site.btaBulgaria, Estonia Rank Second to Last in EU for Actual Individual Consumption per Capita in 2024 - Eurostat

In 2024, Bulgaria and Estonia ranked second to last in the European Union for actual individual consumption (AIC) per capita, expressed in purchasing power standard (PPS), according to the latest data released by Eurostat on Wednesday. 

AIC per capita expressed in PPS varied from 72% to 141% of the EU average across the 27 EU Member States.

In 2023, Bulgaria had the second lowest AIC per capita in the EU. Last year, this country saw a 4 percentage point increase in this indicator compared to the previous year, the Eurostat data show.

AIC includes all goods and services that households use, irrespective of whether they were purchased and paid for by households directly, by government, or by nonprofit organizations. AIC is an alternative indicator better adapted to describe the material welfare of households.

In 2024, nine EU Member States recorded an AIC per capita above the EU average. The highest levels were recorded in Luxembourg (41% above the EU average), the Netherlands (20%) and Germany (18%). 

Eighteen EU Member States recorded an AIC per capita below the EU average, with the lowest levels recorded in Hungary (28% below the EU average), Bulgaria and Estonia (26%).

Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita also showed substantial differences across the EU Member States, according to Eurostat. Ten Member States recorded GDP per capita above the EU average, the highest being in Luxembourg (242% of the EU average), Ireland (211%) and the Netherlands (136%). At the other end of the range, the lowest GDP per capita was recorded in Bulgaria (66% of the EU average), Greece (70%) and Latvia (71%).

Bulgaria remains at the bottom of the EU in terms of GDP per capita, although it registered a 2 percentage point increase from 2023, when the country’s GDP per capita was 36% below the EU average.