Luxembourg and the Republic are the two wealthiest countries in the enlarged European Union of 25 member-states, while newcomers Poland and Latvia are the poorest. The figures were published by the EU statistical office Eurostat yesterday.
Eurostat said that Luxembourg's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, measured according to populations' purchasing power, was more than twice the European Union average in 2003.
The Republic was about one-third above the average, while Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands and Britain were around 20 per cent above the average.
France topped the average by 13 per cent and Germany by 8 per cent.
Out of the 10 countries that joined the EU in May, Cyprus is the richest, with its GDP per capita amounting to 83 per cent of EU average, slightly more than old member-states Portugal and Greece.
The Baltic republic of Latvia was the poorest EU newcomer, with its GDP per capita at 42 per cent of the EU average.
The biggest entrant, Poland, had 46 per cent of EU average.
Eurostat's report, the first such study since EU enlargement, gave no comparative figures for previous years.
