Bulgaria had Actual Individual Consumption (AIC) per capita of around half of the European Union average last year, according to first preliminary estimates unveiled by Eurostat on 15 June.

AIC is a measure of material welfare of households expressed in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS).

AIC per capita varied by almost one to three across the EU member states, with the highest level in the bloc recorded in Luxembourg, 37% above the EU average of 100%.

Germany was nearly 25% above average, followed by Austria, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Sweden which all recorded levels between 10% and 20% above the EU average.

At the opposite end of the ranking were Hungary (62% of the EU average), Croatia and Romania (each with 58% of the EU average) and Bulgaria (51% of the EU average).