The latest full year figures for GDP per capita for the EU show that in 2011 the gap between Romania and the EU average narrowed, but the figure is still the second lowest in the union. Romania's GDP per capita was 49 percent the EU average in 2011, with only Bulgaria lower at 45 percent.

The figures from Eurostat take average GDP per capita across the 27 member states as 100 percent and compare countries against the figure. Thus, percentages below 100 percent mean poorer than the EU average, while those above mean richer. Average GDP across the eurozone came out at 108 percent, the same figure as in 2010. In 2008 and 2009 the eurozone was slightly better off compared to the rest of the union, with GDP per capita at 109 percent the EU27 figure.

Romania's results show a marked improvement on 2010, when GDP per capita was 46 percent of the EU average. Bulgaria's GDP per capita crept up 1 percent last year, from 44 to 45 percent of the EU average, meaning Romania has widened the gap between the two countries.

However, GDP per capita in Latvia, the third lowest in the EU, increased more quickly last year. The country's figure was 58 percent in 2011, a 7 percent increase on 2010. At the other end of the spectrum is Luxembourg, where GDP per capita is 274 percent of the EU average. The tiny state's figure is exceptional: second placed country the Netherlands has a far more modest figure – 130 percent.

The rest of the western European countries are all above the EU average, with the exception of Spain, which has dipped below the average to 99 percent and Portugal, where GDP per capita is now at 77 percent of the EU average. Greece's figure has fallen considerably, from above 90 percent in 2008 to 80 percent last year.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com