EU regions show uneven GDP recovery after pandemic, Eurostat data shows

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EU regional GDP recovery

Highlights

Ireland's Eastern and Midland region leads EU growth with real GDP up 38.0% from 2019 to 2024, followed by Northern and Western at 36.4% and Southern at 26.0%.
Romania's Bucureşti-Ilfov, Malta, and France's Mayotte post the next highest regional real GDP increases at 33.0%, 32.9%, and 32.1%, respectively, over the same period.
The largest real GDP contractions from 2019 to 2024 occur in Bulgaria's Yugoiztochen at 20.5%, Greece's Dytiki Makedonia at 18.0%, and the Netherlands' Groningen at 14.0%.

Regional GDP performance from 2019 to 2024

As reported by Eurostat, regional economic activity across the bloc varies considerably despite the EU-wide expansion recorded over the five-year period. The dataset shows that the strongest growth comes from Ireland, where Eastern and Midland posts a 38.0% rise in real GDP between 2019 and 2024, while Northern and Western grows 36.4% and Southern rises 26.0%.

Outside Ireland, the fastest-growing regions include Romania’s capital region Bucureşti-Ilfov, up 33.0%, Malta, up 32.9%, and the French outermost region of Mayotte, up 32.1%. Eastern and Midland also records the highest GDP per inhabitant in 2024 among the regions mentioned in the release.

Capital regions and weakest performers

Most EU capital regions expand during the period under review, pointing to a broad concentration of post-pandemic economic resilience in administrative and business hubs. The main exception is Helsinki-Uusimaa in Finland, where real GDP falls 1.9% between 2019 and 2024.

The sharpest contraction is registered in Bulgaria’s Yugoiztochen region, where GDP declines 20.5%. Other double-digit drops are recorded in Dytiki Makedonia in Greece, down 18.0%, Groningen in the Netherlands, down 14.0%, and Romania’s Sud-Muntenia and Sud-Vest Oltenia, down 13.5% and 11.3%, respectively.

One region, Spain’s Ciudad de Ceuta, shows no change over the period, underscoring the mixed pace of recovery across Europe even as aggregate EU output moves above its pre-COVID-19 level.

In our earlier article on Mario Draghi’s warning about the policy trade-offs between debt control, inflation fighting and long-term growth, we explained his argument that keeping interest rates above growth rates can worsen debt dynamics and ultimately raise pressure for higher inflation. We also noted his call for central banks to prioritise price stability while avoiding unnecessary damage to investment, alongside proposals such as deeper EU market integration and targeted EU-level support to sustain productivity-enhancing investment, including in AI.

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