The chart above shows the per capita annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each EU and US state as of the second quarter of 2019 in dollars, the change from the previous quarter, and the GDP one year prior. Luxembourg is in a class all by itself.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the largest per capita GDP, Luxembourg, and the state with the smallest, Bulgaria, is $129,821.49 (up from $129,072.70 last quarter and up from $129,481.79 last year). Luxembourg and Bulgaria had the largest and smallest per capita GDP respectively both last quarter and last year.
- Luxembourg has 14.92 times the per capita GDP that Bulgaria does. The ratio of largest per capita GDP to smallest per capita GDP was up from 14.85 last quarter and down from 15.48 last year.
- The median per capita GDP in the 28 EU states is $29,616.70 (down from $29,688.35 last quarter and down from $30,481.20 last year) and the mean $37,288.02 (down from $37,524.66 the previous quarter and down from $37,860.29 last year).
- The median per capita GDP in the 50 US states is $62,593.80 (up from $61,971.46 last quarter and up from $60,699.97 last year) and the mean $64,278.35 (up from $63,584.66 the previous quarter and up from $61,989.25 last year).
- The median per capita GDP in the 78 EU and US states is $56,611.60 (down from $56,675.18 last quarter and up from $54,935.95 last year) and the mean $54,589.52 (up from $54,229.79 the previous quarter and up from $53,327.57 last year).
- Fifty-five states (5 EU, 50 US) saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars from the previous quarter while 23 saw their per capita GDP drop (all from the EU).
- Fifty-nine states (9 EU, 50 US) saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars from last year while 19 saw it drop (all from the EU).
- All EU drops in per capita GDP except for Sweden's quarterly drop are attributed to currency rate fluctuations.
Caveats
- GDP data is from the second quarter of 2019, the first quarter of 2019, and the second quarter of 2018.
- US census data is from 2010, EU census data is from 2011.
- The data is seasonally adjusted in current dollars.
- Euros are converted to dollars at an average exchange rate of 1.12 for the second quarter of 2019, 1.14 for the first quarter of 2019, and 1.19 for the second quarter of 2018 according to historic rates listed at the Federal Reserve (see source link below).
- US data comes in an annualized format which the EU does not, thus EU data is annualized by multiplying the quarterly figure by four.
- US growth rates may differ from those provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis as the BEA's growth rates are based on chained dollars in conjunction with the chain index or the quality index for real GDP. The growth rates listed here are based on nominal GDP.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Details
In absolute terms, Sweden saw the largest decrease over the previous quarter with a drop of $1,709.51. Washington had the largest growth with a gain of $1,286.97. Year over year, Sweden had the largest decrease with a drop of $2,803.51 while Washington had the greatest increase with a gain of $4,977.75.
In relative terms, Sweden had the largest decrease over the previous quarter with a 2.95% drop in per capita GDP while Texas had the greatest increase with a 1.59% rise in per capita GDP. Year over year, Italy had the largest contraction with a 5.41% drop in per capita GDP while Washington had the largest growth with a 5.95% rise in per capita GDP.
The number of states with a per capita GDP of over $85,000 increased from three last year to four the previous quarter and four this past quarter. Conversely, the number of states with a per capita GDP of less than $50,000 went from 29 last year to 27 the previous quarter and to 26 this past quarter.
North Dakota (from 6th to 5th), Iowa (29th to 28th), Kansas (33rd to 32nd), Louisiana (37th to 36th), Indiana (38th to 37th), Florida (39th to 38th), Arizona (40th to 39th), Missouri (43rd to 42nd), Oklahoma (44th to 43rd), Michigan (45th to 44th), Maine (51st to 50th), New Mexico (52nd to 51st), Arkansas (58th to 57th), and West Virginia (60th to 59th) each surpassed one state over the previous quarter. Sweden (from 36th to 40th) was surpassed by four states. The Netherlands (42nd to 45th) was bested by three, and Finland (50th to 52nd) was bested by two. Ireland (5th to 6th), Denmark (28th to 29th), Ohio (32nd to 33rd), the United Kingdom (57th to 58th), and France (59th to 60th) were each surpassed by one. Year over year, Vermont (from 46th to 41st) bested five states. Arizona (42nd to 39th), Idaho (52nd to 49th), Maine (53rd to 50th), and New Mexico (54th to 51st) each bested three states, while Nevada (25th to 23rd), Oregon (26th to 24th), Wisconsin (33rd to 31st), Florida (40th to 38th), Missouri (44th to 42nd), South Carolina (49th to 47th), and Kentucky (55th to 53rd) each bested two. North Dakota (6th to 5th), California (8th to 7th), Texas (13th to 12th), Hawaii (17th to 16th), Illinois (19th to 18th), Pennsylvania (27th to 26th), Georgia (28th to 27th), Iowa (29th to 28th), Ohio (34th to 33rd), Rhode Island (35th to 34th), Tennessee (36th to 35th), Louisiana (37th to 36th), Indiana (38th to 37th), Michigan (45th to 44th), Alabama (57th to 56th), Arkansas (58th to 57th), West Virginia (60th to 59th), Malta (63rd to 62nd), and Estonia (68th to 67th) each bested one. On the flip side, Sweden (31st to 40th) was bested by nine states. The Netherlands (39th to 45th) was bested by six, while Denmark (24th to 29th), Finland (47th to 52nd), Austria (41st to 46th), and Denmark (24th to 29th) each fell five spots. Belgium (51st to 54th) fell three spots. South Dakota (23rd to 25th) and the United Kingdom (56th to 58th) were each bested by two states. Ireland (5th to 6th), Delaware (7th to 8th), Maryland (12th to 13th), Wyoming (16th to 17th), Nebraska (18th to 19th), France (59th to 60th), Italy (62nd to 63rd), and Czechia (67th to 68th) were each surpassed by one.
No EU states surpassed any US states over the quarter or year-over-year. This disparity is partially due to the rise of the dollar against the euro over the course of the past quarter and past year.
Sources
Eurostat. 2019. "GDP and Main Components." Accessed November 15, 2019. https://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?query=BOOKMARK_DS-406779_QID_1F30ECEB_UID_-3F171EB0&layout=TIME,C,X,0;GEO,L,Y,0;UNIT,L,Z,0;S_ADJ,L,Z,1;NA_ITEM,L,Z,2;INDICATORS,C,Z,3;&zSelection=DS-406779UNIT,CP_MEUR;DS-406779INDICATORS,OBS_FLAG;DS-406779S_ADJ,SCA;DS-406779NA_ITEM,B1GQ;&rankName1=UNIT_1_2_-1_2&rankName2=INDICATORS_1_2_-1_2&rankName3=NA-ITEM_1_2_-1_2&rankName4=S-ADJ_1_2_-1_2&rankName5=TIME_1_0_0_0&rankName6=GEO_1_2_0_1&sortC=ASC_-1_FIRST&rStp=&cStp=&rDCh=&cDCh=&rDM=true&cDM=true&footnes=false&empty=false&wai=false&time_mode=NONE&time_most_recent=false&lang=EN&cfo=%23%23%23%2C%23%23%23.%23%23%23.
Eurostat. 2017. "Population on 1 January by Age Groups and Sex - Functional Urban Areas." Accessed December 11, 2017. http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=urb_lpop1&lang=en.
Federal Reserve. 2019. "Foreign Exchange Rates." Accessed November 18, 2019. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g5/.
US Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2019. "GDP by State." Accessed November 14, 2019. https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state.
United States Census Bureau. September 2012. "United States Summary: 2010: Population and Housing Unit Counts." Accessed January 23, 2018. https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-1.pdf.