Unexpectedly Intriguing!
26 September 2007

Political Map of Europe, 2006 Europe marks the fourth stop in our continuing series comparing the relative economic performance of the nations of the world with their nearest neighbors!

We've built a dynamic ranking table to show each of the nations' Gross Domestic Product (GDP) adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), 2006 population and their corresponding 2006 GDP-PPP per Capita. We've also determined each country's rate of growth since 2004 by finding the annualized rate of change in their GDP-PPP per Capita!

Once again, we find that the fastest growing nations in our survey all share a unique characteristic, which would seem to be a major factor helping spark their economic growth. We'll identify the Ten New Lions of Europe in our commentary below the table.

As with all our dynamic tables, you may sort the data by clicking on any of the column headings. Doing so will almost instantaneously sort the data in the table from low to high value or from high to low (by clicking a column heading a second time.) To restore the original order, you'll need to refresh the page in your web browser.

2006 GDP-PPP for Europe
Country July 2006 Est. Population 2006 Est. GDP-PPP 2006 GDP-PPP per Capita % Change GDP-PPP per Capita, Since 2004
Albania 3,581,655 20,460,000,000 5,712.44 8.0%
Austria* 8,192,880 283,800,000,000 34,639.83 5.2%
Belarus 10,293,011 82,940,000,000 8,057.89 8.9%
Belgium* 10,379,067 342,800,000,000 33,028.02 4.0%
Bosnia and Herzegovina 4,498,976 25,280,000,000 5,619.06 -7.3%
Bulgaria* 7,385,367 78,680,000,000 10,653.50 14.0%
Croatia 4,494,749 60,260,000,000 13,406.76 9.4%
Cyprus* 784,301 22,580,000,000 28,789.97 5.0%
Czech Republic* 10,235,455 224,000,000,000 21,884.71 14.1%
Denmark* 5,450,661 201,500,000,000 36,967.99 7.1%
Estonia* 1,324,333 26,850,000,000 20,274.36 18.9%
Finland* 5,231,372 176,400,000,000 33,719.64 7.8%
France* 60,876,136 1,891,000,000,000 31,063.08 4.0%
Georgia 4,661,473 17,880,000,000 3,835.70 11.6%
Germany* 82,422,299 2,630,000,000,000 31,908.84 5.5%
Greece* 10,688,058 256,300,000,000 23,980.03 6.2%
Hungary* 9,981,334 175,200,000,000 17,552.76 8.6%
Iceland 299,388 11,380,000,000 38,010.88 9.2%
Ireland* 4,062,235 180,700,000,000 44,482.90 18.2%
Italy* 58,133,509 1,756,000,000,000 30,206.33 4.4%
Latvia* 2,274,735 36,490,000,000 16,041.43 18.1%
Lithuania* 3,585,906 54,900,000,000 15,309.94 10.5%
Luxembourg* 474,413 33,870,000,000 71,393.49 10.1%
Macedonia 2,050,554 16,940,000,000 8,261.18 7.9%
Malta* 400,214 8,411,000,000 21,016.26 7.5%
Moldova 4,466,706 9,070,000,000 2,030.58 3.4%
Netherlands* 16,491,461 529,100,000,000 32,083.27 4.3%
Norway 4,610,820 213,600,000,000 46,325.82 7.6%
Poland* 38,536,869 552,400,000,000 14,334.32 9.4%
Portugal* 10,605,870 210,100,000,000 19,809.78 5.1%
Romania* 22,303,552 202,200,000,000 9,065.82 8.5%
Slovakia* 5,439,448 99,190,000,000 18,235.31 12.0%
Slovenia* 2,010,347 47,010,000,000 23,384.02 9.2%
Spain* 40,397,842 1,109,000,000,000 27,451.96 8.6%
Sweden* 9,016,596 290,600,000,000 32,229.46 6.5%
Switzerland 7,523,934 255,500,000,000 33,958.30 0.2%
Ukraine 46,710,816 364,300,000,000 7,799.05 11.3%
United Kingdom* 60,609,153 1,930,000,000,000 31,843.38 3.8%
European Union* 456,953,258 13,060,000,000,000 28,580.60 5.8%
Europe (All) 580,485,495 14,426,691,000,000 24,852.80 6.0%


* - Member of the European Union.

The Ten New Lions of Europe

Assuming you've sorted the table above to make it easy, you've found that the European nations with double-digit rates of growth over the years from 2004 to 2006 are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Ukraine. What makes these nations stand out in comparison to their neighbors, or rather, nine of them, is their tax systems and increasing levels of international trade.

Low, or Flat, Taxes

Six of the fastest growing European nations have established flat tax rates for individuals (Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Ukraine). On the corporate side, Ireland has established the lowest corporate tax rate in all of Europe, drawing substantial international investment.

Meanwhile, Luxembourg is considered to be a tax haven and benefits greatly from its much lower taxes compared to those of its neighboring countries.

Trade

Bulgaria and the Czech Republic round out the top ten nations of Europe, and both have benefited greatly by greater ties to international markets since their days under the control of the Soviet empire. Both have increased their economic ties with the European Union, with Bulgaria becoming part of the EU in January 2007.

Sources and Acknowledgements:

Previously on Political Calculations

2006 Economic and Population Data

2004 Economic and Population Data

2002 Economic and Population Data

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