Eurostat, the statistical database of the European Union, publishes detailed economic data each year to compare living standards in each EU region, with the latest figures showing the 2019 situation. According to the analysis of Növekedés.hu, Budapest is ahead of several important Western European cities, such as Berlin and Vienna.
In order to come to a conclusion regarding living standards in the regions and cities of the European Union in 2019, data shows the value of goods and services produced and consumed divided by population, in other words: GDP per capita. Eurostat then converts GDP data into a fictitious currency, the PPS (Purchasing Power Standard), due to large price differences between countries. The different price levels are completely deducted by PPS and shows what the actual standard of living is.
In terms of PPS living standards, Budapest is 150 percent above the EU average, whereas for Vienna and Berlin, just to mention a few, it is 149 percent and 123 percent above average, respectively. What this suggests is that according to the statistics there are better living conditions in Budapest than in notable Western European cities.
Not only Budapest performed well on Eurostat’s statistics. It is also interesting to see that on the list, the big cities of Central and Eastern European countries all performed well. So much so, that Prague ranks second after Luxembourg, with a living standard, 205 percent above the EU average. This is primarily due to the fact that economies in the Central European region are typically capital-centric.
Source of article: Hungary Today
Source of picture:Zsolt Szigetváry/MTI