21, Nov 2009, CST. Welcome to the European Union economic statistics pages provided by the beta version of EconomyWatch.com’s Econ Stats database.

Economic Indicators For: European Union › Change country
National or Regional Currency: US Dollar, US$
Year of data: 2008 › Change year
Number of Indicators Listed: 11
Full Dataset: From Year 1980 to 2013
Date of Last Update: 1 Sept 2009
Population: 491,582,852 (July 2009 est.)
Area: total: 4,324,782 sq km
Natural Resources: iron ore, natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, uranium, potash, salt, hydropower, arable land, timber, fish
Government Type: European Union government type
Government Ministers: European Union ministers
Capital: Brussels (Belgium), Strasbourg (France), Luxembourg
Data Sources: IMF, World Bank, UN, OECD, CIA World Factbook

Internally, the European Union (EU) is attempting to reduced trade (imports and exports) impediments, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the European Union (EU) aims to boost Europe's trade (imports and exports) position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from US$7,000 to US$69,000) and historic national animosities, the European Union (EU) faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their government budgets from running more than a 3 per cent deficit. In 2004 and 2007, the European Union (EU) admitted 10 and two countries, respectively, that are, in general, less advanced or mature technologically and economically than the other 15. Eleven established European Union (EU) member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007) and Cyprus and Malta (1 January 2008) have adopted the euro; the remaining nine are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting European Union (EU)'s financial and monetary convergence criteria.
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GDP Growth (Constant Prices, National Currency) for European Union in year 2008 is 1.114 %. Annual percentages of constant price GDP are year-on-year changes; the base year is country-specific.

GDP (Current Prices, US Dollars) for European Union in year 2008 is US$ 18,394.12 Billion. Values are based upon GDP in national currency and the exchange rate projections provided by country economists for the group of other emerging market and developing countries. Exchanges rates for advanced economies are established in the WEO assumptions for each WEO exercise.

GDP Deflator for European Union in year 2008 is not available

Output Gap, Percent of Potential GDP for European Union in year 2008 is not available

GDP (PPP), US Dollars for European Union in year 2008 is US$ 15,247.16 Billion. These data form the basis for the country weights used to generate the World Economic Outlook country group composites for the domestic economy. Please note: The IMF is not a primary source for purchasing power parity (PPP) data. WEO weights have been created from primary sources and are used solely for purposes of generating country group composites. For primary source information, please refer to one of the following sources: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, or the Penn World Tables. For further information see Box A2 in the April 2004 World Economic Outlook, Box 1.2 in the September 2003 World Economic Outlook for a discussion on the measurem

GDP Per Capita (PPP), US Dollars for European Union in year 2008 is not available

GDP Share of World Total (PPP) for European Union in year 2008 is 22.131 %. These data form the basis for the country weights used to generate the World Economic Outlook country group composites for the domestic economy. Please note: The IMF is not a primary source for purchasing power parity (PPP) data. WEO weights have been created from primary sources and are used solely for purposes of generating country group composites. For primary source information, please refer to one of the following sources: the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, or the Penn World Tables. For further information see Box A2 in the April 2004 World Economic Outlook, Box 1.2 in the September 2003 World Economic Outlook for a discussion on the measurem

Investment (% of GDP) for European Union in year 2008 is 21.623 %. Data are based on individual countries' national accounts statistics. For many countries, the estimates of national saving are built up from national accounts data on gross domestic investment and from balance of payments-based data on net foreign investment

Gross National Savings (% of GDP) for European Union in year 2008 is 20.612 %. Data are based on individual countries' national accounts statistics. For many countries, the estimates of national saving are built up from national accounts data on gross domestic investment and from balance of payments-based data on net foreign investment

Inflation (Average Consumer Price Change %) for European Union in year 2008 is 3.678 %. Data for inflation are averages for the year, not end-of-period data.

Inflation (End of Year Change %) for European Union in year 2008 is 2.468 %. Data for inflation are end of the period, not annual average data.

Unemployment Rate (% of Labour Force) for European Union in year 2008 is not available

Employment for European Union in year 2008 is not available

General Government Balance (% of GDP) for European Union in year 2008 is -2.337 %. Data are on a national income accounts basis. Please refer to Box A1 in the World Economic Outlook for a summary of the policy assumptions underlying the projections.

General Government Structural Balance (% Potential GDP) for European Union in year 2008 is not available

Current Account Balance (US Dollars) for European Union in year 2008 is US$ -196.546 Billion. Balance of payments data are based upon the methodology of the 5th edition of the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments Manual (1993). Data for the world total reflects errors, omissions, and asymmetries in balance of payments statistics on current account, as well as the exclusion of data for international organizations and a limited number of countries. Calculated as the sum of the balance of individual countries.

Current Account Balance (% GDP) for European Union in year 2008 is -1.069 %. Balance of payments data are based upon the methodology of the 5th edition of the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments Manual (1993). Data for the world total reflects errors, omissions, and asymmetries in balance of payments statistics on current account, as well as the exclusion of data for international organizations and a limited number of countries. Calculated as the sum of the balance of individual countries.