Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) is a measure of the material welfare of households. AIC per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards in Croatia in 2014 was as much as 41% below the EU average, according to preliminary Eurostat estimates. In 2013, it was 39% below the average.
Croatia's GDP per capita last year was also 41% below the EU average and in 2013 it was 39% below the average.
Eurostat publishes estimates on actual individual consumption and GDP per capita for all EU countries twice a year, in June and December.
The only two countries to report a level of AIC below the EU average in 2014 were Romania and Bulgaria, where AIC was 45% and 51% below the EU average respectively.
The highest AIC per capita expressed in Purchasing Power Standards was recorded in Luxembourg, 40% above the EU average. Germany and Austria exceeded the average by slightly more than 20%.
In Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Great Britain, Finland, France and the Netherlands AIC per capita was 10-20% above the EU average.
Italy was around the average, while Ireland, Cyprus and Spain had AIC per capita of up to 10% below the average.
In Greece, Portugal and Lithuania AIC per capita was 10-20% below the average and in Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, it was 20-30% below.
As for GDP per capita, it was the highest in Luxembourg, slightly more than two and a half times above the EU average. It was the lowest in Bulgaria and Romania, 55% and 46% below the EU average respectively.
Italy was closest to the EU average in terms of GDP per capita. Aside from Luxembourg, an above-average GDP per capita was also reported by Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Great Britain, Finland, France, the Netherlands and Ireland.