TALLINN - Estonia's per capita GDP will reach the same level as Portugal in 2007, new Eurostat figures indicate. Reports show that the per capita GDP of both Estonia and Portugal, which is measured using the purchasing power parity method, will next year amount to a little less than 70 percent of the EU average.
"Estonia's rapid rate of growth has changed that picture quite a lot over the past two years," the Bank of Estonia's vice-president, Marten Ross, told the Baltic News Service, adding that Portugal had been showing very slow growth over the past decade.
"Side by side with the European Union, Portugal has not converged but rather diverged," he said.
Estonia's 7 percent average annual economic growth over the past 10 years is second only to the growth rate of Ireland, whose economy has been growing at a rate of 8 percent on average.
The economies of Latvia and Lithuania have also been growing at similar rates. Latvia's economy grew by 6.2 percent and Lithuania's by 6.1 percent between 1995-2005. The average growth of the 25 EU members during that period was 2.26 percent.
The purchasing power parity exchange rate reflects countries' differing price levels, which currency exchange rates do not take into account. This measure allows a more adequate comparison of the economic indicators across borders.
