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Purchasing Power Parities 2019-2021

Swedish households’ Actual Individual Consumption 11 percent above EU average

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2022-12-22 8.00

Swedish households’ Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita was 11 percent above the average for the 27 EU countries in 2021.

Actual Individual Consumption in purchasing power standards (PPS), 2021 (EU27=100)

diagram

Source: Eurostat and Statistics Sweden

AIC per capita varied in 2021 among the 27 EU Member States, Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland from 44 percent above the EU average to 35 percent below the EU average. Luxembourg tops the list at 44 percent above, followed by Norway, 26 percent above the EU average. However, it should be noted that Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland are not included in the EU average.

Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), volume indices per capita in PPS, 2019, 2020, and 2021 EU27=100
  AIC volume index per capita, EU27=100 GDP volume index per capita, EU27=100
  2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021
Luxembourg 146 141 144 251 261 268
Norway 128 127 126 147 142 167
Germany 122 124 120 121 123 120
Switzerland 123 122 119 153 154 155
Denmark 115 120 119 126 133 133
Iceland 114 119 119 126 119 119
Austria 117 116 117 126 125 123
Belgium 114 114 116 118 119 120
Netherlands 113 115 115 127 130 130
Finland 111 114 112 109 114 112
France 109 110 111 106 104 104
Sweden 109 111 111 119 122 123
EU-27 100 100 100 100 100 100
Italy 100 97 98 97 94 95
Lithuania 93 95 97 84 88 89
Cyprus 97 97 95 93 90 91
Ireland 94 88 88 189 205 219
Czechia 85 85 85 93 93 92
Spain 91 84 85 91 83 83
Slovenia 83 82 85 89 89 90
Poland 80 83 84 73 76 77
Portugal 86 84 84 79 76 75
Romania 78 81 84 70 73 74
Malta 86 82 83 103 97 100
Estonia 76 79 80 82 86 89
Latvia 71 73 76 69 72 72
Greece 77 74 75 66 62 64
Croatia 67 68 72 67 65 70
Slovakia 70 72 71 71 72 69
Hungary 67 70 70 73 75 75
Bulgaria 58 60 65 53 55 57

Source: Eurostat and Statistics Sweden Note: The countries are sorted by descending AIC in 2021.

GDP per capita is mainly an indicator of economic activity in a particular country. In 2021, Sweden’s GDP per capita in PPS was 23 percent above the EU average. Luxembourg had by far the highest GDP per capita, at 168 percent above the EU average. This high figure is due, in part, to the large proportion of foreign workers in the country, who contribute to GDP, but are not included in the population statistics. The lowest figure recorded in this comparison was 43 percent below the EU average, in Bulgaria. 

Definitions and explanations

Purchasing power parities (PPP) are currency conversion rates that are applied in order to convert economic indicators from national currency to artificial common currency, called Purchasing Power Standard (PPS), which equalises the purchasing power of different national currencies and enables meaningful volume comparison between countries.

PPP is the ratio between the amount in the countries’ domestic currency that is needed to purchase the same basket of goods and services.

GDP is first calculated in the domestic currency and later converted with an artificial currency, Purchasing Power Standard (PPS). GDP per capita adjusted with purchasing power reflects the difference in volume in real terms between countries.

Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) refers to all goods and services that are actually consumed by individual households. In international comparisons, AIC is often preferred as an indicator of households’ material welfare.

Eurostat’s publication on Purchasing Power Parities

Purchasing Power Parities - Overview

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21 December 2023 at 08:00. 

Statistical Database

More information is available in the Statistical Database

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Statistical agency

Statistics Sweden

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