The disposable income of Europeans has increased, but asymmetries persist between the different Member States.

While in Luxembourg, the average income per citizen, expressed in Purchasing Power Parities (PPP), is around 33 thousand euros per year, in Bulgaria, it does not even reach 10 thousand euros. In Portugal, it is around 12 thousand euros, making the country a poor performer in this European photograph.

“In 2022, the average income per inhabitant in the EU, expressed in PPP, was 18,706 euros, above the 18,011 euros recorded in 2021,” said Eurostat this morning, which highlights that there is still some inequality between the various countries that make up the community block.

Let's look at the income recorded in the various Member States. At the top of the table comes Luxembourg (33,214 euros, expressed in PPP), followed by the Netherlands (25,437 euros, expressed in PPP), Austria (25,119 euros, expressed in PPP) and Belgium (24,142 euros, expressed in PPC).

At the base of the ranking, with the lowest disposable income per capita come Bulgaria (9,671 euros, expressed in PPP), Slovakia (9,826 euros, expressed in PPP), Romania (10,033 euros, expressed in PCC) and Hungary ( 10,841 euros, expressed in PPP).

Portugal does not appear very far from these last countries. With an average income per inhabitant of 12,266 euros, expressed in PCC, it is the sixth worst-scoring country in the European table.

Despite the Government's announcement that increasing wages is a priority and the growth in wages - this year alone, the increase is around 8% -, Portugal continues, year after year, to stand out for its negative results in the European space in terms of concerns salaries.

Purchasing Power Parities allows for more rigorous comparisons, as they eliminate the effects of differences in price levels between countries.