Swedish households’ Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita was 11 percent above the average for the 28 EU countries in 2015. Sweden ranks tenth in Europe.

Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) consists of goods and services that are consumed by the individual, irrespective of whether these goods and services are purchased and paid for by households, by the government or by non-profit organisations. In international comparisons, AIC is often seen as the preferable indicator for households’ actual standard of living.

The dispersion in AIC per capita among the 28 EU countries and Norway, Iceland and Switzerland ranges from 37 percent above to 47 percent below the EU-28 average. Luxembourg tops the list with 37 percent above, followed by Norway, which is 33 percent above, and Switzerland, which is 28 percent above the average. However, it should be noted that Norway, Switzerland and Iceland are not included in the EU-28 average.

GDP per capita is mainly an indicator of economic activity in a particular country.

In 2015, Sweden’s GDP per capita was 24 percent above the EU-28 average. Luxembourg had by far the highest GDP per capita, at 164 percent above the EU average. The high figure is in part due to the large number of foreign residents who work in the country and thus contribute to the GDP, although they are not included in the population statistics. Bulgaria has the lowest figure in this comparison - 53 percent below the average for the EU countries.

Source: Eurostat and Statistics Sweden.
Graphics: GDP per capita in PPS/Eurostat