(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Austria is number six in purchasing power in Europe, according to figures published by the market research institute GfK, cited by Austria Press Agency (APA) on Saturday.
The ranking, which compared the purchasing power among 42 European countries, showed Liechtenstein as number one with a per capita purchasing power of 56,978 euros.
The annual per capita purchasing power in Austria was 20,613 euros and significantly above the European average of 12,802 euros.
Germany ranked 8th best in the list with 20,014 euros and the lowest amount of money was in Moldawian pockets with only 1,257 euros.
In total, consumers in Europe had 8,6 billion euros at their disposal, with a growth rate of 2.1 percent, according to GfK.
The three countries Germany, France and Great Britain have almost half of the entire purchasing power in Europe at their disposal, while 39 countries share the remaining 53 percent.
Meanwhile, another report broadcast by the APA showed that Austria ranks 16th in items of prosperity among nations of the world, falling back by two ranks compared to 2011.
The annual Prosperity Index was published by the London-based public policy group Legatum Institute.
Three Scandinavian countries were among the top three: Norway,Denmark and Sweden. Ranking fourth to tenth were Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Switzerland and Ireland.
The USA was no longer among the best 10 and only reached the 12th position in 2012.
The Prosperity Index evaluated 142 countries according to their performance in the following eight categories: economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom, and social capital.
Austria fell back significantly in the area of education and now only ranked 24th - seven ranks below the 2011 result.
Regarding its economical situation, Austria lost two ranks and ist now 11th. According to the index, Austria was however able to improve in the field of personal freedom and now ranked 21st, up by four ranks.
The index covers 96 percent of the world population and 99 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP).
While overal prosperity increased in almost all of the areas examined, people felt more insecure according to the study published by Legatum.
