Brussels, 23/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - In 2003, GDP per inhabitant, expressed in terms of purchasing powers standards, in the EU25's 254 NUTS-2 regions (based on Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) ranged from 33% of the average in the Lubelskie region of Poland to 278% of the average in Inner London in the United Kingdom. This is what is revealed by statistics published on 18 May by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, on regional GDPs per inhabitant in the EU25 in 2003.
A press release highlights the main points. 1) one region in seven is above 125% of the EU25 average, the leading regions being Inner London (278% of the average), Bruxelles-Capitale (238%) and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg (234%). Among the 37 regions exceeding the 125% level, 7 were in Germany, 6 each in Italy and the United Kingdom, 5 in the Netherlands, 3 in Austria, 2 each in Belgium and Finland, 1 each in the Czech Republic, Spain, France, Ireland, Sweden and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg. Among the new Member States, only Praha in the Czech Republic featured in this group. 2) one region in four is below 75%: the six regions with the lowest GDP per inhabitant were all in Poland - Lubelskie and Podkarpackie (each 33% of the average), Podlaskie (36%), Swiertokrzyskie, Warminsko-Mazurskie and Opolskie (each 37%). Among the 60 regions below the 75% level, 16 were in Poland, 7 in the Czech Republic, 6 in Hungary, 5 each in Greece and Italy, 4 each in Germany, France (all overseas departments) and Portugal, 3 in Slovakia, 2 regions in Spain and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta. The lowest ranked region among the old Member States was Norte on Portugal. (For full details, see http: //ec.europa.eu/comm/eurostat/ramon/nuts)
These data are based on the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics, as indicated above, adopted in May 2003 and providing a uniform, consistent breakdown of territorial units for the production of regional statistics for the EU. Level 2 of the nomenclature has 254 regions.