WB expert claims Romania surpassed Hungary by GDP per capita
Romania surpassed Slovakia in terms of GDP per capita in 2020, and this year it surpassed Hungary, which is a unique economic performance, it is a first, Marcel Ionescu-Heroiu, a senior urban development expert at the World Bank, said at…
Andrei Chirileasa · Journalist
· Updated · 1 min read
Romania surpassed Slovakia in terms of GDP per capita in 2020, and this year it surpassed Hungary, which is a unique economic performance, it is a first, Marcel Ionescu-Heroiu, a senior urban development expert at the World Bank, said at the videoconference Caravan Smart City Sibiu, organized by the Romanian Association for Smart City, together with the City Hall of Sibiu.
If the trends are maintained in one to two years, Romania will surpass Poland, he added, according to local Agerpres. Ionescu-Heroiu hasn’t quoted a specific source for the data.
The World Bank database shows that Romania (USD 12,900 in 2020) is still far from Hungary (USD 15,900) and Poland (USD 15,700) in terms of GDP per capita expressed in current prices - while the Slovak Republic (USD 19,200) is well above.
When it comes to GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity, the latest WB’s data (for 2019) reveals that Romania was not far from Slovak Republic (USD 32,350 versus USD 32,550) - while Hungary and Poland were far above (USD 33,950 and USD 34,150).
More recent (2020) GDP per capita based on PPP are reported by Eurostat. They show Romania at 72% of the EU average, behind Hungary (74%) and Poland (76%). Slovakia indeed lags behind Romania, at only 71% of the EU average.
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