Brussels, 28/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - Seven of the European Union's capital city regions are in the top ten wealthiest areas of the EU, according to 2011 regional GDP figures released on Thursday 27 February by the EU's statistical office, Eurostat.
The figures show that the GDP of London, Luxembourg, Brussels, Hamburg, Bratislava, Paris, Groningen, Stockholm and Prague are between 321% and 171% of the EU average in decreasing order. Some 41 of the 272 regions in the EU have GDP of over 125% of the EU average, slightly under twice the number of European regions where GDP is less than 75% of the EU average. The poorest 75 regions are in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean, along with the United Kingdom and France.
Eurostat warns that commuters distort the figures for the richest regions because they create wealth in regions where they do not reside. This can have the effect of making commuter belts look poorer than they are in reality. (MD)