Financial and social rankings of sovereign states in Europe explained

This page compares the sovereign states of Europe on economic, financial and social indicators.

Definition of Europe

For the purposes of comparison the broader definition of Europe will be used. A sovereign state must meet at least one of the following criteria to be included:

Be a recognised European state by the United Nations geoscheme for Europe
Be a member state of the European Union
Be a member state of the Eurozone
Be a member state of the Council of Europe

Economic

Countries by GDP (nominal)

Data provided is by the International Monetary Fund (2021)^[1]

Rank	Country	GDP (millions of US$)
1		4,200,000
2	United Kingdom	3,400,000
3	France	3,100,000
4		1,886,000
5		1,483,000
6		1,281,000
7		912,806
8		748,000
9		720,100
11		594,200
12		537,600
13		515,300
14		429,000
15		418,600
16		362,000
17		355,200
18		282,300
19		271,200
20		248,700
21		231,300
22		189,400
23		155,600
24		155,260
25		104,600
26		73,260
27		69,110
28		60,260
29		55,970
30		55,890
31		52,960
32		52,880
33		42,610
34		33,510
35		31,030
36		23,800
37		21,710
38		19,790
39		15,890
40		14,800
41		14,650
42		12,650
43		12,270
44		11,910
45		7,424
46		6,839
48		4,779
49		3,155
50		1,616

GDP growth rate

The real GDP growth rates provided are the 2015 estimates (unless otherwise indicated) as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.^[2]

Rank	Country	Real GDP growth rate (%)
1		9.30 (2013 est.)
2		7.80
3		5.40
4		4.50
5		4.20
6		4.10
7		4.10
8		4.00
9		3.80
10		3.70
11		3.70
12		3.60
13		3.60
14		3.20
15		3.00
16		3.00
17		2.90
18		2.90
19		2.80
20		2.80
21		2.70
22		2.60
23		2.20
24	Netherlands	1.90
25		1.80
26		1.60
27		1.60
28		1.60
29		1.60
30		1.50
31		1.50
32		1.40
33		1.20
34		1.10
35		1.10
36		1.10
37		1.00
38		0.90
39		0.90
40		0.80
41		0.70
42		0.40
43		−0.20
44		−1.10
45		−1.60
46		−3.70
47		−3.90
48		−9.90

GDP (nominal) per capita of sovereign states in Europe

Data provided is by the World Bank (2021). Data for Monaco and Liechtenstein is from 2020 and 2019 respectively.^[3]

data-sort-type="number"	Rank in Europe	Country	US$
1		173,688
2		169,049
3		135,683
4		99,152
5		93,457
6		89,203
7		68,384
8		67,803
9		60,239
10		58,061
11		53,983
12		53,268
13		51,768
14		50,802
15		47,334
16		45,516
17		43,519
18		43,048
19		35,551
20		33,257
21		30,799
22		30,116
23		29,201
24		27,281
25		26,379
26		24,262
27		23,433
28		21,088
29		20,642
30		20,277
31		18,773
32		17,841
33		17,399
34		14,862
—	World	12,263
35		12,173
36		11,635
37		9,587
38		9,367
39		9,215
40		7,304
41		6,916
42		6,721
43		6,494
44		5,315
45		4,987
46		4,836

GDP purchasing power parity (PPP)

Data provided is by the International Monetary Fund (2018)^[4]

Rank	Country	GDP (billions of US$)
1		4,342.9
2		4,227.4
3		3,040.4
4		3,038.8
5		2,399.7
6		1,865.9
7		1,215.4
8		551.5
9		550.8
10		548.8
11		516.3
13		463.5
14		396.1
15		395.8
16		390.4
17		389.0
18		333.1
19		312.2
20		312.0
21		302.2
22		256.8
23		191.2
24		189.2
25		179.1
26		162.1
27		122.7
28		107.3
29		97.0
30		75.9
31		64.0
32		57.8
33		52.4
34		45.4
35		42.6
36		38.3
37		32.6
38		34.5
39		30.5
40		25.8
41		21.4
42		19.4
43		11.9
44		5.74 (2011 est.)
45		3.20 (2009 est.)
46		3.16 (2012 est.)
47		2.01

Net national wealth

European countries by total wealth

Rank !! Country !! Total wealth
(billions USD)
	Europe	85,402
		77,821
1		14,499
2		14,449
3		14,209
4		10,569
5		7,152
6		3,611
7		3,357
8		2,776
9		2,240
10		1,920
11		1,637
12		1,276
13		1,181
14		975
15		974
16		916
17		806
18		697
19		524
20		317
21		294
22		188
23		151
24		138
25		138
26		133
27		120
28		91
29		73
30		60
31		57
32		55
33		53
34		49
35		40
36		37
37		20
38		12
39		11

Financial

Current account balance

The current account balance values provided are the 2013 figures (unless otherwise indicated) as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.^[5] Figures for Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco and San Marino are unavailable.

Rank	Country	Current account balance (US$)
1		257,100,000,000
2		74,800,000,000 (2012 est.)
3		67,400,000,000
4		65,870,000,000
5		65,600,000,000
6		39,000,000,000
7		19,600,000,000
8		13,280,000,000
9		10,600,000,000
10		7,300,000,000
11		3,315,000,000
12		2,954,000,000
13		2,700,000,000
14		2,100,000,000
15		2,021,000,000
16		1,722,000,000
17		1,000,000,000
18		133,100,000
19		−100,000,000
20		−102,300,000
21		−182,300,000
22		−194,100,000
23		−352,300,000
24		−358,200,000
25		−507,700,000
26		−567,000,000
27		−613,900,000
28		−720,600,000
29		−939,500,000
30		−1,280,000,000
31		−1,375,000,000
32		−1,807,000,000
33		−1,938,000,000 (2012 est.)
34		−1,986,000,000
35		−2,000,000,000
36		−2,400,000,000
37		−3,270,000,000
38		−4,245,000,000
39		−9,100,000,000
40		−11,060,000,000
41		−11,920,000,000
42		−58,970,000,000
43		-93,600,000,000

Public debt

The public debt values provided are the 2013 figures (unless otherwise indicated) as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.^[6] Figures for Liechtenstein and Monaco are unavailable.

Rank	Country	Public debt (% of GDP)
1		175.00
2		133.00
3		130.50
4		127.80
5		113.10
6		102.40
7		93.70
8		93.40
9		91.10
10		79.90
11		79.80
12		75.70
13		75.30
14		74.30
15		71.70
16		70.50
17		66.20
18		64.80 (2019)
19		61.20
20		56.50
21		55.50
22		52.10 (2012 est.)
23		48.80
24		48.20
25		47.00
26		45.90
27		41.50
28		41.10 (2012)
29		40.60
30		40.20
31		39.20
32		38.60
33		37.70
34		36.60
35		36.30 (2012 est.)
36		34.30
37		33.80
38		31.50
39		30.10
40		25.80
41		22.90
42		18.40
43		16.60
44		7.90
45		7.50
46		6.00

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate values provided are the most recent figures provided by varying sources, namely data released by governments.

Rank	Country	Unemployment rate (%)
1		0.1 (2013)
2		0.5 (2020)
3		2.7 (2020)
4		3.2 (2020)
5		4.1 (2020)
6		4.4 (2020)
7		4.4 (2020)
8		4.5 (2020)
9		4.7 (2020)
10		4.9 (2020)
11		5 (2020)
12		5.2 (2020)
13		5.4 (2020)
14		5.5 (2020)
15		6 (2020)
16		6.8 (2020)
17		6.9 (2020)
18		6.9 (2020)
19		7.3 (2020)
20		7.8 (2020)
21		8 (2020)
22		8.1 (2020)
23		8.6 (2020)
24		9 (2020)
25		9 (2020)
26		9.4 (2020)
27		9.7 (2020)
28		15.8 (2020)
29		18.3 (2020)

Average wage

The average wage values provided are 2018 figures (unless otherwise stated) as recorded by varying sources, namely releases by respective Governments. The values are for monthly average wage (annual wage divided by 12 months) for net income (after taxes) in Euro currency.

Rank	Country	Net wage (Euro €)
1		4,887
2		4,502
3		4,300
4		3,568
5		3,416
6		3,395
7		3,270
8		2,634
9		2,583
10		2,525
11		2,509
12		2,458
13		2,409
14		2,390
15		2,324
16		2,230
17		2,152
18		1,920
19		1,758
20		1,749
21		1,658
22		1,105
23		1,083
24		1,021
25		932
26		925
27		890
28		862
29		793
30		755
31		722
32		701
33		589
34		583
35		565
36		512
37		510
38		473
39		454
40		393
41		348
42		242
43		228

Minimum wage

See also: List of European countries by minimum wage. The minimum wage figures provided are the 2018 figures by The Federation of International Employers. Currency conversions from non-Euro currencies being based on the exchange rates of 2018.^[7]

Rank	Country	Monthly minimum (euro)
1		2,049
2		1,832
3	Austria	1,750 (2020)
4		1,732
5		1,578
6		1,563
7		1,563
8		1,498
9		1,458
10		1,413
11		1,050
12		991
13		886
14		761
15		700
16		683
17		555
18		540
19		524
20		480
21		477
22		462
23		445
24		430
25		407
26		300
27		276
28		260
29		239
30		207
31		193
32		139
33		128
34		125
35		124

Social

Human Development Index

The Human Development Index values provided are the 2018 estimates for 2017, as included in the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report.^[8]

Rank	Country	HDI	Change
1	Norway	0.953	0.002
2	Switzerland	0.944	0.001
3	Ireland	0.938	0.004
4	Germany	0.936	0.002
5	Iceland	0.935	0.002
6	Sweden	0.933	0.001
7	Netherlands	0.931	0.003
8	Denmark	0.929	0.001
9	United Kingdom	0.922	0.002
10	Finland	0.920	0.002
11	Belgium	0.916	0.001
12	Liechtenstein	0.916	0.001
13	Austria	0.908	0.002
14	Luxembourg	0.904	0.001
15	France	0.901	0.002
16	Slovenia	0.896	0.002
17	Spain	0.891	0.002
18	Czech Republic	0.888	0.003
19	Italy	0.880	0.002
20	Malta	0.878	0.003
21	Estonia	0.871	0.003
22	Greece	0.870	0.002
23	Cyprus	0.869	0.002
24	Poland	0.865	0.005
25	Andorra	0.858	0.002
26	Lithuania	0.858	0.003
27	Slovakia	0.855	0.002
28	Latvia	0.847	0.003
29	Portugal	0.847	0.002
30	Hungary	0.838	0.003
31	Croatia	0.831	0.003
32		0.816	0.001
33	Montenegro	0.814	0.004
34	Bulgaria	0.813	0.003
35	Romania	0.811	0.004
36	Belarus	0.808	0.003
37	Turkey	0.806	0.004
38	Serbia	0.787	0.002
39	Albania	0.785	0.003
40	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.780	0.002
41	Georgia	0.780	0.004
42	Azerbaijan	0.757
43		0.757	0.001
44	Armenia	0.755	0.006
45	Ukraine	0.752	0.005
46		0.700	0.003

Percentage living below poverty line

The percentage figures for citizens living below the poverty line are provided by either the CIA World Factbook (2007) or the World Bank (2012) ^[9] ^[10] ^[11] There is no data available for eleven European states.

Rank	Percentage	Year
1	4.0	2008
2	4.3	2007
3	5.5	2009
4	5.9	2004
5	6.0	2008
5	6.0	2012
7	6.2	2004
8	6.9	2010
9	7.3	2011
10	7.6	2008
11	7.8	2011
12	8.6	2012
13	9.1	2013
14	10.5	2005
15	11.3	2012
16	12.3	2008
17	12.7	2011
18	13.2	2011
19	13.4	2011
20	13.9	2010
21	14.0	2006
37	22.2	2023
22	15.2	2007
23	15.5	2010
24	16.6	2012
25	16.9	2010
26	17.5	2010
27	17.7	2011
28	17.9	2011
29	18.0	2009
30	18.0	2006
31	19.8	2005
32	20.0	2009
33	20.7	2009
34	21.1	2010
35	22.2	2011
36	34.1	2009

Social Progress Index

The Social Progress Index figures are provided by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative and represent 2014. Eight European states are not represented as data is not available.^[12]

Rank	Country	Social Progress Index
1		88.19
2		88.07
3		87.37
4		87.12
5		87.08
6		86.91
7		86.55
8		85.11
9		84.61
10		84.56
11		84.05
12		82.63
13		81.65
14		81.65
15		81.10
16		80.77
17		80.49
18		80.41
19		78.93
20		77.44
21		76.93
22		73.91
23		73.87
24		73.76
25		73.43
26		73.31
27		70.61
28		70.24
29		69.13
30		68.33
31		67.72
32		66.80
33		65.20
34		65.03
35		64.99
36		64.91
37		64.62
38		63.94
39		62.44
40		60.79
41		60.12

Opportunity

The Opportunity figures are included in the 2014 Social Progress Index by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative. Eight European states are not represented as data is not available.^[12]

Rank	Country	Opportunity
1		82.63
2		82.29
3		81.95
4		81.92
5		81.71
6		80.82
7		80.63
8		79.92
9		79.10
10		76.34
11		75.81
12		75.19
13		74.43
14		74.42
15		72.72
16		72.32
17		69.3
18		66.58
19		66.50
20		66.21
21		63.46
22		63.04
23		61.84
24		59.85
25		58.45
26		56.98
27		55.33
28		55.23
29		54.91
30		54.88
31		54.14
32		52.87
33		52.48
34		49.07
35		48.04
36		47.41
37		47.39
38		46.93
39		46.58
40		44.13
41		42.54

World Happiness Report

The World Happiness Report is a measure of happiness published by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, with the figures provided being the 2013 edition for the 2010 to 2012 period.^[13]

Rank	Happiness	Change in happiness (2005-2006)
1	7.693	−0.233
2	7.655	0.263
3	7.650	0.303
4	7.512	0.054
5	7.480	0.171
7	7.369	0.247
8	7.355	N/A
9	7.076	−0.068
10	7.054	N/A
11	6.967	−0.274
12	6.883	−0.003
13	6.764	−0.049
14	6.672	0.163
15	6.466	0.228
16	6.322	−0.750
17	6.290	−0.180
18	6.060	0.249
19	6.021	−0.691
20	5.969	0.705
21	5.964	N/A
22	5.822	0.085
23	5.791	0.852
24	5.661	−0.160
25	5.550	0.915
26	5.504	−0.133
27	5.464	0.346
28	5.435	−0.891
29	5.426	−0.456
30	5.426	0.074
31	5.344	0.171
32	5.299	0.103
33	5.101	−0.305
34	5.057	0.032
35	5.046	0.358
36	5.033	−0.186
37	4.981	0.137
38	4.813	0.063
39	4.813	−0.087
40	4.775	−0.300
41	4.604	−0.045
42	4.574	0.081
43	4.316	−0.269
44	4.187	0.496

Summary

Economic

Azerbaijan is the second fastest growing economy in Europe, and the fastest growing transcontinental economy.
France has the highest Net National Wealth of any European state.
Germany is the current largest economy in Europe, the European Union and the Eurozone, with Germany remaining the eurozone's largest economy.
Latvia is the fastest growing economy in both the eurozone and the European Union.
Luxembourg is home to the highest GDP (nominal) per capita in both the European Union and eurozone.
Malta is the smallest economy in the eurozone as well as the European Union, and is the fastest growing European economy in the Commonwealth of Nations.
is the fastest growing economy in Europe, but is also one of Europe's poorest countries, with the lowest GDP (nominal) per capita of any European state.
Monaco has the highest GDP (nominal) per capita of any European state.
is the largest transcontinental European economy and will remain so until at least 2030.
San Marino is Europe's smallest economy, and is also the third weakest growing economy in Europe.
United Kingdom is the largest non-eurozone economy in Europe.

Financial

Austria has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union and the eurozone.
Belarus has the lowest unemployment rate in Europe, although this figure includes underemployment.
Bulgaria has the smallest average wage and monthly minimum wage in the European Union.
Estonia has the smallest public debt (as a percentage of GDP) of any state in Europe, as well as in the European Union and eurozone.
France has the largest financial deficit of any state in the eurozone.
Georgia has the lowest monthly minimum wage in Europe.
Germany has the largest financial surplus of any country in Europe as well as the remainder of the world.
Greece has the highest public debt (as a percentage of GDP) of any European state.
has the highest unemployment rate of any European state.
Liechtenstein has the highest average wage of any state in Europe.
Lithuania has the smallest average wage and monthly minimum wage in the eurozone.
Luxembourg has the highest average wage in the European Union and eurozone as well as the highest monthly minimum wage in the entirety of Europe.
has the largest surplus of those European countries not a member of either (or both) the EU or eurozone.
Ukraine has the smallest average wage in Europe, mostly as a result of the ongoing war.
United Kingdom has the largest deficit of any country in Europe and the European Union.

Social

has the largest percentage living under the poverty line of any state in Europe.
Armenia has the highest Change in Happiness of any state in Europe.
Azerbaijan has the smallest rating for Opportunity in Europe.
Croatia has the smallest rating for Opportunity in the European Union.
Denmark ranks highest on the World Happiness Report in Europe and the European Union.
Ireland has the highest rating for Opportunity in Europe, the European Union and the eurozone.
Latvia has the weakest Human Development Index and World Happiness Index figures in the eurozone.
Lithuania has the smallest percentage living below the poverty line in Europe.
ranks lowest on the Human Development Index and Social Progress Index in Europe.
Netherlands has highest Human Development Index figure in the European Union and the eurozone, and also ranks first in the EU and eurozone on the Social Progress Index, as well as being the highest ranked country in the eurozone on the World Happiness Index.
San Marino has the highest Human Development Index figure in Europe.
Switzerland ranks highest in Europe on the Social Progress Index.

Notes

Web site: World Economic Outlook (October 2020) . Imf.org . 2020-11-04.
Web site: GDP - Real Growth Rate, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20070613004530/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2003rank.html. dead. 13 June 2007.
World Bank, 2021
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019
Web site: Country Comparison - Current Account Balance, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20070613004942/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html. dead. 13 June 2007.
Web site: Country Comparison - Current Account Balance, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081015072227/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html . 15 October 2008 .
Web site: Monthly minimum wages - bi-annual data . Eurostat.
Web site: Human Development Report 20148 – "Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience". HDRO (Human Development Report Office) United Nations Development Programme.
Web site: World Databank . Databank.worldbank.org . 17 November 2012.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003340/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2046.html Population below poverty line
Poverty data: Norway. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2007, US Department of State; Population: Norway - CIA The World Factbook.
Web site: Social Progress Index: Measuring National Progress . Social Progress Imperitive . 2 August 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151217230131/http://www.socialprogressimperative.org/data/spi . 17 December 2015 .
Helliwell . John . Layard . Richard . Sachs . Jeffrey . World Happiness Report 2013 . United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network . 9 September 2013 . 29 June 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110604005151/http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2007/06/12/afx3810988.html . 4 June 2011 .

^[14] ^[15] ^[16]