The Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) released PPP figures yesterday covering preliminary results for 2007 and 2008 and final results for 2006 for 37 countries, which were derived from research conducted by the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) within the framework of the European Comparison Program (ECP). According to the report, Luxembourg is by far the richest country in Europe, with both the highest per capita GDP and per capita AIC, totaling 276 and 148 units, respectively. Northern European countries, such as Norway, Switzerland, Ireland and the Netherlands, were also ranked high on the list. Albania came in last on the list with 26 units per capita GDP and 30 units per capita AIC. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia also populated the lower ranks on the list.
Even though Turkey’s per capita GDP increased by one point in 2008 compared to 2007, its rank went down by one to 31st across Europe. According to the data, Luxemburg’s 276 units of per capita GDP is six times that of Turkey.
The data include 27 EU member countries and candidate countries -- Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia -- along with European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries -- Switzerland, Iceland and Norway -- and western Balkan countries such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. The report takes the average of 27 EU member countries as 100.
