Croatia’s Purchasing Power on Par with Turkey and Hungary

New results from the GfK Purchasing Power Europe 2012/2013 study, which covers 42 countries in Europe, show a range of purchasing power across countries of up to 4.5 times. The richest is Liechtenstein, the poorest is Moldova, and Spain represents the middle ground.

According to this GfK study, European consumers have a total of 8.6 trillion euros for overall consumption and savings in 2012. The average purchasing power of Europeans amounts to 12,802 euros per capita, which is an increase of 2.1 percent compared to the previous period. Leading Liechtenstein has a purchasing power per capita of 57,000 euros. There is a significant gap to the next country – Norway has a purchasing power of 32,000 euros. Very close behind is the next country – Switzerland ranks third. These top three countries are not EU members. Luxembourg follows in fourth place with 28,943 euros of disposable income per capita.

These Europeans with the highest purchasing power also face very high rental costs and generally have quite high living expenses. However, they still have significantly more funds available for consumption after covering basic living costs compared to countries with lower purchasing power.

On the opposite side is the population of Kosovo, Belarus, and Moldova with purchasing power levels below 2,000 euros per capita. For example, residents of Moldova have only 1,257 euros per capita and must cover costs for food, housing/utilities, various services, and all other ongoing expenses. This is not even a tenth of the European average – where Spain (ranked 17) has around 12,943 euros. Croatia ranks 30th on the list with 39.7 percent of the European average, with a purchasing power of 5,085 euros per capita.

Just before Croatia is Turkey with a purchasing power of 5,422 euros and 42.3 percent of the European average, and just behind is Hungary with 4,884 euros / 38.1 percent of the European average.

The city of Zagreb has a purchasing power 30 percent higher than the national average but only half of the European purchasing power average. The poorest Vukovar-Srijem County has a purchasing power below 30 percent of the European average.