Slovakia was the 18th richest country – or the 10th poorest – of the EU’s 27 countries last year in terms of GDP per capita, the European statistics office Eurostat announced in its preliminary estimate on Thursday. Slovak GDP – expressed in terms of Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) – reached 75 percent of the EU's average. This means that Slovakia was at the same level as Portugal and Greece, GDP of which also reached 75 percent of the EU average in 2012.
GDP per capita in EU member states expressed in PPS in 2012 ranged from 47 percent to 271 percent of the EU average. From this point of view, Luxembourg has remained the richest EU country, followed by Austria (131 percent), Ireland (129 percent), the Netherlands and Switzerland (both 128 percent). Romania and Bulgaria were at the bottom of the rankings, reporting 49 and 47 percent respectively.
