Portugal’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP), by purchasing power parity, fell by three percentage point between 2011 and 2012 to 75 percent of the average for the 27 countries in the European Union (EU), according to figures published Wednesday in Luxembourg by Eurostat.

The European Union’s statistics organisation said that this was the lowest level since 2011, when per capita GDP stood at 80 percent of the European average, as well as being the second lowest in the Euro Zone and the same as Greece and Slovakia.

The scale of the divergences between European countries remains “notable” and per capita GDP varies between a minimum of 47 percent of the average in Bulgaria and a maximum of 271 percent in Luxembourg.

Amongst countries with greater purchasing power are Austria (131 percent), Ireland (129 percent), the Netherlands and Sweden (both with 128 percent) and at the bottom of the table are Bulgaria, Romania (49 percent), Lithuania (62 percent) and Hungary and Poland (both with 66 percent). (macauhub)