[OC] EU-Lebensstandards: Spitzen-, Durchschnitts- und Schlussländer

Hello! I was curious about how divided the EU is in terms of living standards, so I looked at some data and made a simple list. I chose three categories: top EU countries that are far above the average, countries around the EU average (the goal for EU), and countries below the average. Some examples that might reach average levels in the next few years are Poland, Croatia, and Latvia.

Data Sources: GDP per capita: https://indiadatamap.com/2025/12/30/gdp-per-capita-rankings-of-european-countries/ Income & wages: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/DDN-20231103-1 Actual individual consumption: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20231214-2 Inequality / poverty: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/10/28/what-are-europes-most-unequal-countries-and-poorest-regions

To think that my country Lithuania is on par with Italy… Bonjourno!

Living standards is not equal to just income..

Looking at the bottom ranked countries on this map, there is a much darker data point missing which is demographic collapse.

Most of these lower ranked nations have fertility rates well below the 2.1 replacement level and are suffering from massive youth brain drain to the top countries. It is a terminal feedback loop where low living standards drive the youngest and most educated people away, which erodes the tax base and makes it impossible to improve living standards for the aging population left behind.

In 50 years, we won’t be talking about their average income, we will be talking about whether these nations still functionally exist as demographic entities.