The Wall Street Journal reported that the population of Europe has become poorer amid rising inflation and a decrease in purchasing power, while the incomes of American citizens are rising.
The newspaper cites data from the OECD, according to which purchasing power in the eurozone has decreased by 1% since the end of 2019, while in the US it has grown by 9% due to a strong labor market and rising incomes. Europe currently accounts for 18% of global consumption and the US for 28%, although 15 years ago these figures were about the same.
The newspaper notes that the purchasing power of Europeans is negatively affected by lower wages – it has decreased in Germany since 2019 by 3%, in Italy and Spain – by 3.5%, in Greece – by 6%. And the salaries of Americans over the same period increased by 6%.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the average annual wage in the United States in 2022 was $77.46 thousand compared to $73.19 thousand in 2019. For comparison, residents of Germany earn an average of 58.94 thousand dollars, and Britain – 53.99 dollars. thousand, France – 52.76 thousand dollars, Italy – 44.89 thousand dollars, Spain – 42.86 thousand dollars and Greece – 25.98 thousand dollars.
The International Monetary Fund confirms that the eurozone economy has grown by 6% over the past fifteen years, while the US economy has grown by 82%, which makes the economic average of Europe lower than in any US state except Idaho and Mississippi.
In 2008, the Eurozone GDP ($14.22 trillion) was almost equal to the US GDP in this area ($14.77 trillion), and in 2023 it surpassed the US ($26.86 trillion) European (15. 07 trillion dollars) by more than 11 trillion dollars.
Source: TASS