EU vs. USA

Update: If you're looking for individual state GDP data, also called Gross State Product (GSP), see Cool Tools and GSP and try out the ranking table!

Update (11 January 2005): Political Calculations has built a new ranking table for comparing 2004 GDP data pitting the individual states of the US against the EU-15 nations in EU vs US: Two Years of Economic Data Later....

If the European Union were a state in the USA it would belong to the poorest group of states. France, Italy, Great Britain and Germany have lower GDP per capita than all but four of the states in the United States. In fact, GDP per capita is lower in the vast majority of the EU-countries (EU 15) than in most of the individual American states. This puts Europeans at a level of prosperity on par with states such as Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia.

Intrigued? The Swedish free-market think tank Timbro has released a report (available online as a 958KB PDF document) by Dr. Fredrik Bergstrom and Robert Gidehag that compares official economic statistics between the countries of the European Union and the states of the United States. (HT: Don Bordreaux of Cafe Hayek).

Here are some individual European country comparisons with the United States from the report's Appendix, which I've ranked from best to worst:

Luxembourg

Luxembourg is one of the countries which can really vie with the USA in terms of per capita GDP. Luxembourg’s per capita GDP is about 40 per cent greater that the USA’s, and so as a state of the USA Luxembourg would not rank among the poorest.

Ireland

Ireland, as an American state, would come twelfth among the poorest. The Southern and Eastern regions are slightly better off but their per capita GDP remains on a level with the poorest states of the USA.

Denmark

Denmark, if it were one of the states of the USA, would come well below the American average for per capita GDP, ranking tenth among the poorest states.

The Netherlands

The Netherlands as a state of the USA would come ninth among the poorest. The West Netherlands come close to the US average for per capita GDP. Otherwise all regions have a per capita GDP equalling those of the poorest states in the USA.

Austria

Austria would rank eighth among the poorest states of the USA. [Comment mine]

Sweden

Sweden as a whole would be seventh poorest as a state of the USA. Even the Stockholm region falls short of the US average, and nearly all other regions have a per capita GDP below that of the very poorest state of the USA.

Belgium

If Belgium were an American state, it would be the sixth poorest in the Union. Only the Brussels region comes off well, with a per capita GDP some 50 per cent over the American average. Other regions have less per capita GDP than most of the poorest states of the USA.

Finland

Finland would come fifth among the poorest if it were an American state. The only region almost equalling the US average for per capita GDP is Åland. Other regions have a per capita GDP below that of the poorest states of the USA.

United Kingdom

As an American state, the UK would come fifth among the poorest. Only central London, with a per capita GDP some 18 per cent over the US average, comes off well in a comparison. All other regions, on the whole, have a per capita GDP approaching that of the poorest state in the USA.

France

France as a state of the USA would be fifth poorest. Only the Ile de France region exceeds by average US per capita GDP, by some 18 per cent. Otherwise all regions rank with the poorest states of the USA.

Italy

Italy as a state of the USA would come fifth among the country’s poorest. In a couple of regions of northern Italy per capita GDP comes quite close to the American average, but otherwise most regions would, by comparison,
come low down among the poorest states of the USA.

Germany

Germany would be the fifth poorest state of the USA. The Hamburg region comes off well, with a per capita GDP 23 per cent over the US average. Bremen too comes close to the US average, but per capita GDP in the other regions
either equals or falls short of the poorest states of the USA.

Spain

Spain would be one of the very poorest states of the USA. Even the region surrounding the capital, Madrid (which has the highest per capita GDP) would be number nine among the poorest by comparison with average per capita GDP in the USA.

Portugal

Portugal as an American state would be one of the poorest. All other regions, compared with the poorest states of the US, have less per capita GDP and would come far down on the list with Portugal as a state of the USA.

Greece

Greece has a per capita GDP which is less than half that of the USA, and as one of the states of the USA would come far behind the poorest of them today. The Attiki region has a slightly higher per capita GDP but still comes bottom.