EU price and volume comparison
What are the differences in the price levels of EU countries and in comparison with the average? How high is GDP per capita in the individual countries compared to the EU average? The statistics facilitate international real-economic comparisons and comparison of the price levels of the different countries.
Explainer on…
Gross domestic product, GDP, indicates the size of a country's economy. GDP can be calculated in three ways:
- Gross domestic product (GDP) in market prices is calculated from the production side by subtracting from production at market prices the total value of intermediate consumption at buyer prices.
- It can also be calculated from the income side as compensation of employees plus the surplus of production and mixed income plus taxes on production, net.
- Finally it can be calculated from the application side as the sum of all final uses in buyer prices minus the import of goods and services.
Includes the countries that were members of the EU on 1 February 2020. Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Croatia, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Austria.
Indicates the domestic (slet og erstat med national) price level in relation to the EU average. For example, if the Danish price level index is 126 and the Spanish price level index is 95, it means that the price level in Denmark is 26 pct. higher than the EU average, while the price level in Spain is 5 pct. lower than the EU average.
Selected statistics on EU price and volume comparison
Relative price levels in Europe
The figure shows relative price levels compared to the average of the 27 EU countries. The index is not suitable for ranking the countries if the differences between the countries are less than 5 percentage points, since the figures are subject to some uncertainty.
Price surveys are conducted in order to provide price input data for household consumption, individual government consumption, collective consumption and gross fixed capital formation (investment goods and services). Reference (imputed) PPPs are used for NPISH consumption, inventories, and net exports.
Household consumption For consumer (market) goods and services, special price surveys are carried out. The product sample is determined in collaboration among the participant countries, the OECD and Eurostat. The final product sample should consist of comparable goods and services and, to the largest extent possible, be equally representative of the expenditure patterns of all participant countries. Subsequently, the data collection is carried out by the National Statistical Institutes. Prices are collected from a variety of outlets (markets, corner shops, supermarkets, specialist shops, departmental stores, service establishments, etc.), usually by actually visiting the shops, but also via questionnaires, phone or electronic surveys and Internet. Food and beverages as well as articles for personal hygiene and wellness and beauty products are extensively covered by scanner data from supermarket chains. The use of scanner data / transaction data has increased in PPP in recent years. In 2021, 14 out of 37 participating countries used scanner data for Food, Beverages and Tobacco comparing to only 7 countries in 2018. Denmark has used scanner data for Food, Beverages and Tobacco, as well as for Articles for personal care since 2018. Scanner data has many advantages in comparison with the traditional price collection, as scanner data contains information about all products sold and their turnovers. In addition scanner data includes discounted prices to a much greater extent than traditional price collection. Information on turnover and quantities sold is used for weighting of prices at item level. As a result of the change in the data collection method, there are therefore changes in the price levels for the product groups covered by scanner data compared to previous years.
Prices are collected only in Copenhagen area and its surroundings. In order to obtain national average prices, spatial adjustment factors (SAF) should be provided for all basic headings.
Prices are collected over a period of three years. The product sample is divided into six separate surveys, and each year, two surveys are carried out. In the calculation of PPPs, extrapolations of the most recent survey data are used for the product groups that were not surveyed in the reference year. A temporal adjustment factor at basic heading level, based on HICP data, is used for this purpose. A similar temporal adjustment is needed in order to calculate annual average prices for the whole reference year, based on the prices collected in the survey month.
Rent survey is carried out annually. Figures on rent (housing) are extracted from the national rent survey and from the Central Register of Buildings and Dwellings
Government consumption The services produced by general government are non-market services and as such, they have no economically significant market price. Because there are no market prices, non-market services in national accounts at input prices should be valued for collective services produced by government. The compensation of employees including social contributions for a sample of occupations in collective services provided by the government is surveyed annually. These compensation figures then enter the calculation of PPPs as price estimates for collective services.
In principle, the cost data are national annual averages for each sample occupation, which is extracted from Statistics Denmark's Salaries statistics.
For health services, PPPs are based on a mixture of (quasi-)prices collected for hospital services, outpatient medical services and medical products. This is applied since reference year 2010. The PPPs for years before 2010 are based on the input cost approach. Health survey is conducted annually by Statens Serum Institut.
Gross fixed capital formation National purchasers' prices for investment goods and services should be reported . There are two price surveys, one for equipment goods (once every two years), and one for construction (annual). The prices collected are mid-year prices because it is too costly to monitor prices over the whole year.
Prices for equipment goods are obtained from producers, importers, distributors or actual purchasers. The prices collected can be either purchasers' prices for actual market transactions or purchasers' prices for hypothetical market transactions - that is, what purchasers would pay if they made a purchase. This survey is outsourced to the external expert.
Prices for construction are collected using a set of standard construction projects covering different types of buildings and civil engineering works. Prices for the projects are to be at the level of prevailing tender prices - that is, the prices of tenders that have been accepted by purchasers. This survey is outsourced to the external expert.
Auxiliary data In addition to the prices and adjustment factors enumerated above, expenditure weights at basic heading levels taken from the expenditure breakdown of national accounts are compiled and reported to Eurostat on annual basis.
Actual individual consumption
The actual individual consumption measures the households’ consumption of goods and services, and it is an indicator of the welfare of a country. Here consumption includes both the part financed by the household itself and the part financed by public funds. This allows for comparison across countries regardless who makes the payment in practice. In Denmark, public funds cover the majority of health care and education expenditure, while this is not necessarily the case in other countries.
The index is not suitable for ranking the countries if the differences between the countries are less than 5 percentage points, since the figures are subject to some uncertainty.
Price surveys are conducted in order to provide price input data for household consumption, individual government consumption, collective consumption and gross fixed capital formation (investment goods and services). Reference (imputed) PPPs are used for NPISH consumption, inventories, and net exports.
Household consumption For consumer (market) goods and services, special price surveys are carried out. The product sample is determined in collaboration among the participant countries, the OECD and Eurostat. The final product sample should consist of comparable goods and services and, to the largest extent possible, be equally representative of the expenditure patterns of all participant countries. Subsequently, the data collection is carried out by the National Statistical Institutes. Prices are collected from a variety of outlets (markets, corner shops, supermarkets, specialist shops, departmental stores, service establishments, etc.), usually by actually visiting the shops, but also via questionnaires, phone or electronic surveys and Internet. Food and beverages as well as articles for personal hygiene and wellness and beauty products are extensively covered by scanner data from supermarket chains. The use of scanner data / transaction data has increased in PPP in recent years. In 2021, 14 out of 37 participating countries used scanner data for Food, Beverages and Tobacco comparing to only 7 countries in 2018. Denmark has used scanner data for Food, Beverages and Tobacco, as well as for Articles for personal care since 2018. Scanner data has many advantages in comparison with the traditional price collection, as scanner data contains information about all products sold and their turnovers. In addition scanner data includes discounted prices to a much greater extent than traditional price collection. Information on turnover and quantities sold is used for weighting of prices at item level. As a result of the change in the data collection method, there are therefore changes in the price levels for the product groups covered by scanner data compared to previous years.
Prices are collected only in Copenhagen area and its surroundings. In order to obtain national average prices, spatial adjustment factors (SAF) should be provided for all basic headings.
Prices are collected over a period of three years. The product sample is divided into six separate surveys, and each year, two surveys are carried out. In the calculation of PPPs, extrapolations of the most recent survey data are used for the product groups that were not surveyed in the reference year. A temporal adjustment factor at basic heading level, based on HICP data, is used for this purpose. A similar temporal adjustment is needed in order to calculate annual average prices for the whole reference year, based on the prices collected in the survey month.
Rent survey is carried out annually. Figures on rent (housing) are extracted from the national rent survey and from the Central Register of Buildings and Dwellings
Government consumption The services produced by general government are non-market services and as such, they have no economically significant market price. Because there are no market prices, non-market services in national accounts at input prices should be valued for collective services produced by government. The compensation of employees including social contributions for a sample of occupations in collective services provided by the government is surveyed annually. These compensation figures then enter the calculation of PPPs as price estimates for collective services.
In principle, the cost data are national annual averages for each sample occupation, which is extracted from Statistics Denmark's Salaries statistics.
For health services, PPPs are based on a mixture of (quasi-)prices collected for hospital services, outpatient medical services and medical products. This is applied since reference year 2010. The PPPs for years before 2010 are based on the input cost approach. Health survey is conducted annually by Statens Serum Institut.
Gross fixed capital formation National purchasers' prices for investment goods and services should be reported . There are two price surveys, one for equipment goods (once every two years), and one for construction (annual). The prices collected are mid-year prices because it is too costly to monitor prices over the whole year.
Prices for equipment goods are obtained from producers, importers, distributors or actual purchasers. The prices collected can be either purchasers' prices for actual market transactions or purchasers' prices for hypothetical market transactions - that is, what purchasers would pay if they made a purchase. This survey is outsourced to the external expert.
Prices for construction are collected using a set of standard construction projects covering different types of buildings and civil engineering works. Prices for the projects are to be at the level of prevailing tender prices - that is, the prices of tenders that have been accepted by purchasers. This survey is outsourced to the external expert.
Auxiliary data In addition to the prices and adjustment factors enumerated above, expenditure weights at basic heading levels taken from the expenditure breakdown of national accounts are compiled and reported to Eurostat on annual basis.
GDP per capita
The figure shows GDP per capita compared to the average of the 27 EU countries. GDP is converted here using purchasing power parities to take into account differences in the countries’ price and cost levels. This means that the figures are comparable in real terms.
The index is not suitable for ranking the countries if the differences between the countries are less than 5 percentage points, since the figures are subject to some uncertainty.
Price surveys are conducted in order to provide price input data for household consumption, individual government consumption, collective consumption and gross fixed capital formation (investment goods and services). Reference (imputed) PPPs are used for NPISH consumption, inventories, and net exports.
Household consumption For consumer (market) goods and services, special price surveys are carried out. The product sample is determined in collaboration among the participant countries, the OECD and Eurostat. The final product sample should consist of comparable goods and services and, to the largest extent possible, be equally representative of the expenditure patterns of all participant countries. Subsequently, the data collection is carried out by the National Statistical Institutes. Prices are collected from a variety of outlets (markets, corner shops, supermarkets, specialist shops, departmental stores, service establishments, etc.), usually by actually visiting the shops, but also via questionnaires, phone or electronic surveys and Internet. Food and beverages as well as articles for personal hygiene and wellness and beauty products are extensively covered by scanner data from supermarket chains. The use of scanner data / transaction data has increased in PPP in recent years. In 2021, 14 out of 37 participating countries used scanner data for Food, Beverages and Tobacco comparing to only 7 countries in 2018. Denmark has used scanner data for Food, Beverages and Tobacco, as well as for Articles for personal care since 2018. Scanner data has many advantages in comparison with the traditional price collection, as scanner data contains information about all products sold and their turnovers. In addition scanner data includes discounted prices to a much greater extent than traditional price collection. Information on turnover and quantities sold is used for weighting of prices at item level. As a result of the change in the data collection method, there are therefore changes in the price levels for the product groups covered by scanner data compared to previous years.
Prices are collected only in Copenhagen area and its surroundings. In order to obtain national average prices, spatial adjustment factors (SAF) should be provided for all basic headings.
Prices are collected over a period of three years. The product sample is divided into six separate surveys, and each year, two surveys are carried out. In the calculation of PPPs, extrapolations of the most recent survey data are used for the product groups that were not surveyed in the reference year. A temporal adjustment factor at basic heading level, based on HICP data, is used for this purpose. A similar temporal adjustment is needed in order to calculate annual average prices for the whole reference year, based on the prices collected in the survey month.
Rent survey is carried out annually. Figures on rent (housing) are extracted from the national rent survey and from the Central Register of Buildings and Dwellings
Government consumption The services produced by general government are non-market services and as such, they have no economically significant market price. Because there are no market prices, non-market services in national accounts at input prices should be valued for collective services produced by government. The compensation of employees including social contributions for a sample of occupations in collective services provided by the government is surveyed annually. These compensation figures then enter the calculation of PPPs as price estimates for collective services.
In principle, the cost data are national annual averages for each sample occupation, which is extracted from Statistics Denmark's Salaries statistics.
For health services, PPPs are based on a mixture of (quasi-)prices collected for hospital services, outpatient medical services and medical products. This is applied since reference year 2010. The PPPs for years before 2010 are based on the input cost approach. Health survey is conducted annually by Statens Serum Institut.
Gross fixed capital formation National purchasers' prices for investment goods and services should be reported . There are two price surveys, one for equipment goods (once every two years), and one for construction (annual). The prices collected are mid-year prices because it is too costly to monitor prices over the whole year.
Prices for equipment goods are obtained from producers, importers, distributors or actual purchasers. The prices collected can be either purchasers' prices for actual market transactions or purchasers' prices for hypothetical market transactions - that is, what purchasers would pay if they made a purchase. This survey is outsourced to the external expert.
Prices for construction are collected using a set of standard construction projects covering different types of buildings and civil engineering works. Prices for the projects are to be at the level of prevailing tender prices - that is, the prices of tenders that have been accepted by purchasers. This survey is outsourced to the external expert.
Auxiliary data In addition to the prices and adjustment factors enumerated above, expenditure weights at basic heading levels taken from the expenditure breakdown of national accounts are compiled and reported to Eurostat on annual basis.
On the statistics – documentation, sources and method
See the documentation of statistics to learn more:
PPP tells how many currency units a given amount of goods and services cost in different countries. The statistics are used, among other things, to convert countries' gross domestic product (GDP) into comparable figures and for analyses of expenditure levels. Denmark has participated in the work on purchasing power parities since the 1970s, but the statistics in their current form are comparable from 2000 onwards.