The way income is distributed across society determines the extent to which individuals have equal access to the goods and services produced within a national economy. A very important measure of income distribution is the median equivalised disposable income (further referred to as median disposable income) here expressed per inhabitant in purchasing power standard (PPS) .
In 2021, the median disposable income was 18 019 PPS per inhabitant in the EU. It varied considerably across the EU Member States and ranged from 32 132 PPS in Luxembourg, to 8 703 PPS in Romania.
The highest levels of median disposable income were recorded in Western and Nordic EU Member States, especially in Luxembourg (32132 PPS), the Netherlands (24560 PPS), Austria (24450 PPS) and Germany (23401 PPS). On the other hand, the median disposable income was lower in most Southern and Eastern Member States, particularly in Romania (8703 PPS), Bulgaria (9375 PPS), Greece (9917 PPS) and Hungary (9982 PPS).
For more information:
- Statistics Explained article on living conditions in Europe – income distribution and income inequality
- Thematic section on income and living conditions
- Database on income and living conditions
Methodological notes:
- Poland: provisional data.
- EFTA, candidate countries and Slovakia: 2020 data.
- Iceland: 2018 data.