From 2019 to 2024, the GDP of the European Union increased by 5.6% in real terms, marking a rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, economic performance across the 244 regions classified at level 2 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 2) showed significant variation. Out of these, 197 regions experienced growth, while 46 saw their GDP decline, and one region, Ciudad de Ceuta in Spain, reported no change in GDP.
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The most notable growth was in the Irish capital region of Eastern and Midland, which saw a remarkable 38.0% increase in GDP between 2019 and 2024, making it the highest per capita GDP region in the EU. Other Irish regions also performed well: Northern and Western experienced a 36.4% increase, the second highest in the EU, and Southern rose by 26.0%, ranking sixth.
Outside of Ireland, significant growth rates were observed in the Romanian region of Bucureşti-Ilfov, which grew by 33.0%, Malta at 32.9%, and the French outermost region of Mayotte with a 32.1% increase.
Most EU capital regions saw economic expansion during this period, except for Helsinki-Uusimaa in Finland, where GDP fell by 1.9%.
The largest GDP contraction was found in the Bulgarian region of Yugoiztochen, which experienced a decline of 20.5%. Four additional regions faced double-digit contractions: Dytiki Makedonia in Greece (-18.0%), Groningen in the Netherlands (-14.0%), and Sud-Muntenia and Sud-Vest Oltenia both in Romania, with declines of 13.5% and 11.3%, respectively.