Spain's per capita income drops again to 30% below the Eurozone average and falls back to 1999 levels

18 years after the introduction of the euro, the single currency has still not fulfilled its promise of bringing the Spanish economy closer to that of its European partners. Despite the fact that Spain's GDP has grown above the Eurozone average on quite a few occasions over the last 5 years, this growth has not translated into an improvement in per capita income that brings it closer to that of neighboring countries.

Specifically, the gap between Spain's per capita income and the Eurozone average has increased by up to 30% since the last crisis, reversing the progress made until 2008, when Spain's per capita wealth was 15% below that of the Eurozone, its lowest level ever, according to El Confidencial.

Thus, Spain's GDP per capita stood at the second and third quarter of 2020, when the economy suffered the greatest impact of the coronavirus, at 30% behind the average of the 19 countries of the single European currency, figures that had not been seen since 1999.

The 15 richest countries per capita in the world

This means that Spain has lost in the decade since the previous economic crisis all progress in convergence with the standards of living in Europe, especially from 2011, when the crisis of the euro placed Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Ireland in a recession that managed to avoid the economies of northern European Union, according to the digital newspaper.

However, part of the ground lost during the previous recession was recovered between 2013 and 2016, when the recovery of the Spanish economy led it to register annual growth rates that in some cases doubled those of the Eurozone, although this process was slowed down and has been reversed between 2016 and 2019, although especially in 2017, with a difference of 14 points.

In the last 4 years the gap has increased again despite the continued growth of the Spanish GDP, since this growth has not been based on an increase in productivity, but in employment, according to El Confidencial, which estimates that since 2002 the income per capita has increased by 2,600 euros per quarter, to 6,100 euros, while that of the Eurozone has grown by 3,300 euros.

Thus, Spain's entry into the euro has not led to an improvement in growth, at least since 2008, nor has it prevented the country from being among the worst hit in the last two economic crises. In addition, the digital media criticizes the fact that it has not improved the situation of the productive fabric, aggravating the loss of weight of industry over services, which has reduced the value and economic stability of employment.

In fact, the gap is even more pronounced when considering the 27 countries of the European Union, despite the fact that convergence was achieved in 2008. Since then, Spain's per capita GDP has grown by 1% and that of the EU by 20%, which translates into a difference of 1,400 euros per quarter or more than 5,600 euros per year.