Despite the coronavirus pandemic, living standards in the Czech Republic approached the average level in the European Union last year. In addition, Czechia maintained the lowest unemployment rate in the EU.
Gross domestic product per capita based on purchasing power parity rose to 94 percent of the EU average last year from the previous 92 percent. Czechia is thus at the level of Italy and above the level of Portugal (77 percent) and Spain (86 percent), according to data published by the Czech Statistical Office in the Statistical Yearbook 2021.
This indicator was lowest in Bulgaria, which was at 55 percent of the EU average. On the other hand, Luxembourg had the highest level at 266 percent.
The Czech economy contracted by 5.6 percent last year, which was the biggest decline in the history of the independent Czech Republic. Last year, the economies of all EU countries, except Ireland, declined.
At the same time, last year, Czechia maintained the status of a country with the lowest unemployment rate within the EU for the fifth year in a row. Namely, it was at 2.6 percent. Poland had the second-lowest unemployment rate with 3.2 percent, followed by Germany and the Netherlands with 3.8 percent. The EU average was 7 percent last year.
The data also showed that last year, the Czech Republic had the third-highest inflation rate in the EU, coming in at 3.3 percent. Poland had the highest inflation rate (3.7 percent), followed by Hungary with 3.4 percent. The EU average was 0.7 percent.
