GDP per capita keeps mostly growing in CEE

In 2023, GDP per inhabitant as a percentage of the EU27, expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS), increased compared to 2022 in all CEE countries except Poland. In most of these countries (Croatia, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Serbia), the increase reached three to four percentage points within one year. However, the gains in GDP remain uneven within the countries. In the capital cities, GDP per inhabitant as a percentage of the EU27, expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS), is much higher than the country average. This positioning of capital cities may be influenced by specific factors. For example, in the case of Prague (with GDP at 193% of EU27), a high inflow of commuting workers is mentioned by Eurostat as the reason. Conversely, rural areas have GDP levels below the country average. In general, Czechia and Slovenia had the highest GDP per inhabitant as a percentage of the EU27 in 2023 at 90% and 92%, respectively. All other countries are placed between 70% and 80% of the EU27, with Serbia at only 49%. Over last two decades Czechia and Slovenia reduced the gap by 10 percentage points while other CEE countries by at least 20 percentage points.