Markets

The ECB’s Big Bazookas (TLTRO & QE)

Published

9 years ago

December 3, 2014

Jeff Desjardins

The ECB's Big Bazooka

The ECB’s Big Bazookas (TLTRO & QE)

The Eurozone is on the rocks again. In November, business activity fell to its lowest point in 16 months as the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped to 51.1. The Euro is at a 27 month low against the dollar. Unemployment is stuck at 11.5%.

Making matters worse, deflation is also knocking on the door. In November, prices rose just 0.3% from the previous year, which is far below the 2% target. Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London, says, “the data show(s) that the Japanification of the Eurozone remains apace.”

To combat this, The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to pull out the big guns. The first big gun, in some of the best “Fedspeak” we’ve seen yet is called Targeted Long-Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO). Banks are able to borrow from the ECB at very low rates if the money is eventually lent to companies, and not for mortgages or buying government debt.

However, since the TLTROs started, results have not been as the ECB has hoped. This is why Mario Draghi and his counterparts have hinted at a bigger bazooka, quantitative easing (QE), over the last few weeks. Tomorrow (Dec 4th) they may decide to finally pull the trigger at the ECB meeting, but some feel that is premature.

“Much like an elementary school student putting off their weekend homework in hopes of a ‘miracle’ snow day canceling school on Monday, the ECB can still hang it’s hopes on the mid-December TLTRO auction as a possible savior,” said Matt Weller, senior technical analyst at Forex.com, in a note.

Original graphic from: Saxo Markets

Mapped: Europe’s GDP Per Capita, by Country

Which European economies are richest on a GDP per capita basis? This map shows the results for 44 countries across the continent.

Published

5 days ago

May 6, 2024

Pallavi Rao

A cropped map of GDP per capita levels for 44 European countries.

Mapped: Europe’s GDP Per Capita, by Country (2024)

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Europe is home to some of the largest and most sophisticated economies in the world. But how do countries in the region compare with each other on a per capita productivity basis?

In this map, we show Europe’s GDP per capita levels across 44 nations in current U.S. dollars. Data for this visualization and article is sourced from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) via their DataMapper tool, updated April 2024.

Europe’s Richest and Poorest Nations, By GDP Per Capita

Luxembourg, Ireland, and Switzerland, lead the list of Europe’s richest nations by GDP per capita, all above $100,000.

Rank	Country	GDP Per Capita (2024)
1	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	$131,380
2	🇮🇪 Ireland	$106,060
3	🇨🇭 Switzerland	$105,670
4	🇳🇴 Norway	$94,660
5	🇮🇸 Iceland	$84,590
6	🇩🇰 Denmark	$68,900
7	🇳🇱 Netherlands	$63,750
8	🇸🇲 San Marino	$59,410
9	🇦🇹 Austria	$59,230
10	🇸🇪 Sweden	$58,530
11	🇧🇪 Belgium	$55,540
12	🇫🇮 Finland	$55,130
13	🇩🇪 Germany	$54,290
14	🇬🇧 UK	$51,070
15	🇫🇷 France	$47,360
16	🇦🇩 Andorra	$44,900
17	🇲🇹 Malta	$41,740
18	🇮🇹 Italy	$39,580
19	🇨🇾 Cyprus	$37,150
20	🇪🇸 Spain	$34,050
21	🇸🇮 Slovenia	$34,030
22	🇪🇪 Estonia	$31,850
23	🇨🇿 Czech Republic	$29,800
24	🇵🇹 Portugal	$28,970
25	🇱🇹 Lithuania	$28,410
26	🇸🇰 Slovakia	$25,930
27	🇱🇻 Latvia	$24,190
28	🇬🇷 Greece	$23,970
29	🇭🇺 Hungary	$23,320
30	🇵🇱 Poland	$23,010
31	🇭🇷 Croatia	$22,970
32	🇷🇴 Romania	$19,530
33	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	$16,940
34	🇷🇺 Russia	$14,390
35	🇹🇷 Türkiye	$12,760
36	🇲🇪 Montenegro	$12,650
37	🇷🇸 Serbia	$12,380
38	🇦🇱 Albania	$8,920
39	🇧🇦 Bosnia & Herzegovina	$8,420
40	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	$7,690
41	🇧🇾 Belarus	$7,560
42	🇲🇩 Moldova	$7,490
43	🇽🇰 Kosovo	$6,390
44	🇺🇦 Ukraine	$5,660
N/A	🇪🇺 EU Average	$44,200

Note: Figures are rounded.

Three Nordic countries (Norway, Iceland, Denmark) also place highly, between $70,000-90,000. Other Nordic peers, Sweden and Finland rank just outside the top 10, between $55,000-60,000.

Meanwhile, Europe’s biggest economies in absolute terms, Germany, UK, and France, rank closer to the middle of the top 20, with GDP per capitas around $50,000.

Finally, at the end of the scale, Eastern Europe as a whole tends to have much lower per capita GDPs. In that group, Ukraine ranks last, at $5,660.

A Closer Look at Ukraine

For a broader comparison, Ukraine’s per capita GDP is similar to Iran ($5,310), El Salvador ($5,540), and Guatemala ($5,680).

According to experts, Ukraine’s economy has historically underperformed to expectations. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the economy contracted for five straight years. Its transition to a Western, liberalized economic structure was overshadowed by widespread corruption, a limited taxpool, and few revenue sources.

Politically, its transformation from authoritarian regime to civil democracy has proved difficult, especially when it comes to institution building.

Finally, after the 2022 invasion of the country, Ukraine’s GDP contracted by 30% in a single year—the largest loss since independence. Large scale emigration—to the tune of six million refugees—is also playing a role.

Despite these challenges, the country’s economic growth has somewhat stabilized while fighting continues.