site.btaBulgaria's GDP per Capita Increases for 11th Consecutive Year in 2024, Still Remains Lowest in EU - Eurostat

In 2024, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Bulgaria, expressed in purchasing power standards (PPS), remained the lowest among the European Union Member States. The GDP per capita ranged between 66% of the EU average in Bulgaria and 241% in Luxembourg, show the preliminary estimates of purchasing power parities and GDP for 2024 published by Eurostat on Thursday.

This means that the GDP per capita in Bulgaria was 34% below the EU average in 2024. This marks the eleventh consecutive year of growth of the GDP in comparison to the average EU level. The difference was 36% in 2023 and 60% back in 2022.

In comparison, in 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania acceded to the EU, the GDP per capita of the population in comparison to PPS in Bulgaria was 60% below the average in the EU; only Romania was worse off with 56%. 

In 2024, substantial differences in GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards were observed among EU countries. Ten countries, representing about 34% of the EU’s population, exceeded the EU average in GDP per capita.

Luxembourg and Ireland had the highest levels - 141% and 111% above the EU average, respectively, well ahead of the Netherlands (35% above the EU average), Denmark (+28%) and Belgium (+17%).

The lowest level of GDP per capita after Bulgaria was registered in Greece, 30%. Latvia also fell below the average, 29%. Slovakia (25%), Hungary (23%), Estonia, Poland and Romania (21% each) came next.