The standard of living in the Czech Republic declined relative to the European average last year. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power parity terms fell by two percentage points to 91% of the EU average, putting the Czech Republic on par with Slovenia. Italy is three percentage points above.
On the other hand, the Czech Republic is above Spain (84 percent) and Portugal (74 percent). This was shown in the Statistical Yearbook 2022 published Monday by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO).
Bulgaria has the lowest GDP per capita in purchasing power parity, at 55 percent of the EU average. On the other hand, the highest standard of living is in Luxembourg, which reaches 277 percent of the EU average. The Czech Republic is the second best-performing country among those that joined the EU after 2000, after Malta.
Last year, the Czech economy grew by 3.3 percent. This followed a recovery after a pandemic slump in 2020 when the economy contracted by 5.8 percent due to lockdowns.
The EU grew even faster, at an average of 5.3 percent of GDP, with Ireland growing the fastest of all EU countries, with GDP up 13.5 percent. Germany’s economy also increased at the other end of the scale, but only by 2.9 percent.
Unemployment is still at its lowest
The Czech Republic continued to lead the EU in unemployment, which was the lowest for the sixth year. It retained the top spot despite unemployment rising by 0.2 percentage points to 2.8 percent last year.
Poland had the second-lowest unemployment rate last year at 3.4 percent. The highest unemployment rate was in Spain, where it reached 14.8 percent. The European average was seven percent.
Average inflation was 3.3 percent last year, making prices in the Czech Republic the seventh fastest in the EU. The highest inflation rates were in Poland and Hungary, both at 5.2 percent. In Greece, on the other hand, prices rose by 0.6 percent, the slowest rate of increase. The European average was 2.9 percent.
The Statistical Yearbook presents over 800 pages of aggregated economic, demographic, and social data for the past year. This is the thirty-first edition since the establishment of the independent state in 1993.