Despite recent positive economic indicators, Croatia is still falling behind.
In 2015, Croatia has slipped behind Romania by per capita consumption, showed the latest data announced by Eurostat, which confirmed significant differences in consumption between the countries of the European Union, reports Večernji List on December 14, 2016.
In Croatia, personal consumption, expressed in purchasing power parity, was 42 percent lower than the EU average, confirmed the EU’s statistical office. In a report published on Tuesday, the office slightly lowered its estimate of consumption per capita in Croatia, and according to the latest calculations it was 41 percent below the European average. According to the initial estimate, it was 40 percent below this value.
In the new Eurostat report, Croatia slipped behind Romania, due to the increased estimate of consumption of Romanian citizens in 2015, to 41 percent below the EU average. In June, Romania’s consumption according to Eurostat estimates was 42 percent below the European average.
Among EU countries in 2015, lower level of consumption per capita than Croatia was recorded only in Bulgaria, with 47 percent below the European average.
Luxembourg has maintained its leading position in the ranking of EU countries, with individual consumption per capita 37 percent above the EU average, which Eurostat also confirmed in its June estimate. In the second place is Germany with consumption per capita of 23 percent above average. In Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Sweden, per capita consumption in 2015 was between 10 to 20 percent above the EU average.
The closest to the average in 2015 were Italy, Ireland and Cyprus. Spain, Lithuania, Portugal and Malta are in a group of countries in which the consumption per capita last year was 10 to 20 percent below average. They are followed by the Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland and Estonia with consumption 20 to 30 percent below the EU average. Consumption between 30 to 40 percent below the average was last year recorded in Latvia and Hungary, while Romania, Croatia and Bulgaria were at the back with consumption 40 percent below the EU average.
Eurostat notes that in most EU countries there were no significant changes in consumption per capita in the period from 2013 to 2015. The major exception is Romania as a country with the largest increase in consumption per capita, which in 2013 was 46 percent below the average and in 2015 was just 41 percent below the EU average. Noticeable increase in consumption was recorded also in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Estonia.
The largest drop in consumption per capita was recorded in Luxembourg, where in 2013 it was 45 percent above the average, while in 2015 it was 37 percent above this value. Noticeable reduction in consumption per capita was also seen in the Netherlands, Austria and Greece.
Major differences between EU countries were also confirmed by GDP per capita in purchasing power parity, which was six times higher in Luxembourg than in Bulgaria. Croatia last year recorded GDP per capita of 42 percent below the EU average. In 2014, Croatian GDP per capita was 41 percent below the EU average.
