Economy Economy of the EU

2004 was a pretty good year for the EU's economy, even for mature economies, all growing by at least 2%, except for 4 countries. The 3 Baltic states are clearly in the lead, followed by Ireland.

GDP Growth Rates in 2004

1) Latvia : 8.5%
2) Estonia : 7.8%
3) Lithuania : 6.7%
4) Ireland : 5.5%
5) Slovakia : 5.5%
6) Poland : 5.4%
7) Slovenia : 4.6%
8) Luxembourg : 4.4%
-) Czech Republic : 4.4%
10) Hungary : 4.2%
--) Greece : 4.2%
12) Cyprus : 3.7%
13) Sweden : 3.6%
14) United Kingdom : 3.2%
15) Spain : 3.1%
16) Finland : 2.8%
17) Belgium : 2.7%
18) Denmark : 2.4%
--) Austria : 2.4%
20) France : 2%
21) Netherlands : 1.7%
22) Germany : 1.6%
23) Italy : 1.2%
24) Portugal : 1.0%
25) Malta : 1.0%


2005 was a bit less good on the whole, with only Spain, Malta and Cyprus doing better than in 2004. The average for the EU was 1,5%, mostly due to Germany and Italy's poor results. Only 5 countries are below the EU-wide average.

GDP Growth Rates in 2005

1) Latvia : 7.8%
2) Estonia : 7%
3) Lithuania : 6.8%
4) Ireland : 5.0%
-) Slovakia : 5.0%
6) Czech Republic : 4.1%
7) Slovenia : 3.9%
8) Cyprus : 3.8%
9) Hungary : 3.4%
10) Greece : 3.2%
--) Spain : 3.2%
12) Luxembourg : 3.1%
13) Poland : 3.0%
14) Sweden : 2.6%
15) Denmark : 2.2%
16) Austria : 1.9%
--) United Kingdom : 1.9%
18) Finland : 1.8%
19) France : 1.5%
--) Malta : 1.5%
21) Belgium : 1.2%
22) Germany : 0.8%
23) Netherlands : 0.7%
24) Portugal : 0.5%
25) Italy : 0%

Top 10 GDP per capita by region in 2002

1. Inner London, United Kingdom : 66,761 euro
2. Brussels-Capital, Belgium : 49,645
3. Luxembourg : 45,026
4. Hamburg, Germany : 39,766
5. Île-de-France (Paris), France : 37,267
6. Vienna, Austria : 36,603
7. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire, UK : 34,251
8. Bozen-Bolzano, Italy : 33,783
9. Stockholm, Sweden : 33,488
10. Oberbayern, Germany : 33,454

Source : Wikipedia : Economy of the European Union

Yes finally some stats to disprove all this nonsense going around that the recent introduction and enlargement of the EU are stagnating some European Economies. If we view the EU zone in contrast with America I'd say the EU is doing a lot better in these recent times.