Earlier this year, Political Calculations noted a study by the Sweden-based free-market advocacy group Timbro, which compared the relative wealth of the nations of Western Europe (the 15 members of the European Union prior to the EU being expanded in May 2004) against individual U.S. states. The key finding in Timbro's report (available as a 958KB PDF document) was that:

If the European Union were a state in the USA it would belong to the poorest group of states. France, Italy, Great Britain and Germany have lower GDP per capita than all but four of the states in the United States. In fact, GDP per capita is lower in the vast majority of the EU-countries (EU 15) than in most of the individual American states. This puts Europeans at a level of prosperity on par with states such as Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia.

Timbro's study was based on 2002 economic data, but since it was published, economic data for both 2003 and 2004 has been published. So, the question is now: what's changed in those two years? To find out, Political Calculations has created the following dynamic table comparing each U.S. state's Gross State Product (GSP) or each E.U. nation's Gross Domestic Product adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (GDP-PPP) data for 2004, their respective populations and their corresponding per Capita economic data, which you may sort according to the column headings, either from highest to lowest value or vice-versa.

US vs EU: 2004 Edition

U.S. State or E.U. Nation	GSP or GDP-PPP (billions 2004 USD)	Population (July 2004 est.)	GSP or GDP-PPP per Capita
US - Alabama	139.8	4530182	30869
US - Alaska	34.0	655435	51909
US - Arizona	200.0	5743834	34812
US - Arkansas	80.9	2752629	29391
US - California	1550.8	35893799	43204
US - Colorado	200.0	4601403	43458
US - Connecticut	185.8	3503604	53032
US - Delaware	54.3	830364	65362
US - District of Columbia	76.7	553523	138540
US - Florida	599.1	17397161	34435
US - Georgia	343.1	8829383	38862
US - Hawaii	50.3	1262840	39848
US - Idaho	43.6	1393262	31273
US - Illinois	521.9	12713634	41050
US - Indiana	227.6	6237569	36484
US - Iowa	111.1	2954451	37609
US - Kansas	98.9	2735502	36171
US - Kentucky	136.4	4145922	32911
US - Louisiana	152.9	4515770	33869
US - Maine	43.3	1317253	32899
US - Maryland	228.0	5558058	41020
US - Massachusetts	317.8	6416505	49528
US - Michigan	372.2	10112620	36802
US - Minnesota	223.8	5100958	43878
US - Mississippi	76.2	2902966	26237
US - Missouri	203.3	5754618	35327
US - Montana	27.5	926865	29650
US - Nebraska	68.2	1747214	39024
US - Nevada	100.3	2334771	42967
US - New Hampshire	51.9	1299500	39916
US - New Jersey	416.1	8698879	47828
US - New Mexico	61.0	1903289	32056
US - New York	896.7	19227088	46639
US - North Carolina	336.4	8541221	39385
US - North Dakota	22.7	634366	35763
US - Ohio	419.9	11459011	36641
US - Oklahoma	107.6	3523553	30537
US - Oregon	128.1	3594586	35638
US - Pennsylvania	468.1	12406292	37730
US - Rhode Island	41.7	1080632	38569
US - South Carolina	136.1	4198068	32426
US - South Dakota	29.4	770883	38120
US - Tennessee	217.6	5900962	36880
US - Texas	884.1	22490022	39312
US - Utah	82.6	2389039	34579
US - Vermont	21.9	621394	35277
US - Virginia	329.3	7459827	44147
US - Washington	261.5	6203788	42160
US - West Virginia	49.5	1815354	27242
US - Wisconsin	211.6	5509026	38413
US - Wyoming	24.0	506529	47340
US - All States	11665.6	293655404	39959
EU - Austria	255.9	8174762	31304
EU - Belgium	316.2	10348276	30556
EU - Denmark	174.4	5413392	32216
EU - Finland	151.2	5214512	28996
EU - France	1737.0	60424213	28747
EU - Germany	2362.0	82424609	28656
EU - Greece	226.4	10647529	21263
EU - Ireland	126.4	3969558	31842
EU - Italy	1609.0	58057477	27714
EU - Luxembourg	27.3	462690	59003
EU - Netherlands	481.1	16318199	29482
EU - Portugal	188.7	10524145	17930
EU - Spain	937.6	40280780	23277
EU - Sweden	255.4	8986400	28420
EU - United Kingdom	1782.0	60270708	29567
EU - 15 (Members pre-2004)	10630.6	381517250	27864

Analyzing the Data

The Poorest US State and the Poorest EU-15 Nation in 2004

In ranking the data according to GSP or GDP per Capita, the poorest U.S. state is Mississippi, with a GSP per Capita of $26,237 USD (2004). For the EU-15, the poorest nation is Portugal, whose GDP-PPP per Capita (GDP per Capita adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity in equivalent U.S. dollars) is $17,930 USD.

The Richest US State and the Richest EU-15 Nation in 2004

Discarding the statistical outliers (see below), the richest U.S. state, as measured on a GSP per Capita basis is Delaware, with a GSP per Capita of $65,632 USD. Meanwhile, the richest EU-15 nation is Denmark with $32,216 USD GDP-PPP per Capita figure.

The "Rich" Statistical Outliers

According to the calculated GSP per Capita and the GDP-PPP per Capita data, the richest part of the United States is the District of Columbia (at $138,540 USD) and the richest part of Europe is Luxembourg (at $59,003 USD). Both figures are inflated well beyond the national average (more than double) due to each region's unique situation. The District of Columbia occupies some 61 square miles (158 square kilometers) and is the seat of the U.S. federal government, whose spending makes up the vast bulk of its GSP figure. Luxembourg is the smallest member of the EU, occupying some 998 square miles (2,586 square kilometers - slightly smaller than the U.S.' Rhode Island) and draws considerable capital flight from other countries to its banking institutions given the country's status as a tax haven.

Relative Comparison

In sorting the table from poorest to richest GSP or GDP-PPP per Capita, we see that the three EU-15 nations of Portugal, Greece and Spain are ranked lower than the two poorest U.S. states of Mississippi and West Virginia. Working our way up the GSP and GDP-PPP per Capita chain, we see that the EU-15 nations of Italy, the EU-15 as a whole, Sweden, Germany, France and Finland all rank below the next lowest U.S. state of Arkansas.

Continuing up the chain, we see that the Netherlands and the United Kingdom fall behind Montana and Oklahoma, while Belgium ranks behind Alabama and Idaho. Next, we see Austria and Ireland coming in behind New Mexico, while Denmark - the richest EU-15 nation behind statistical outlier Luxembourg, falls in behind South Carolina and the other 41 U.S. states.

If statistical outlier Luxembourg were a U.S. state, it would rank second behind top U.S. state Delaware.

As far as what has changed in two years time, the answer is "not much."

Data, Data and More Data

GSP and GDP-PPP Data

• 2004 Gross State Product Data for U.S. and Individual States
• 2004 GDP-PPP Data for E.U. and the EU-15 Member Nations

Population Data

• July 2004 Population Estimates for U.S. States
• July 2004 Population Estimates for EU-15 Members

GSP and GDP per Capita

This data was calculated by simply dividing the published GSP or GDP data by the US state or EU nation's population estimate for July 2004.

Previously on Political Calculations

• EU vs USA (2002 data)
• Cool Tools and GSP (2002 data)
• GDP of the Americas (2002 data)
• GDP in the Muslim World (2002 data)
• GDP in Europe (2002 data)
• GDP: Africa (2002 data)
• GDP Along the Pacific Rim (2002 data)
• GDP in Asia (2002 data)
• GDP: And the rest... (2002 data)

Labels: gdp

- posted by Ironman at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Home |