European purchase power increases 0.3 %

European consumers’ purchase power went up 0.3 % in 2016 compared to the year before. However, there are major differences between the 42 countries, with people from Liechtenstein earning 80 times more than Ukranians.

Slower growth in the biggest markets

Residents of Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Luxembourg have the highest purchase power, in a list that sees the United Kingdom crashing from sixth to tenth. On the opposite side of the table, Belarussians, Moldavians and Ukrainians have to settle for much less, according to the GfK report. On average, a European consumer has 13,672 euro to spend, up 0.3 % compared to 2015. The small growth is because of exchange rate fluctuations and the slower growth in Europe’s larger countries, even though Iceland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Latvia experienced growth exceeding 5 %.

In Liechtenstein, an average consumer can spend 63,011 euro, about 4.5 times as much as the average, making them the richest European consumers by far. A Swiss resident for example can spend about 3 times as much as the average European. Belgium is thirteenth on the list, with an 18,983 euro purchase power, closely followed by the Netherlands (15th) with 17,901 euro. Both countries easily beat the European average.