London, 09/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - In the Central Bank Directory, just published by Central Banking Publications, it is revealed that central banks in the Euro-area are among the most highly staffed in the world. Staff in Euro-zone banks is around 18.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the USA the figure is 8.3 per 100,000 per inhabitants (around the world average). In Canada, the figure is 4.9, Japan 4.3 and in China 11.8. Only banking staff levels in the Cayman Islands are higher than in the Euro-zone, with 244.9 per 100,000 inhabitants and Russia with 55 per 100,000. The new edition of the Central Bank Directory demonstrates that the European Central Bank staff has almost doubled (from 550 in 1998 to 1032 in 2001) and that central bank staff in each of the twelve Euro-zone countries per 100,000 inhabitants is as follows: Luxembourg 4.06; Greece 29.1; France 25.6; Belgium 23.5; Germany 19.4; Ireland 18.7; Portugal 18.2; Italy 14.8; Austria 13.8; Finland 13.6; the Netherlands 11.8; Spain 7.8. Figures for EU members who are not part of the Euro-zone are as follows: Denmark 10.3; the United Kingdom 3.9 and Sweden 5.5.
(Address: Central Banking Publications, 6 Langley Street, London WC2H 9JA. Tel: 207 836 3607/http://www.centralbanking.co.uk. ).