European Union Economic Report: GDP data and GDP forecasts; economic, financial and trade information; EU and population overview  DATA ON GDP AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION | Central Bank of the Eurosystem |  | European Central Bank (2009) | Countries that are part of the Eurosystem (Countries that use the euro) |  | Countries that created the euro area and introduced the euro in 1999: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain
Countries that were admitted to the euro area later: Greece (2001), Slovenia (2007), Cyprus (2008), Malta (2008), Slovakia (2009)
The micro-states of Monaco, San Marino and Vatican City also use the euro, on the basis of a formal arrangement with the European Community. Andorra, Montenegro and Kosovo likewise use the euro, but without a formal arrangement. | Gross Domestic Product at market prices |  | European Union (27 countries) 2009: 12,165,150 millions of euro (estimate) 2010: 12,405,409 millions of euro (forecast) Euro area
2009: 9,010,366 millions of euro (estimate) 2010: 9,168,142 millions of euro (forecast) | GDP PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) |  | Euro area 2009: 10,607 billion current International Dollars (estimate) 2010: 10,804 billion current International Dollars (forecast) European Union 2009: 14,851 billion current International Dollars (estimate) 2010: 15,147 billion current International Dollars (forecast) | | Real GDP growth |  | | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | | EU (27 countries) | 2% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | 3.2% | 2.9% | 0.8% | | Euro area | 1.9% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 2.1% | 1.7% | 3% | 2.7% | 0.6% |
EU (27 countries) 2009: -4.1% (estimate) 2010: 0.7% (forecast)
Euro area 2009: -4% (estimate) 2010: 0.7% (forecast) | | | | GDP per capita PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) |  | Euro area 2008: 34,311 current International Dollars (estimate) 2009: 33,235 current International Dollars (forecast) 2010: 33,729 current International Dollars (forecast) | | GDP - composition by sector |  | agriculture: 1.8% industry: 25.1% services: 73.1% (2011 est.) | Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP) |  | EU-27: 1.85% (2007) Euro area: 1.87% (2007) | | Inflation |  | | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | | Euro area | 3.3% | 0.3% | 0.8% | | European Union | 3.7% | 0.9% | 1.1% |
| | | | | Unemployment rate |  | 2008 | 2009
| 2010 | | 7.6% | 9.9% (estimate) | 11.7% (forecast) |
| | Gross household saving rate (%) |  | EU-27: 11.27% 2008 | | General government balance (% of GDP) |  | | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | | European Union | -0.9% | -2.3% | -6.9% (estimate) | -7.5% (forecast) | | Euro area | -0.6% | -1.8% | -6.2% (estimate) | -6.6% (forecast) |
| | | | General government debt (% of GDP) |  | | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | | EU-27 | 58.7% | 61.5% | 73% (estimate) | 79.3% (forecast) | 83.7% (forecast) | | Euro area | 66% | 69.3% | 78.2% (estimate) | 84% (forecast) | 88.2% (forecast) |
| | | | | Largest companies in Europe |  | HSBC Holdings, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, ING Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Allianz, Total, AXA Group, Banco Santander, Barclays, EDF Group, E.ON, ENI, Deutsche Bank, UniCredit Group, Telefónica, Volkswagen Group, ArcelorMittal, Daimler, BBVA-Banco Bilbao Vizcaya, Credit Suisse Group, HBOS, Crédit Agricole, Nestlé, Fortis, France Telecom, Siemens, Lloyds TSB Group, StatoilHydro, Generali Group, Suez Group, Zurich Financial Services, Sanofi-aventis, Nokia, Munich Re, Novartis, Roche Holding, Rio Tinto, GlaxoSmithKline | | FT Top 50 Banks in the World by market value 2009 |  | HSBC, Banco Santander, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, UBS, Intesa San Paolo, BBV Argentaria, Credit Agricole, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale, Nordea Bank, Unicredit, Royal Bank of Scotland |
 DATA ON TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS  EU AND POPULATION OVERVIEW | Time zone |  | Western European Time (UTC+0) Central European Time (UTC+1) Eastern European Time (UTC+3) | | Total area |  | 4,324,782 km² (2009) | | Member states European Union |  | Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom (2010) | | Candidate countries European Union |  | Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey (2010) | | Political centres European Union |  | Brussels, Luxembourg, Strasbourg (2009) | | Languages |  | The European Union has 23 official languages. They are: Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish. However, there are fewer official languages than Member States, as some share common languages. (2009) | | Religions |  | Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish (2009) | | Total population |  | EU-27: 501,259,840 (2010, forecast) Euro area: 329,671,838 (2010, forecast) | | Population density (inhabitants per km²) |  | EU-27 114.3 (2005) EU-15 120.9 (2006) | | Population age structure |  | 0-14 years: 15.44% 15-64 years: 67.22% 65 years and over: 17.34% | | Population growth rate |  | European Union: 0.108 % (2009 est.) | | Life expectancy at birth by gender |  | Euro area Males 77.32 (2006) Females 83.27 (2006) | | Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini Index) |  | European Union: 31 in 2007 (0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality) | | Computer use (Individuals who used a computer within the last year) |  | EU-27: 71% (2009) | | % of households who have internet access at home |  | EU-27: 65% Euro area: 66% (2009) | | % of households with a broadband connection |  | EU-27: 56% Euro area: 56% (2009) | | Cost of living Index |  | Copenhagen: 17th London: 18th Paris: 27th Rome: 34th Vienna: 36th Stockholm: 39th Helsinki: 42nd Prague: 47th Amsterdam: 50th Athens: 53rd Bratislava: 57th Dublin: 58th Madrid: 60th Brussels: 62nd Luxembourg: 72nd Berlin: 84th Lisbon: 86th Riga: 88th Zagreb: 100th Warsaw: 102nd Budapest: 113th Tallinn: 124th Vilnius: 133rd Ljubljana: 140th Bucharest: 152nd Sofia: 169th (2011) |
 GLOBAL FINANCE RANKINGS AND AWARDS CENTRAL BANKER REPORT CARD2009:- Grade A to Jean-Claude Trichet (2009)
 ARTICLES AND COUNTRIES REPORTS FROM GLOBAL FINANCE ARCHIVE |