In 2017, the Brussels Region ranked fifth of the 281 regions of the European Union in terms of GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards, an index that measures the degree of economic development, reported Eurostat.
In 2017 the indicator placed the Brussels-Capital Region at 196% of the EU average, barely below its 2016 level (200%). Brussels is far behind the London district of Inner London West (626%), which is home to the City, the financial heart of the British capital, but close enough to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rankings: Luxembourg (253%), Southem in Ireland (220%) and Hamburg in Germany (202%).
Flanders was 120%, driven by the province of Antwerp at 140% and hampered by Limburg at 96%. The Walloon Region was 84% of the European average. Walloon Brabant (131%) was well ahead of the other four southern provinces: Liège (84%), Namur (80%), Hainaut (75%) and Luxembourg (73%).
In the top-5 least active regions of Europe, there were four Bulgarian regions, between 31% and 39%.
GDP per capita measures the economic development of a territory, but it does not account for income and wealth inequalities within a population.