Large swathes of Wales are poorer than parts of Bulgaria, Romania and Poland and four-and-a-half times less prosperous than central London, according to latest official figures.
The European Union (EU) statistics also reveal the UK has Europe’s highest inequality of wealth in Europe.
The figures, issued by the EU’s statistical information body Eurostat, show Gross Domestic Product (GDP) throughout the EU for 2010 and the value of goods and services produced within each country per head of population.
Taking 100 as the EU average across all 27 member states, Wales as a whole had a GDP per head of 81. But while East Wales managed to hit the 100 average, West Wales and the Valleys languished at 70, the lowest figure in the UK. The highest, for Inner London, was 328.
At 70, West Wales and the Valleys was poorer than parts of Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, and than the whole of the Czech Republic (80), Slovenia (84) and Slovakia (84) – all countries that were part of the East European Communist bloc that collapsed more than 20 years ago.
Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2013/04/08/welsh-valleys-poorer-than-parts-of-bulgaria-romania-and-poland-91466-33131774/#ixzz2PsxHcl00
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