Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) consists of goods and services that are consumed by the individual irrespective of whether these goods and services are purchased and paid for by households, by the government or by non-profit organisations. In international comparisons AIC is often seen as the preferable indicator for households’ actual standard of living.

The dispersion in AIC per capita between the 28 EU countries and Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, ranges from 32 percent above to 46 percent below the EU 28 average. Luxemburg tops the list with 32 percent above, followed by Norway which is 27 percent above and Switzerland which is 24 percent above the average. However, it should be noted that Norway, Switzerland and Iceland is not included in the EU 28 average.

GDP per capita is mainly an indicator of the economic activity in a particular country.

Sweden’s GDP per capita is 21 percent above the EU 28 average in 2017. Luxembourg has by far the highest GDP per capita, at 153 percent above the EU average. The relatively high figure is partly due to a large number of foreign residents working in the country and thus contributing to the GDP, while not being included in the population statistics. Bulgaria has the lowest figure in this comparison with 51 percent below the average for the EU countries.

The next press release will be 2019-12-16 at 9:30.