Türkiye is the only country in Europe where income is low!

♦ “Equivalent per capita disposable income for an equivalent household” basically shows the income that a household can spend and save. Euronews has used this concept all over the news, shortening it to “household disposable income.”

Per capita household income according to purchasing power (PPS) was 18 thousand 706 in the European Union in 2022. This value was 6 thousand 10 in Turkey.

The highest household income in Europe is in Luxembourg at 33,214; The lowest is in Albania at 4,385. The EU country with the lowest value is Bulgaria with 9,971.

Disposable household income is above the EU average in five Scandinavian countries, but Norway came in second, while none of the other countries were in the top five.

The division between the Big Four in the European Union

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When we look at the four largest EU countries in terms of population, we find that disposable household income was higher than the EU average in Germany (23,197) and France (20,575). Italy (18,472) and Spain (17,254) remained below the EU average.

It is noteworthy that Croatia, the last country to join the European Union, has a higher income than the six European Union countries.

The nominated countries have the lowest income

The countries nominated for European Union membership were the countries with the lowest household income on the list.

While Albania (4 thousand and 385) came at the bottom of the list, followed by North Macedonia (5 thousand and 988) and Turkey (6 thousand and 210).

Income inequality in euro terms is deepening

The distribution of income inequality in Europe becomes sharper when income in euros is taken into account instead of purchasing power.

Disposable household income in the European Union in 2022 was 19 thousand 83 euros. Luxembourg is at the top again with €45,310. Albania is at the bottom again with €2,523. Türkiye ranks second from last among 36 countries with 2,752 euros.

This income amounts to 25 thousand euros in Germany; In France, it reached 23 thousand and 53 euros. Unsurprisingly, income in euros is much lower in EU candidate countries.

How has household disposable income changed in the past five years?

So, how has average household disposable income in euros changed in the past five years?

It has increased by more than 40% between 2017 and 2022 (or in the last five years for which data are available) in nine EU Member States and two candidate countries. This change was 17 percent for the European Union as a whole.

Romania recorded the highest increase at 101 percent, followed by Serbia (68 percent) and Lithuania (66 percent).

The change remained lower in countries where this income was above the EU average. For example, it was 1% in Switzerland, 2% in Norway, and 5% in France and Sweden.

Türkiye is the only country where income decreased

Türkiye was the only country where disposable household income in euros decreased. Between 2016 and 2021, income in Turkey decreased by one thousand euros (27 percent).

Looking at changes in the euro rather than percentages, the highest increase was recorded in Luxembourg (8 thousand 995 euros), followed by Ireland (6 thousand 181 euros) and the Netherlands (5 thousand 976 euros).

While the average increase in the European Union was 2 thousand and 802 euros, this increase amounted to 3 thousand and 80 euros in Germany and 1093 euros in France.