European Economic & Political Issues: Volume 9

This book focuses on economic and political issues is Europe. The economy of Europe comprises more than 710 million people in 48 different states. Like other continents, the wealth of Europe’s states varies, although the poorest are well above the poorest states of other continents in terms of GDP and living standards. The difference in wealth across Europe can be seen in a rough East-West divide. While Western European states all have high GDPs and living standards, many of Eastern Europe’s economies are still emerging from the collapse of the USSR and former Yugoslavia. Throughout this article Europe and derivatives of the word are taken to include selected states that are geographically in Asia, bordering Europe - such as Azerbaijan and Cyprus. As a continent, Europe has the third largest economy in the world. Europe’s largest national economy is that of Germany, which ranks third globally in nominal GDP, and fifth in purchasing power parity (PPP) GDP; and its second is that of the United Kingdom, which ranks fifth globally in nominal GDP and sixth in PPP GDP. The European Union is the world’s largest (as determined by the IMF and the World Bank - 2005) or second largest economy if counted as a single unit.