GDP per capita improves, but still below EU average

Prelimanary estimates for 2010 – as released by Eurostat – show that GDP per capita in Malta is between 10 and 20% below the EU average, however, when compared with previous years, there is a significant improvement as GDP has increased by six points.

Eurostat compares the EU countries' GDP per capita in such a way that if the average for the EU27 is 100, then Malta's GDP per capita stands at 83, which is below the EU average.

This is done through the purchasing power standard (PPS), which is an artificial currency unit that eliminates price level differences between countries. 

Up to a few years ago Malta's GDP per capita was below 75, and therefore the GDP per capita of Malta when compared to the EU average has improved.

Based on first preliminary estimates for 2010, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita expressed varied from 43% to 283% of the EU27 average across the Member States.

Greece, Slovenia, Malta, Portugal and the Czech Republic were between 10% and 20% lower than the EU27 average, while Slovakia was around 25% below. Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia were between 35% and 50% lower, while Romania and Bulgaria were around 55% below the EU27 average.