Thaindian News

London, Dec 14 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Luxembourg has the highest standard of living in the euro-zone. In a report issued by Europe’s statistical organization Eurostat, the United Kingdom is ranked second with living standard which is 21 percent ahead of most of the other EU member states.

With its position, the United Kingdom came ahead of major economies like France and Germany. The same though is not entirely true on the GDP rankings. The Eurostat’s official GDP rankings place United Kingdom 10th in the EU bloc. The country comes behind Germany and ahead of France.

Eurostat said the “actual individual consumption” (AIC), which is the measure of the standard of living, offers better gauge of a country’s spending power per citizen when compared to the GDP.

Britain has an AIC of 121 which is only second to that of Luxembourg which is 150. The average AIC among the EU nations is 100. Outside the EU however, Norway and Switzerland has the highest AIC. Belgium with an AIC of 110 is the least in the top ten list.

Eurostat explained that, “AIC consists of goods and services actually consumed by individuals, irrespective of whether these goods and services are purchased and paid for by households, by government, or by non-profit organizations.”