Romania’s GDP per capita at purchasing power parity hits two thirds of EU average

Romania’s GDP per capita measured in PPP terms (purchasing power parity, a metrics used to filter out the differences in prices among countries) reached 65% of the EU average in 2018, up by 2 percentage points compared to 2017 and by 6pp compared to 2016.

The index provides a proxi for the value added generated by Romanians and, in principle, indicates the volume of resources they could consume or invest.

However, the higher the share of the economy operated by foreign investors is, the lowest the Gross National Income (resources left in the pockets of local natural and legal persons) is, compared to GDP.

The slight improvement in Romania’s per-capita GDP has not resulted in a better ranking among the EU countries, though. Romania remains one of the poorest countries in the EU.

Only Bulgaria (51% of the EU average) and Croatia (63% of the EU average) have lower GDP per capita than Romania.

Among the CEE countries, the Czech Republic is the most advanced, as its GDP per capita reached 91% of the EU average in 2018, in PPP terms, on an equal footing with Spain and over countries that joined the Union earlier than Portugal (77%) or Greece (68%). Poland’s GDP per capita stands at 77% of the EU average, Slovenia’s at 78%, Slovakia’s at 73% and Hungary’s at 71%.

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