This statistic displays the GDP per capita, in the United Kingdom (UK) compared to the total of that in the European Union (EU). As of January 2016, the UK’s GDP per capita was 7,235 euros more than the EU average.

This dataset provides values for GDP PER CAPITA PPP reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Since 1980, Europe's largest economies have consistently been France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, although the former Soviet Union's economy was the largest in the 1980s, and Russia's economy has been larger than Spain's since 2010. Since Soviet dissolution, Germany has always had the largest economy in Europe, while either France or the UK has had the second largest economy depending on the year. Italy's economy was of a relatively similar size to that of the UK and France until the mid 2000s when it started to diverge, resulting in a difference of approximately 800 billion U.S dollars by 2018. Russia's economy had overtaken both Italy and Spain's in 2012, but has fallen since 2014 due to the drop in international oil prices and the economic sanctions imposed for its annexation of Crimea - economic growth is expected to be comparatively low in Russia in the coming years due to the economic fallout of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Key information about European Union GDP Per Capita

• European Union Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita reached 38,454.191 USD in Dec 2021, compared with 34,402.825 USD in Dec 2020.
• EU GDP Per Capita data is updated yearly, available from Dec 1999 to Dec 2021, with an average number of 33,135.176 USD.
• The data reached an all-time high of 38,454.191 USD in Dec 2021 and a record low of 16,892.743 in Dec 2000.
• CEIC calculates GDP per Capita from quarterly Nominal GDP and annual Population and converts it into USD. Eurostat provides Nominal GDP in EUR and Population. Federal Reserve Board average market exchange rate is used for currency conversions. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.

Related information about European Union GDP Per Capita data

• In the latest reports, EU GDP expanded 1.264 % YoY in Mar 2023.
• EU Nominal GDP reached 4,140.452 USD bn in Dec 2022.
• Its GDP deflator (implicit price deflator) increased 6.144 % in Dec 2022.
• Gross Savings Rate of EU was measured at 25.835 % in Dec 2022.

In 2024, gross domestic product per capita in the United Kingdom was 37,044 British pounds, compared with 37,033 pounds in the previous year. In general, while GDP per capita has grown quite consistently throughout this period, there are noticeable declines, especially between 2007 and 2009, and between 2019 and 2020, due to the Global Financial Crisis, and COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. Why is GDP per capita stagnating when the economy is growing? During the last two years that GDP per capita fell and then stagnated in the UK, the overall economy grew by 0.4 percent in 2023 and 1.1 percent in 2024. While the overall UK economy is therefore larger than it was in 2022, the UK's population has grown at a faster rate, resulting in the lower GDP per capita figure. The long-term slump in the UK's productivity, as measured by output per hour worked, has meant that the gap between GDP growth and GDP per capita growth has been widening for some time. Economy remains the main concern of UK voters As of February 2025, the economy was seen as the main issue facing the UK, just ahead of immigration, health, and several other problems in the country. While Brexit was seen as the most important issue before COVID-19, and concerns about health were dominant throughout 2020 and 2021, the economy has generally been the primary facing voters issue since 2022. The surge in inflation throughout 2022 and 2023, and the impact this had on wages and living standards, resulted in a very tough period for UK households. As of January 2025, 57 percent of households were still noticing rising living costs, although this is down from a peak of 91 percent in August 2022.

In the build up to the Second World War, the United States was the major power with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world. In 1938, the United States also had the highest overall GDP in the world, and by a significant margin, however differences in GDP per person were much smaller. Switzerland In terms of countries that played a notable economic role in the war, the neutral country of Switzerland had the highest GDP per capita in the world. A large part of this was due to the strength of Switzerland's financial system. Most major currencies abandoned the gold standard early in the Great Depression, however the Swiss Franc remained tied to it until late 1936. This meant that it was the most stable, freely convertible currency available as the world recovered from the Depression, and other major powers of the time sold large amounts of gold to Swiss banks in order to trade internationally. Switzerland was eventually surrounded on all sides by Axis territories and lived under the constant threat of invasion in the war's early years, however Swiss strategic military planning and economic leverage made an invasion potentially more expensive than it was worth. Switzerland maintained its neutrality throughout the war, trading with both sides, although its financial involvement in the Holocaust remains a point of controversy. Why look at GDP per capita? While overall GDP is a stronger indicator of a state's ability to fund its war effort, GDP per capita is more useful in giving context to a country's economic power in relation to its size and providing an insight into living standards and wealth distribution across societies. For example, Germany and the USSR had fairly similar GDPs in 1938, whereas Germany's per capita GDP was more than double that of the Soviet Union. Germany was much more industrialized and technologically advanced than the USSR, and its citizens generally had a greater quality of life. However these factors did not guarantee victory - the fact that the Soviet Union could better withstand the war of attrition and call upon its larger population to replenish its forces greatly contributed to its eventual victory over Germany in 1945.

In 2025, Luxembourg was the country with the highest gross domestic product per capita in the world. Of the 20 listed countries, 13 are in Europe and five are in Asia, alongside the U.S. and Australia. There are no African or Latin American countries among the top 20. Correlation with high living standards While GDP is a useful indicator for measuring the size or strength of an economy, GDP per capita is much more reflective of living standards. For example, when compared to life expectancy or indices such as the Human Development Index or the World Happiness Report, there is a strong overlap - 14 of the 20 countries on this list are also ranked among the 20 happiest countries in 2024, and all 20 have "very high" HDIs. Misleading metrics? GDP per capita figures, however, can be misleading, and to paint a fuller picture of a country's living standards then one must look at multiple metrics. GDP per capita figures can be skewed by inequalities in wealth distribution, and in countries such as those in the Middle East, a relatively large share of the population lives in poverty while a smaller number live affluent lifestyles.

Key information about European Union Real GDP Growth

• The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in European Union expanded 1.3 % YoY in Mar 2023, following a growth of 1.7 % in the previous quarter.
• Real GDP Growth YoY data in EU is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1996 to Mar 2023, with an average rate of 2.0 %.
• The data reached an all-time high of 13.8 % in Jun 2021 and a record low of -13.4 % in Jun 2020.

CEIC calculates Real GDP Growth from quarterly Real GDP. Eurostat provides Real GDP in EUR, at chain linked 2015 prices. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.


Related information about European Union Real GDP Growth

• In the latest reports, Nominal GDP of EU reached 4,140.5 USD bn in Dec 2022.
• Its GDP deflator (implicit price deflator) increased 6.1 % in Dec 2022.
• GDP Per Capita in EU reached 38,454.2 USD in Dec 2021.
• Its Gross Savings Rate was measured at 25.8 % in Dec 2022.
• For Nominal GDP contributions, Investment accounted for 24.2 % in Dec 2022.
• Public Consumption accounted for 22.3 % in Dec 2022.
• Private Consumption accounted for 51.9 % in Dec 2022.

The gross domestic product of the United Kingdom was around 2.56 trillion British pounds, an increase when compared to the previous year, when UK GDP amounted to about 2.54 trillion pounds. The significant drop in GDP visible in 2020 was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the smaller declines in 2008 and 2009 because of the global financial crisis of the late 2000s. Low growth problem in the UK Despite growing by 0.9 percent in 2024, and 0.4 percent in 2023 the UK economy is not that much larger than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Since recovering from a huge fall in GDP in the second quarter of 2020, the UK economy has alternated between periods of contraction and low growth, with the UK even in a recession at the end of 2023. While economic growth picked up somewhat in 2024, GDP per capita is lower than it was in 2022, following two years of negative growth. UK's global share of GDP falling As of 2024, the UK had the sixth-largest economy in the world, behind the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India. Among European nations, this meant that the UK currently has the second-largest economy in Europe, although the economy of France, Europe's third-largest economy, is of a similar size. The UK's global economic ranking will likely fall in the coming years, however, with the UK's share of global GDP expected to fall from 2.16 percent in 2025 to 2.02 percent by 2029.  

Key information about EU Public Consumption: % of GDP

• European Union Public Consumption accounted for 22.4 % of its Nominal GDP in Dec 2024, compared with a share of 21.0 % in the previous quarter.
• EU Public Consumption share of Nominal GDP ratio is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1995 to Dec 2024, with an average number of 20.7 %.
• The data reached an all-time high of 23.9 % in Jun 2020 and a record low of 19.1 % in Sep 2007.

CEIC calculates Government Consumption as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly Government Consumption Expenditure and quarterly Nominal GDP. Eurostat provides Government Consumption Expenditure in EUR and Nominal GDP in EUR. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.


Related information about EU Public Consumption: % of GDP

• In the latest reports, EU GDP expanded 1.0 % YoY in Mar 2023.
• EU Nominal GDP reached 4,430.4 USD bn in Mar 2023.
• Its GDP deflator (implicit price deflator) increased 6.5 % in Mar 2023.
• EU GDP Per Capita reached 38,468.8 USD in Dec 2021.
• Its Gross Savings Rate was measured at 25.7 % in Dec 2024.
• For Nominal GDP contributions, Investment accounted for 21.9 % in Dec 2024.
• Private Consumption accounted for 51.9 % in Dec 2024.

Key information about European Union Private Consumption: % of GDP

• European Union Private Consumption accounted for 51.9 % of its Nominal GDP in Dec 2024, compared with a ratio of 53.2 % in the previous quarter.
• EU Private Consumption contribution to Nominal GDP ratio is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1995 to Dec 2024, with an average share of 55.2 %.
• The data reached an all-time high of 56.9 % in Mar 1997 and a record low of 50.0 % in Dec 2020.

CEIC calculates Private Consumption as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly Private Consumption Expenditure and quarterly Nominal GDP. Eurostat provides Private Consumption Expenditure in EUR and Nominal GDP in EUR. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.


Related information about European Union Private Consumption: % of GDP

• In the latest reports, EU GDP expanded 1.0 % YoY in Mar 2023.
• Its Nominal GDP reached 4,430.4 USD bn in Mar 2023.
• EU GDP Per Capita reached 38,468.8 USD in Dec 2021.
• Its Gross Savings Rate was measured at 25.7 % in Dec 2024.

Key information about European Union Nominal GDP

• European Union Nominal GDP reached 4,141.8 USD bn in Dec 2022, compared with 4,002.8 USD bn in the previous quarter.
• Nominal GDP in EU is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1999 to Dec 2022, with an average number of 3,579.7 USD bn.
• The data reached an all-time high of 4,357.5 USD bn in Jun 2008 and a record low of 1,739.3 USD bn in Dec 2000.

CEIC converts quarterly Nominal GDP into USD. Eurostat provides Nominal GDP in EUR. Federal Reserve Board average market exchange rate is used for currency conversions. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.


Related information about European Union Nominal GDP

• In the latest reports, EU GDP expanded 1.7 % YoY in Dec 2022.
• Its GDP deflator (implicit price deflator) increased 6.2 % in Dec 2022.
• EU GDP Per Capita reached 38,451.0 USD in Dec 2021.
• Its Gross Savings Rate was measured at 26.0 % in Dec 2022.
• For Nominal GDP contributions, Investment accounted for 24.3 % in Dec 2022.
• Public Consumption accounted for 22.2 % in Dec 2022.
• Private Consumption accounted for 51.8 % in Dec 2022.

For most of the 20th century, Ireland stood out as one of the poorest countries in Western Europe, not experience the same post-war boom in prosperity that was felt by virtually all other countries in the region. At the onset of the 1973-1975 Recession, Ireland's GDP per capita was less than 60 percent of GDP per capita in the European Union and less than a quarter of GDP per capita in the U.S. Catching up in the 1980s By the 1980s, a wave of foreign investment saw Ireland's export sector grow exponentially, and between 1975 and 1990, Ireland had the second-fastest growth of exports in the world (behind Japan). Additionally, as Ireland joined the European Communities in 1973, it became more integrated into the European economy; before 1973, around three-quarters of Ireland's exports went to the United Kingdom, but this fell to one-third by the 1990s. Ireland's period of industrialization was relatively short in comparison to its neighbors, as it transitioned from an agriculture-based economy to a producer of high-tech products and services. Ireland's low tax rate and other incentives also attracted many American tech companies in the 1980s, such as Apple, Intel, and Microsoft, who were keen on establishing a presence in the European Union. The Celtic Tiger Named after the Four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan), which experienced rapid economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s, the period of prosperity between the 1990s and 2000s in Ireland has been dubbed the "Celtic Tiger." Over this time, Ireland's GDP per capita grew to exceed the average in the EU by 10 percent in 2000, and it would eventually surpass that of the U.S. in 2003. Ireland was severely impacted by the financial crisis of 2008 due to the instability of its property sector and extensive lending by banks, and it was the first European economy to go into recession. By the late 2010s, most sectors of the economy had returned to pre-recession levels, and today, Ireland's GDP per capita remains among the top in the world, second in the EU only to Luxembourg.

Key information about European Union Investment: % of GDP

• European Union Investment accounted for 21.9 % of its Nominal GDP in Dec 2024, compared with a ratio of 21.5 % in the previous quarter.
• EU investment share of Nominal GDP data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1995 to Dec 2024, with an average ratio of 21.9 %.
• The data reached an all-time high of 24.7 % in Sep 2022 and a record low of 19.2 % in Mar 2013.

CEIC calculates Investment as % of Nominal GDP from quarterly Nominal Gross Capital Formation and quarterly Nominal GDP. Eurostat provides Nominal Gross Capital Formation in EUR and Nominal GDP in EUR. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.


Related information about European Union Investment: % of GDP

• In the latest reports, EU GDP expanded 1.0 % YoY in Mar 2023.
• EU Nominal GDP reached 4,430.4 USD bn in Mar 2023.
• Its GDP deflator (implicit price deflator) increased 6.5 % in Mar 2023.
• EU GDP Per Capita reached 38,468.8 USD in Dec 2021.
• Its Gross Savings Rate was measured at 25.7 % in Dec 2024.

This statistic shows the forecasts of the annual variation of real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of different European countries in 2030 as a result of the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union, by scenario. In the case of total UK isolation, forecasts predicted that Spain's GDP per capita would decline by 0.32%.

Key information about EU GDP Deflator Growth

• European Union GDP deflator (implicit price deflator) increased 6.1 % in Dec 2022, compared with an increase of 5.1 % in the previous quarter.
• EU GDP Deflator Growth data is updated quarterly, available from Mar 1996 to Dec 2022, with an average rate of 1.7 %.
• The data reached an all-time high of 6.1 % in Dec 2022 and a record low of -0.6 % in Sep 2009.

CEIC calculates GDP Deflator Growth from quarterly GDP Deflator. Eurostat provides GDP Deflator at chain linked 2015 prices. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.


Related information about EU GDP Deflator Growth

• In the latest reports, European Union GDP expanded 1.3 % YoY in Mar 2023.
• Its Nominal GDP reached 4,140.5 USD bn in Dec 2022.
• EU GDP Per Capita reached 38,454.2 USD in Dec 2021.
• Its Gross Savings Rate was measured at 25.8 % in Dec 2022.

European Union UK: GDP: CL 2010p: Gross Capital Formation (GCF) data was reported at 122.776 EUR bn in Mar 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 102.258 EUR bn for Dec 2018. European Union UK: GDP: CL 2010p: Gross Capital Formation (GCF) data is updated quarterly, averaging 76.130 EUR bn from Mar 1995 (Median) to Mar 2019, with 97 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 122.776 EUR bn in Mar 2019 and a record low of 54.885 EUR bn in Mar 1995. European Union UK: GDP: CL 2010p: Gross Capital Formation (GCF) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.Eurostat: GDP: by Expenditure: ESA 2010: Chain Linked 2010 Price.

The statistic shows GDP per capita in the United Kingdom from 1987 to 2020, with projections up until 2030. In 2020, GDP per capita in the United Kingdom was at around 40,230.55 US dollars. The same year, the total UK population amounted to about 67.26 million people. The United Kingdom is among the leading countries in a world GDP ranking.Falling unemployment in a time of recessionGDP is a useful indicator when it comes to measuring the state of a nation’s economy. GDP is the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time, usually a year. GDP per capita equals exactly the GDI (gross domestic income) per capita and is not a measure of an individual’s personal income.As can be seen clearly in the statistic, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the United Kingdom is beginning to increase, albeit not to pre-recession levels. The UK is beginning to see signs of an economic recovery, though as of yet it remains unclear what sort of recovery this is. Questions have been raised as to whether the growth being seen is the right sort of growth for a well balanced recovery across the necessary sectors. An interesting oddity occurred in the United Kingdom for nine months in 2012, which saw a decreasing unemployment occurring at the same time as dip in nationwide economic productivity. This seems like good - if not unusual - news, but could be indicative of people entering part-time employment. It could also suggest that labor productivity is falling, meaning that the UK would be less competitive as a nation. The figures continue to rise, however, with an increase in employment in the private sector. With the rate of inflation in the UK impacting everyone’s daily lives, it is becoming increasingly difficult for vulnerable groups to maintain a decent standard of living.

Key information about EU Gross Savings Rate

• EU Gross Savings Rate was measured at 25.7% in Dec 2024, compared with 25.7% in the previous quarter.
• EU Gross Savings Rate is updated quarterly, with data available from Mar 1995 to Dec 2024, and an average rate of 25.7%.
• The data reached an all-time high of 25.7% in Mar 2021 and a record low of 21.4% in Mar 2010.
• CEIC calculates Gross Domestic Savings Rate from quarterly Gross Domestic Savings and quarterly Nominal GDP. Gross Domestic Savings is calculated as Nominal GDP less Final Consumption Expenditure. Eurostat provides Final Consumption Expenditure in local currency and Nominal GDP in local currency. European Union stands for EU27 excluding UK.
• In the latest reports, EU GDP expanded 1.0% YoY in Mar 2023.
• EU Nominal GDP reached 4,430,431.2 USD mn in Mar 2023. Its GDP deflator (implicit price deflator) increased 6.5% in Mar 2023.
• EU GDP Per Capita reached 38,468.8 USD in Dec 2021.

GDP per Person Employed: EU 27 excl UK data was reported at 67.684 EUR th in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 63.878 EUR th for 2020. GDP per Person Employed: EU 27 excl UK data is updated yearly, averaging 53.859 EUR th from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2021, with 27 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 67.684 EUR th in 2021 and a record low of 35.553 EUR th in 1995. GDP per Person Employed: EU 27 excl UK data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.A030: ESA 2010: DG ECFIN: GDP per Person Employed: Current Price.