Luxembourg, 20/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - According to estimates of the regional GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power that Eurostat has just published, 53 regions of the central European accession candidate countries are classified, in 1998, between Yuzhen Tsentralen (Bulgaria) at 22% of the EU average and Prague (Czech Republic) at 115% of this average.
The statistical office of the Communities also reveals that, in 1998, in 51 of the 53 regions the GDP per capita was below 75% the EU average. The regions of Prague in the Czech Republic and Bratislava in Slovakia were the only two that posted a GDP per capita above or close to the Community average. In ten other regions, including six in the Czech Republic, the GDP was between 50 and 75%. In 41 others, it did not reach 50% of the EU average and in six Bulgarian regions, it was below 25% of this average. Furthermore, in the countries marked by a relatively homogenous distribution of GDP, the regions of Bucharest in Romania, Mazowieckie in Poland, Kozep Magyarorszag in Hungary, Bratislava and Prague were notably differentiated, with a GDP per capita twice that of the less favoured regions of their country. In the Baltic countries, each comprising a single region, the GDP per capita reached, in 1998, 28% of the EU average in Latvia, 31% in Lithuania and 37% in Estonia. Finally Slovenia has a rate of 69%.