UK individual consumption falls to fourth in the European Union
UK INDIVIDUAL consumption slid to fourth in the EU in 2011, falling behind Austria and Germany.
British individuals were still able to exercise 18 per cent more purchasing power in their consumption than the EU average, Eurostat revealed yesterday, but this placed them fourth.
In 2010 their consumption was a fifth above average, putting them in second, behind only Luxembourg. But Germany and Austria both saw their individual consumption increase, moving the countries into second and third.
Measured by GDP per resident, corrected for purchasing power, the UK’s living standards placed only 10th in 2011. The top nine were populated entirely by northern European countries – the benelux nations, the EU’s three Scandinavian members, the two German-speaking countries, and Ireland.
Luxembourg placed first on both measures, with a GDP per capita some 171 per cent – close to triple – the EU average, and consumption some 40 per cent above the mean of the rest of the EU’s members.