According to latest data published by the European Commission, Cyprus has the largest buying power amongst EU accession candidate countries.

The information which relates to the year 2000, confirms that Cypriots’ standard of living is double that of the average of other candidate countries, also showing an upward trend. According to the method devised by the EU for making comparisons, gross income per capita for Cyprus was 18.500 “buying power” points with the next country, Slovenia, following at 16.100 points. Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey appear at the bottom of the table. Apparently Cyprus’ buying power is greater than some of the EU member states such as Greece, Portugal and Spain.