European purchasing power per capita grows 3.5% in 2019

The purchasing power of Europeans grew by approximately 3.5 percent in 2019, according to a study by the German market research institute (GfK) published on Monday.

Gfk announced that all Europeans combined had just below 10 trillion euros at their disposal in 2019 as the average amount per capita available for spending and saving in 2019 was 14,739 euros.

According to GfK, the disposable net income among the studied European countries varied "significantly."

As last year, Liechtenstein and Switzerland remained on the top of the list, with a purchasing power of 67,550 euros and 42,067 euros respectively. The purchasing power of Liechtenstein's citizens was more than 4.5 times the European average, according to GfK, while Ukraine took the last place in the ranking, with only 1,830 euros.

Germany remained in eighth place with an average net purchasing power of 23,779 euros.

The study was an "important benchmark of the economic strength of a given region, as there are major differences in per capita purchasing power both within and between European countries," said Simone Baecker-Neuchl, expert of GfK.

The study also evaluated the regional distribution of purchasing power within countries. In Italy, for example, there were "significant differences" in the distribution of purchasing power between Italy's "affluent north and poorer south". All Italian provinces in the top-ten of the ranking, like Milan, were located in the north of Italy.

The GfK study calculated a country's purchasing power based on the population's nominal disposable income without adjusting for inflation. According to GfK, calculations were based on reported income and earnings, statistics on government benefits as well as economic forecasts provided by economic institutes.