Brussels is third-richest region in Europe

Brussels was the third-richest region in the European Union in 2013, with a GDP 207% higher than the average for the 28 member states. London came top of the list, with GDP 325% higher, followed by Luxembourg at 258%.

In a footnote to the results, Eurostat – the EU’s statistical service – points out that some regions’ figures are strongly affected by commuting patterns, with commuters helping to push the results to a level that the residents of the region alone would be unable to reach.

This is the case with Brussels, which attracts large numbers of people daily from both Flanders and Wallonia. The opposite effect is felt in the regions where commuters live but do not work.

Brussels is followed in the rankings by Hamburg in Germany and Groningen in the Netherlands. The poorest region is the French overseas department of Mayotte, an island between the African continent and Madagascar, where the GDP per capita is only 27% of the European average. The other 19 of the 20 poorest regions are all in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Poland.

Belgium as a whole scores 119% on the scale.

Photo courtesy Visit Brussels