UK living standard 4th best in EU
BRITISH living standards are improving, even as they stagnate in neighbours such as France, official EU statistics showed yesterday.
The UK is tied in fourth place with Nordic states Denmark, Finland and Sweden.
The only countries which enjoy a higher standard are Luxembourg, Germany and Austria.
The standard of living is determined by a unit called Actual Individual Consumption (AIC), which is a measure of material welfare of households.
The United Kingdom received an AIC per capita score of 115, 15 per cent higher than the average score of 100.
By contrast, Luxembourg is in the top spot with a score of 136, Germany is second on 122 and Austria is third placed with a score of 120.
Luxembourg, which has been on the top of the list for the past three years, has seen its AIC per capita drop three points from last year, while Germany closed the gap, staying at 122.
As the score is a relative grading, this means Luxembourg has moved closer to the EU average, while Germany has moved further ahead of other states.
The UK stayed consistent with its 2012 score, yet still advanced one spot as a result of the Netherlands’ score dropping from 116 to 113. As a result, the Netherlands finished in eighth place for 2013.
Rounding out the top 10 are Belgium, which finished with a score of 111, and France which came in with 110.
Italy was the only country to finish right on the average, finishing in 11th place at 100 AIC per capita.
In the entire EU28, Bulgaria finished dead last with an AIC per capita of 49.