.8 41,710 73.5 −2.5 2.6 7.2
 Sweden 558.0 3.2% 1.5 41,188 40.6 −1.1 0.4 7.8
 Poland 516.1 3.0% 1.6 21,214 57.0 −4.3 0.8 9.7
 Belgium 506.6 2.9% 0.2 37,881 101.5 −2.8 1.2 8.5
 Austria 415.4 2.4% 0.8 42,597 74.5 −0.9 2.1 4.9
 Denmark 331.0 1.9% 0.4 37,900 44.5 −0.9 0.5 6.5
 Finland 256.9 1.5% −1.4 35,617 57.0 −2.1 2.2 8.5
 Greece 241.8 1.4% −3.9 24,012 175.1 −2.1 -0.9 26.6
 Portugal 220.0 1.3% −1.4 23,068 129.0 −4.5 0.4 14.6
 Ireland 217.9 1.2% 0.9 39,547 123.7 −6.7 0.5 11.9
 Czech Republic 198.3 1.1% −0.9 27,200 46.0 −1.5 1.4 6.5
 Romania 189.7 1.1% 3.5 13,396 38.4 −2.3 3.2 7.1
 Hungary 132.4 0.8% 1.1 20,065 79.2 −2.2 1.7 7.8
 Slovakia 95.8 0.5% 0.9 24,605 55.4 −2.8 1.5 14.0
 Luxembourg 59.8 0.3% 2.1 78,670 23.1 0.1 1.7 6.1
 Croatia 58.0 0.3% -1.0 18,190 67.1 −4.9 2.3 16.8
 Bulgaria 53.0 0.3% 0.9 14,499 18.9 −1.5 0.4 12.8
 Lithuania 47.6 0.3% 3.3 22,747 39.4 −2.0 1.2 11.2
 Slovenia 46.9 0.3% −1.1 27,890 71.7 −4.3 1.9 9.6
 Latvia 31.0 0.2% 4.1 19,120 38.1 −1.1 0.0 11.5
 Estonia 24.5 0.1% 0.8 23,144 10.0 −0.2 1.2 7.7
 Cyprus 21.8 0.1% −5.4 25,265 111.7 −5.2 0.4 16.4
 Malta 9.5 0.05% 2.6 27,840 73.0 −2.8 1.0 6.8

Economic growth

Population and GDP per capita of EU member states and some candidates

The EU's share of Gross world product (GWP) is stable at around one fifth.[15]

The twelve new member states of the European Union have enjoyed a higher average percentage growth rate than their elder members of the EU. Slovakia has the highest GDP growth in the period 2005–2011 among all countries of the European Union (See Tatra Tiger). Notably the Baltic states have achieved massive GDP growth, with Latvia topping 11%, close to China, the world leader at 9% on average for the past 25 years (though these gains have been in great part cancelled by the late-2000's recession).

Reasons for this massive growth include government commitments to stable monetary policy, export-oriented trade policies, low flat-tax rates and the utilisation of relatively cheap labour. For the last year (2011), Estonia had the highest GDP growth from all the states in EU (7,6%). The current map of EU growth is one of huge regional variation, with the larger economies suffering from stagnant growth and the new nations enjoying sustained, robust economic growth.

Although EU27 GDP is on the increase, the percentage of Gross world product is decreasing due to the emergence of economic powers such as China, India and Brazil. In the medium to long term, the EU will be looking forward to increase GDP growth in Italy and the UK to stabilise growth in European Union states. This is to ensure sustained economic prosperity.

Template:Multicol

EU Member States GDP growth rates[16]
Member State 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2005 – 2013[17]

 Austria 2.4 3.7 3.7 1.4 −3.8 1.8 2.8 0.9 0.3 13.8
 Belgium 1.8 2.7 2.9 1.0 −2.8 2.3 1.8 −0.1 0.2 9.8
 Bulgaria 6.4 6.5 6.4 6.2 −5.5 0.4 1.8 0.6 0.9 23.7
 Croatia 4.2 4.9 5.1 2.1 −6.9 -2.3 -0.2 -2.2 -0.9 3.4
 Cyprus 3.9 4.1 5.1 3.6 −1.9 1.3 0.4 −2.4 −5.4 8.7
 Czech Republic 6.8 7.0 5.7 3.1 −4.5 2.5 1.8 −1.0 -0.9 20.5
 Denmark 2.4 3.4 1.6 −0.8 −5.7 1.6 1.1 −0.4 0.4 3.6
 Estonia 8.9 10.1 7.5 −4.2 −14.1 2.6 9.6 3.9 0.8 25.1
 Finland 2.9 4.4 5.3 0.3 −8.5 3.4 2.8 −1.0 -1.4 8.2
 France 1.9 2.7 2.3 −0.1 −3.1 1.7 2.0 0.0 0.2 7.6
 Germany 0.7 3.7 3.3 1.1 −5.1 4.0 3.3 0.7 0.4 12.1
 Greece 2.3 5.5 3.5 −0.2 −3.1 −4.9 −7.1 −7.0 −3.9 −14.9
 Hungary 4.0 3.9 0.1 0.9 −6.8 1.1 1.6 −1.7 1.1 4.2
 Ireland 6.1 5.5 5.0 −2.2 −6.4 −1.1 2.2 0.2 -0.3 8.5
 Italy 0.9 2.2 1.7 −1.2 −5.5 1.7 0.4 −2.4 -1.9 −4.1
 Latvia 10.1 11.0 10.0 −2.8 −17.7 −1.3 5.3 5.2 4.1 23.9
 Lithuania 7.8 7.8 9.8 2.9 −14.8 1.6 6.0 3.7 3.3 28.9
 Luxembourg 5.3 4.9 6.6 −0.7 −5.6 3.1 1.9 -0.2 2.1 18.3
 Malta 3.6 2.6 4.1 3.9 −2.8 4.2 1.5 0.8 2.6 20.1
 Netherlands 2.0 3.4 3.9 1.8 −3.7 1.5 0.9 −1.2 -0.8 7.8
 Poland 3.6 6.2 6.8 5.1 1.6 3.9 4.5 2.0 1.6 41.2
 Portugal 0.8 1.4 2.4 0.0 −2.9 1.9 −1.3 −3.2 -1.4 −2.3
 Romania 4.2 7.9 6.3 7.3 −6.6 −1.1 2.3 0.6 3.5 26.2
 Spain 3.6 4.1 3.5 0.9 −3.8 −0.2 0.1 −1.6 −1.2 5.1
 Slovakia 6.7 8.3 10.5 5.8 −4.9 4.4 3.0 1.8 0.9 41.9
 Slovenia 4.0 5.8 7.0 3.4 −7.9 1.3 0.7 −2.5 -1.1 10.7
 Sweden 3.2 4.3 3.3 −0.6 −5.0 6.6 2.9 0.9 1.6 17.1
 United Kingdom 3.2 2.8 3.4 −0.8 −5.2 1.7 1.1 0.3 1.7 8.2
 European Union 2.2 3.4 3.2 0.4 −4.5 2.0 1.6 −0.4 0.1 8.1
Eurozone 1.7 3.2 3.0 0.4 −4.4 2.0 1.6 −0.7 -0.4 6.3

Energy resources

Main article: Energy policy of the European Union

The European Union has limited coal, oil, and natural gas reserves. There are six oil producers in the European Union, primarily in North Sea oilfields. The United Kingdom by far is the largest producer, however Denmark, Germany, Italy, Romania and the Netherlands all produce oil. If it is treated as a single unit, which is not conventional in the oil markets, the European Union is the 19th largest producer of oil in the world, producing 1,241,370 (2013) barrels a day.

It is the world's second largest consumer of oil, consuming much more than it can produce, at 12,790,000 (2013) barrels a day. Much of the difference comes from Russia and the Caspian Sea basin. All countries in the EU have committed to the Kyoto Protocol, and the European Union is one of its biggest proponents. The European Commission published proposals for the first comprehensive EU energy policy on 10 January 2007.

see also: Renewable energy in the European Union and Category:Energy in the European Union

Trade

Further information: List of the largest trading partners of the European Union
  EU
  Top 10 trading partners (2010)
  Top 11–20 trading partners (2010)
EU imports, exports and balance of trade in goods from 2007 to 2013 (in billions of euro)
EU current account(quarterly data ) in millions of euro.

The European Union is the largest exporter in the world[18] and as of 2008 the largest importer of goods and services.[19] Internal trade between the member states is aided by the removal of barriers to trade such as tariffs and border controls. In the eurozone, trade is helped by not having any currency differences to deal with amongst most members.[20]

The European Union Association Agreement does something similar for a much larger range of countries, partly as a so-called soft approach ('a carrot instead of a stick') to influence the politics in those countries. The European Union represents all its members at the World Trade Organization (WTO), and acts on behalf of member states in any disputes. When the EU negotiates trade related agreement outside the WTO framework, the subsequent agreement must be approved by each individual EU member.[20]

Main trading partners(2013)[21]
Rank Partners Imports (million euro) % (of total) Exports (million euro) % (of total) Total trade (million euro) % (of total)
- Total EU 1,683,443 100% 1,732,928 100% 3,416,371 100%
1  United States 195,964 11.6% 287,962 16.6% 483,926 14,2%
2  China 297,931 16,6% 148,131 8,5% 428,062 12,5%
3  Russia 206,581 12,3% 119,763 6,9% 326,344 9,6%
4   Switzerland 94,261 5.6% 169,549 9,8% 263,810 7,7%
5  Norway 90,008 5,3% 50,176 2,9% 140,184 4,1%
6  Turkey 50,236 3,0% 77,733 4,5% 127,969 3,7%
7  Japan 56,437 3.4% 54,015 3,1% 110,452 3,2%
8  South Korea 35,848 2,1% 39,959 2,3% 75,807 2,2%
9  Brazil 33,015 2,0% 40,097 2,3% 73,112 2,1%
10  India 36,822 2.2% 35,874 2,1% 72,697 2.1%
11  Saudi Arabia 30,079 1.8% 33,670 1,9% 63,749 1,9%
12  Canada 27,262 1,6% 31,619 1,8% 58,881 1,7%
13  Algeria 31,832 1,9% 22,387 1,3% 54,219 1,6%
14  United Arab Emirates 9,221 0,5% 44,649 2,6% 53,870 1,6%
15  Singapore 17,594 1,0% 28,661 1,7% 46,254 1,6%
16  Hong Kong 10,243 0,6% 35,736 2,1% 45,979 1,3%
17  Mexico 17,528 1,0% 27,420 1,6% 44,949 1,3%
18  Australia 10,169 0,6% 32,082 1,9% 42,251 1,2%
19  Nigeria 28,650 1,7% 11,743 0,7% 40,393 1,2%
20  South Africa 15,537 0,9% 24,486 1,4% 40,023 1,2%
21  Taiwan 22,116 1,3% 16,509 1,0% 38,625 1,1%
22  Ukraine 13,787 0,8% 23,939 1,4% 37,726 1,1%
23  Malaysia 19,348 1.1% 14,309 0,8% 33,657 1,0%
24  Thailand 17,091 1,0% 15,033 0,9% 32,124 0,9%
25  Libya 23,173 1,4% 7,903 0,5% 31,076 0,9%
26  Kazakhstan 23,467 1,4% 7,492 0,4% 30,959 0,9%
27  Israel 12,480 0,7% 16,981 1,0% 29,461 0,9%
28  Morocco 10,010 0,6% 17,306 1,0% 27,316 0,8%
29  Vietnam 21,266 1,3% 5,783 0,3% 27,049 0,8%
30  Indonesia 14,336 0,9% 9,708 0,6% 24,044 0,7%
31  Egypt 7,936 0,5% 14,919 0,9% 22,855 0,7%
32  Tunisia 9,350 0,6% 11,169 0,6% 20,519 0,6%
33  Chile 8,995 0,5% 9,252 0,5% 18,247 0,5%
34  Argentina 8,139 0,5% 10,013 0,6% 18,151 0,5%
35  Azerbaijan 14,195 0,8% 3,739 0,2% 17,934 0,5%
36  Serbia 6,561 0,4% 9,941 0,6% 16,502 0,5%
37  Iraq 10,636 0,6% 5,416 0,3% 16,052 0,5%
38  Angola 9,311 0,6% 6,207 0,4% 15,518 0,5%
39  Qatar 8,971 0,5% 6,157 0,4% 15,128 0,4%
40  Colombia 7,722 0,5% 5,866 0,3% 13,588 0,4%
41  Bangladesh 10,432 0,6% 1,656 0,1% 12,088 0,4%
42  Belarus 3,399 0,2% 8,619 0,5% 12,017 0,4%
43  Kuwait 6,259 0,4% 5,305 0,3% 11,564 0,3%
44  Philippines 5,101 0,3% 5,728 0,3% 10,829 0,4%
45  Gibraltar 551 0,0% 9,512 0,5% 10,063 0,3%
46  Peru 5,322 0,3% 3,485 0,2% 8,807 0,3%
47  Pakistan 4,512 0,3% 3,836 0,2% 8,348 0,2%
48  Bosnia-Herzegovina 3,241 0,2% 4,786 0,3% 8,027 0,2%
49  Venezuela 3,367 0,2% 4,536 0,3% 7,903 0,2%
50  New Zealand 3,064 0,2% 4,099 0,2% 7,163 0,2%
Trade with partner country groupings(2012)[21]
Rank Partner region Imports (million euro) % (of total) Exports (million euro) % (of total) Total trade (million euro) % (of total)
- Total EU 1,791,727 100% 1,686,774 100% 3,478,501 100%
- ACP 99,196 5,5% 86,652 5,1% 185,848 5,3%
- Andean Community 17,728 1,0% 11,738 0,7% 29,467 0,8%
- ASEAN 100,035 5,6% 81,324 4,8% 181,360 5,2%
- BRIC 577,513 32,2% 345,198 20,5% 922,711 26,5%
- CACM 9,546 0,5% 5,354 0,3% 14,900 0,4%
- EU Candidate Countries 55,386 3,1% 89,654 5,3% 145,040 4,2%
- CIS 273,505 15,3% 172,641 10,2% 446,1460 12,8%
- EFTA 208,739 11,7% 186,222 11,0% 394,961 11,4%
- Latin America Countries 109,978 6,1% 110,297 6,5% 220,275 6,3%
- MEDA(Excl. EU and Turkey) 73,341 4,1% 92,812 5,5% 166,153 4,8%
- Mercosur 49,196 2,7% 50,266 3,0% 99,461 2,9%
- NAFTA 255,657 14,3% 351,090 20,8% 606,746 17,4%

Unemployment

Unemployment rate by country in the EU in May 2014.
Unemployment rates in selected European countries and in the EU28 between 01/2004 and 04/2014.

The euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 12.1% in November 2013, stable since April. The EU unemployment rate was 10.9%, stable since May. In both zones, the rates increased compared with November 2012, when they were 11.8% and 10.8% respectively. Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Austria (4.8%), Germany (5.2%) and Luxembourg (6.1%), and the highest in Greece (27.4% in September 2013) and Spain (26.7%).[23]

The following tables show the history of the unemployment rate for all European Union member states and comparisons to the United States and Japan:

Unemployment[24] 2005-03 2006-03 2007-03 2008-03 2009-03 2010-03 2011-03 2012-03 2013-03 2014-03
 Austria 5.0 5.2 4.4 3.7 4.6 4.6 4.2 4.2 4.9 4.9
 Belgium 8.4 8.7 7.8 6.9 7.9 8.3 7.0 7.3 8.3 8.5
 Denmark 5.2 4.2 3.7 3.2 5.3 7.6 7.4 7.7 7.1 6.6
 Finland 8.5 7.9 7.0 6.2 7.6 8.6 7.9 7.5 8.1 8.4
 France 8.7 9.1 8.4 7.1 8.9 9.3 9.1 9.6 10.3 10.4
 Germany 11.4 10.5 9.0 7.8 7.7 7.4 6.2 5.5 5.4 5.2
 Greece 10.1 9.3 8.9 8.2 9.2 11.7 16.1 22.6 27.2 26.8
 Ireland 4.3 4.5 4.7 5.2 11.2 13.3 14.3 15.0 13.7 12.0
 Italy 7.8 7.1 5.9 6.4 7.6 8.4 7.9 10.4 12.0 12.6
 Luxembourg 4.6 4.7 4.3 4.4 5.4 4.6 4.7 5.0 5.7 6.1
 Netherlands 5.5 4.6 3.8 3.0 3.2 4.5 4.2 5.0 6.4 7.2
 Portugal 8.3 8.3 9.1 8.2 10.0 11.7 12.3 14.9 17.3 14.8
 Spain 9.7 8.6 8.0 9.3 17.2 19.4 20.6 23.9 26.3 25.2
 Sweden 7.3 7.4 6.5 5.8 7.8 8.8 7.9 7.5 8.3 8.0
 United Kingdom 4.6 5.3 5.5 5.2 7.3 7.9 7.7 8.1 7.7 6.6
 Bulgaria 10.6 9.1 7.3 5.9 6.0 9.8 11.1 12.0 12.9 13.0
 Cyprus 5.4 5.0 3.9 3.9 4.6 6.8 7.0 10.7 14.7 16.9
 Czech Republic 8.0 7.7 5.7 4.3 5.9 7.8 6.9 7.0 7.3 6.6
 Estonia 8.6 6.3 5.1 4.3 11.4 18.5 13.1 10.6 8.8 7.7
 Hungary 6.9 7.3 7.3 7.5 9.5 11.4 11.0 11.2 10.6 7.8
 Latvia 11.1 8.1 6.5 6.2 13.7 20.8 17.2 15.7 12.7 11.5
 Lithuania 9.7 6.2 4.1 4.1 11.6 17.7 16.5 13.8 12.4 11.9
 Malta 7.2 7.1 6.9 5.9 6.5 7.0 6.4 6.4 6.2 6.9
 Poland 18.4 15.3 10.3 7.2 7.6 9.9 9.5 9.9 10.6 9.8
 Romania 7.8 7.1 6.6 5.8 6.5 7.6 7.1 7.2 7.2 7.2
 Slovakia 17.0 14.3 11.2 10.1 10.7 14.9 13.6 13.8 14.2 14.0
 Slovenia 6.4 6.2 5.1 4.6 5.3 7.0 8.0 7.9 10.7 9.6
 European Union 9.2 8.5 7.4 6.7 8.6 9.7 9.4 10.2 10.9 10.5

Industries

The services sector is by far the most important sector in the European Union, making up 69.4% of GDP, compared to the manufacturing industry with 28.4% of GDP and agriculture with only 2.3% of GDP.

Agriculture

The agricultural sector is supported by subsidies from the European Union in the form of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In 2013 this represented approximately €45billion (less than 33% of the overall budget of €148billion) of the EU's total spending.[25] It was used originally to guarantee a minimum price for farmers in the EU. This is criticised as a form of protectionism, inhibiting trade, and damaging developing countries; one of the most vocal opponents is the UK, the third largest economy within the bloc, which has repeatedly refused to give up the annual UK rebate unless the CAP undergoes significant reform; France, the biggest beneficiary of the CAP and the bloc's second largest economy, is its most vocal proponent. The CAP is however witnessing substantial reform. In 1985, around 70% of the EU budget was spent on agriculture. In 2011, direct aid to farmers and market-related expenditure amount to just 30% of the budget, and rural development spending to 11%. By 2011, 90% of direct support had become non-trade-distorting (not linked to production) as reforms have continued to be made to the CAP, its funding and its design.[26]

Tourism

The European Union is a major tourist destination, attracting visitors from outside of the Union and citizens travelling inside it. Internal tourism is made more convenient by the Schengen treaty and the euro. All citizens of the European Union are entitled to travel to any member state without the need of a visa.

France is the world's number one tourist destination for international visitors, followed by Spain, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. It is worth noting however a significant proportion of international visitors to EU countries are from other member states.

London, the capital of the United Kingdom is also the world's most visited city and the highest in tourism receipts, before Paris.[27]

Companies

The European Union's member states are the birthplace of many of the world's largest leading multinational companies, and home to its global headquarters. Among these are distinguished companies ranked first in the world within their industry/sector, like Allianz, which is the largest financial service provider in the world by revenue; WPP plc which is the world's largest advertising agency by revenue; Airbus, which is the world's largest aircraft manufacturer;[28] Air France-KLM, which is the largest airline company in the world in terms of total operating revenues; Amorim, which is the world's largest cork-processing and cork producer company; ArcelorMittal, which is the largest steel company in the world; Inditex which is the biggest fashion group in the world; Groupe Danone, which has the world leadership in the dairy products market.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is the largest beer company in the world; L'Oréal Group, which is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company; LVMH, which is the world's largest luxury goods conglomerate; Nokia Corporation, which is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile telephones; Royal Dutch Shell, which is one of the largest energy corporations in the world; and Stora Enso, which is the world's largest pulp and paper manufacturer in terms of production capacity, in terms of banking and finance the EU has some of the worlds largest notably HSBC and Grupo Santander, the largest bank in Europe in terms of Market Capitalisation.

Many other European companies rank among the world's largest companies in terms of turnover, profit, market share, number of employees or other major indicators. A considerable number of EU-based companies are ranked among the worlds' top-ten within their sector of activity. Europe is also home to many prestigious car companies such as Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar Land Rover, Volkswagen, BMW group as well as volume manufacturers such as Fiat, PSA group and Renault.

Regional variation

Comparing the richest areas of the EU can be a difficult task. This is because the NUTS 1 & 2 regions are not homogenous, some of them being very large regions, such as NUTS-1 Hesse (21,100 km²) or NUTS-1 Île-de-France (12,011 km²), whilst other NUTS regions are much smaller, for example NUTS-1 Hamburg (755 km²) or NUTS-1 Greater London (1,580 km²). An extreme example is Finland, which is divided for historical reasons into mainland Finland with 5.3 million inhabitants and Åland, an autonomous archipelago with a population of 27,000, or about the population of a small Finnish city.

One problem with this data is that some areas, including Greater London, are subject to a large number of commuters coming into the area, thereby artificially inflating the figures. It has the effect of raising GDP but not altering the number of people living in the area, inflating the GDP per capita figure. Similar problems can be produced by a large number of tourists visiting the area. The data is used to define regions that are supported with financial aid in programs such as the European Regional Development Fund. The decision to delineate a Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) region is to a large extent arbitrary (i.e. not based on objective and uniform criteria across Europe), and is decided at European level (See also: Regions of the European Union).

Top 10: economically strongest NUTS-1 and NUTS-2 regions

See also: List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita, List of metropolitan areas in the European Union by GDP, and First-level NUTS of the European Union

The 10 NUTS-1 and NUTS-2 regions with the highest GDP per capita are almost all, except two, in the first fifteen member states: Prague and Bratislava are the only ones in the 12 new member states that joined in May 2004 and January 2007.[29] The leading regions in the ranking of NUTS-2 regional GDP per inhabitant in 2011 were Inner London in the United Kingdom (321% of the average), the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (266%) and Bruxelles/Brussels in Belgium (222%). Figures for these three regions, however, are artificially inflated by the commuters who do not reside in these regions ("Net commuter inflows in these regions push up production to a level that could not be achieved by the resident active population on its own. The result is that GDP per inhabitant appears to be overestimated in these regions and underestimated in regions with commuter outflows."[29]).

Another example of artificial inflation is Groningen. The calculated GDP per capita is very high due to the large natural gas reserves in this region. However, Groningen is in fact one of the poorest parts in the Netherlands. Among the 41 NUTS-2 regions exceeding the 125% level, eleven were in Germany, five in the Netherlands and in Austria, three each in Belgium, Italy and United Kingdom, two each in Spain and Finland and one in Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, France, Slovakia and Sweden, as well as in the single region Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The NUTS Regulation lays down a minimum population size of 3 million and a maximum size of 7 million for the average NUTS-1 region, whereas a minimum of 800,000 and a maximum of 3 million for NUTS-2 regions ¹ [1]. This definition, however, is not respected by Eurostat. E.g.: the région of Île-de-France, with 11.6 million inhabitants, is treated as a NUTS-2 region, while the state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, with only 664,000 inhabitants, is treated as a NUTS-1 region.

Source: Eurostat[29]

Economically weakest NUTS-2 regions

The eight lowest regions in the ranking in 2011 were all in Bulgaria and Romania, with the lowest figures recorded in Severozapaden in Bulgaria and Nord-Est in Romania (both 29% of the average), followed by Severen tsentralen in Bulgaria (31%) and Yuzhen tsentralen in Bulgaria (32%). Among the 75 regions below the 75% level, fifteen were in Poland, nine in Greece, seven each in the Czech Republic and Romania, six in Hungary, five each in Italy and Portugal, four each in Portugal and the United Kingdom, three in Slovakia, two each in Spain, France and Croatia, one in Slovenia as well as the member states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.[29]

Source: Eurostat[29]

Richest and poorest NUTS regions (GDP PPP 2011)

Source: Eurostat[29]

See also

Template:Wikipedia books

References

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  2. ^ "EU budget at a glance". Europa, EU information website. Retrieved 6 November 2007.
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  5. ^ BiH Application
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  10. ^ "General government gross debt - annual data". Eurostat. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
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  14. ^ "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". Imf.org. 14 September 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  15. ^ "2020_REPORT" (PDF). Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  16. ^ "Eurostat – Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table". Epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu. 11 March 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
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  18. ^ "Central Intelligence Agency". Cia.gov. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  19. ^ "World trade report 2009" (PDF). WTO information website.
  20. ^ a b Se-jeong, Kim (19 July 2009). "EU-Korea FTA Will Be a Long Process: Greek Ambassador". The Korea Times. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
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  27. ^ http://newsroom.mastercard.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MasterCard_Global_Destination_Cities_Index_2012.pdf
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  29. ^ a b c d e f Eurostat (27 February 2014). "GDP per capita in the EU in 2011: seven capital regions among the ten most prosperous" (PDF). Europa web portal. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
  • ^ Cells shaded in green indicate forecast figure
  • ^ One region may be classified by Eurostat as a NUTS-1, NUTS-2 as well as a NUTS-3 region. Several NUTS-1 regions are also classified as NUTS-2 regions such as Brussels-Capital or Ile-de-France. Many countries are only classified as a single NUTS-1 and a single NUTS-2 region such as Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg and (although over 3 million inhabitants) Denmark.
  • "Euro-indicators News release" (PDF). June 2005 inflation data. Retrieved 18 July 2005.
  • "Euro-indicators News release" (PDF). May 2005 unemployment data. Retrieved 18 July 2005.
  • "World Bank". GNI data (July 2005). Retrieved 4 August 2005.

The following links are used for the GDP growth and GDP totals (IMF):

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