Croatia, Bulgaria, and Poland clearly outstripped the EU’s 5.6% real GDP growth between 2019 and 2024. Croatia recorded a 19.3% increase, while Bulgaria saw 14.3% and Poland saw 13.8%. Lithuania also exceeded the bloc average with 13.2% growth. Romania’s Bucuresti-Ilfov region expanded by 33.0%, and this growth was the fastest in the bloc outside of Ireland, where the Eastern and Midland region recorded growth of 38.0%. Most capital regions expanded, but Helsinki-Uusimaa in Finland was the only capital region that did not grow.
Regional divergence created economic gaps
Economic gains concentrated in capital areas, which masked significant downturns in other regions. In Romania, the 33.0% expansion in Bucuresti-Ilfov contrasted with only 9.5% growth for the country as a whole. While the western Nord-Vest and Vest regions grew by 15.8% and 14.3%, GDP in Sud-Est fell by 5.1% in 2024 compared to 2019, and the Nord-Est region grew by only 0.4%. Romania’s Sud-Muntenia and Sud-Vest Oltenia shrank by 13.5% and 11.3%, respectively. Bulgaria also saw a split, as the southern central Yuzhen tsentralen region grew by 25.3% and Severen tsentralen grew by 22.9%, but the Yugoiztochen region contracted by 20.5%.
Hungary’s economy grew by 6.6% overall, which was barely above the EU average, but the Eszak-Magyarorszag region in the northeast saw a 4.3% decline. While Budapest grew by 11.9% and the surrounding Pest region grew by 19.1%, four other Hungarian regions saw lower GDP in 2024 than in 2019.
| Country | 2019-2024 GDP Growth |
|---|---|
| Croatia | 19.3% |
| Bulgaria | 14.3% |
| Poland | 13.8% |
| Lithuania | 13.2% |
| EU27 | 5.6% |
Czechia recorded growth of only 2.7%, but its northwestern Severozapad coal-mining region saw GDP fall by 6.9% while the industrial Moravskoslezsko region contracted by 1.2%. Estonia expanded by only 0.9%, while Latvia grew by 4.2%. Increases in Poland ranged from 9.2% in Lodzkie to 17.7% in Pomorskie on the Baltic coast, and every region in the country expanded. Croatia also recorded broad-based gains; Sjeverna Hrvatska rose 25.9% and the Adriatic region expanded 19.7%. Lithuania’s Vilnius capital region grew by 19.0%, which was more than twice the 8.9% increase in the rest of the country. In Slovakia, Vychodne Slovensko grew by 9.4%, while the Bratislava region grew by 9.0%.
