Lowest purchasing power in Europe

Romania has the lowest purchasing power of all the European states, a survey conducted by two European research institutes shows. Switzerland is first in this ranking, while Romania ranks last, with Switzerland’s buying power twelve times higher than Romania’s. Considering an average European index of 100, Switzerland’s index is 196 and Romania’s is only 16. The survey of German institute Consdata Marketing and of Austrian institute RegioData, which included 29 states and 279 regions in Europe, highlighted huge gaps in terms of purchasing power between various areas. The other states in the Central and Eastern Europe soon to join the EU are now placed higher in the ranking than before. The region ranking shows Switzerland on top again, as Grand Zurich’s index is 213. The top ten includes London, Luxembourg and Oslo. Romanian and Bulgarian regions are placed on the bottom positions, with Romania’s NE region (13.4 index) ranked last. ZF