Data from the EU statistical service indicates that the per capita income measure stagnated between 2008 and 2011 due to the global financial crisis and decreased in 2012 and 2013, with another decline in 2020 linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following a recovery in 2021, the per capita income grew slowly in 2022 and 2023, with initial 2024 figures showing an acceleration in growth.
Among EU member states, Romania recorded the highest growth in household real per capita income between 2004 and 2024 (134%), followed by Lithuania (95%), Poland (91%), and Malta (90%).
Greece and Italy were the only countries where household per capita income fell over the past 20 years (-5% and -4%, respectively), while the lowest growth was observed in Spain (11%), Austria (14%), Belgium (15%), and Luxembourg (17%).
In Portugal, household per capita income rose 20% over the two decades concerned.
Compared to 2023, the real per capita income increased by 2% in the EU and by 5% in Portugal.
