The standard of living in Croatia improved slightly in 2022 and was a quarter below the European Union average, according to data released by the EU's statistical office, Eurostat, on Tuesday.

Eurostat measures the standard of living by actual individual consumption (AIC) per capita, which consists of goods and services actually consumed by households, irrespective of whether they were purchased and paid for by households directly, or by government, or by nonprofit organisations.

AIC per capita is expressed in purchasing power standards, an artificial currency unit that eliminates price differences between countries.

9 EU countries with AIC per capita above EU average

In 2022, nine EU countries recorded AIC per capita above the EU average. The highest levels were recorded in Luxembourg (38% above the EU average), Germany (19%) and Austria (18%), while 18 EU countries recorded AIC per capita below the EU average, with the lowest levels recorded in Bulgaria (33% below the EU average), Hungary (28%) and Slovakia (27%).

The countries closest to the EU average were Italy, Cyprus and Lithuania, while Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, Romania and Malta were between 10% and 15% below the EU average.

Croatia was among the countries with the lowest standard of living in the EU in 2022, with AIC per capita 25% below the average.

Luxembourg also confirmed its position as the EU country with the highest GDP per capita, which was two a half times higher than the EU average last year. Eurostat noted that this was partly due to the country’s large share of cross-border workers in total employment. “While contributing to GDP, these workers are not taken into consideration as part of the resident population which is used to calculate GDP per capita,” it said.

GDP per capita above the EU average recorded in 11 EU countries

GDP per capita above the EU average was recorded in 11 EU countries. It was highest in Luxembourg (161% above the EU average), Ireland (133%) and Denmark (37%), while it was lowest in Bulgaria (41% below the EU average), Slovakia and Greece (both 32%).

France, Malta and Italy were closest to the average, while Slovenia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Estonia were about 10% below the average.

Poland, Hungary, Portugal, Romania and Latvia were 20% to 30% below the EU average, while Croatia was 27% below the average. In 2021, Croatia was 30% below the EU average.