Economy Economic ranking charts

[Maciamo]

This thread is designed to share interesting charts about economic indicators to compare where countries stand.

Salaries have increased considerably from 2010 to 2024 in new EU member states. The fastest wage growth were in Latvia (+77%), Lithuania (+67%), Estonia (+40%) and Poland (+38%). Interesting wages in already wealthy Iceland grew slightly faster (+40%) than in Poland.

A few countries that have lower wages now than in 2010: Spain (-3%), the Netherlands (-5%), Ireland (-6%), Italy (-7%) and especially Greece (-21%). Greece was overtaken by 8 countries in 15 years.

High salaries are one thing, but they don't matter that much is the cost of living is equally high or higher. What matters is purchasing power. Once monthly wages are PPP-adjusted, Switzerland falls form 3rd to 14th position (and Iceland is not even listed below). Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria all overtake the USA. Finland jumps from 19th to 5th position (tied with the US). Surprisingly France falls behind all other EU countries.

 

[Maciamo]

It could be argued that countries that get richer with more economic inequality have failed society as a whole. The point is not to make a small elite much richer than the rest of the country. This is the typical plight of developing countries but also the United States. In Europe, the United Kingdom is the most unequal country, yet it is only averagely rich, a double failure of sorts. Slovenia is almost as rich as the UK nowadays, but much more equal, meaning that most middle-class Slovenians are better off than middle-class Britons.

 

[Maciamo]

People in middle-income developing countries tend to work the longest hours. The richer a country becomes, the less people work so that they can enjoy their life. A good example of this is Italy, where the current average is 15 hours per week per worker. In the U.S. people still work like the average of middle-income countries. Perhaps that's because the quality of life for the poorer half of the US population is no better than in developing countries.

 

[HereToLearn]

I knew Italy's problem was with productivity rather than working hours per se.

 

[Maciamo]

I knew Italy's problem was with productivity rather than working hours per se.

View attachment 19652

This chart is the working hours per worker. The one I posted is the working hours per adult (including people who do not work for any reason). Italy has the lowest employment rate in the EU at 62.5% of the working-age population. That's why the working hours per adult are so low.

Italy's productivity per worker is not so bad. At $77/h it's comparable to the UK's ($78/h), better than Canada's ($73/h) and much better than Japan's ($56/h) or South Korea's ($54.5/h).

 

[HereToLearn]

Italy has the lowest employment rate in the EU at 62.5% of the working-age population. That's why the working hours per adult are so low.

I see, however I fail to reconcile that with the fact that unemployment rate in Italy is only 5%. Does it highlight that a lot of working-age people are not looking for a job to begin with?

 

[Maciamo]

I see, however I fail to reconcile that with the fact that unemployment rate in Italy is only 5%. Does it highlight that a lot of working-age people are not looking for a job to begin with?

Yes. There is little relationship between the employment rate and unemployment rate. The latter only includes people officially looking for a job. Women who stay at home are not officially looking for a job, but are also not officially part of the workforce. In countries where more women stay at home, the overall employment rate is always lower. Then there are also people who do not want to work or don't need to work.