🇪🇺 A Decade of Change in Europe: How Has GDP per Capita Grown?

Key Takeaways

• Eastern European countries have seen the largest increases in real economic productivity since 2014
• The entire Balkan region, and former Soviet bloc countries, have seen their per capita GDPs rise 25–50% since 2014
• The only Western European country that has seen such a big change is Ireland

❗Data Note

This data is sourced from Eurostat which no longer publishes comparative figures for the UK.

🇵🇱 The Polish Miracle

Poland has long been Europe’s poster child.

Since the fall of the Berlin wall, it saw uninterrupted economic growth for 28 straight years until 2020.

This growth has been supercharged by EU accession in 2004, becoming a high-income country just 15 years after being classified as a middle-income one.

Poland prioritised strong institutions, which later attracted European investment that set up its manufacturing facilities. As a result, wages have increased, standard of living has improved, and the economy has grown.

However Poland’s dependence on Germany—its largest trading partner—has revealed gaps in its economic growth.