Commercial bank prime lending rate	8.03%		[118th of 156]
Currency euro, British pound, Bulgarian lev, Czech koruna, Danish krone, Estonian kroon, Hungarian forint, Latvian lat, Lithuanian litas, Polish zloty, Romanian leu, Slovak koruna, Swedish krona
Distribution of family income > Gini index	30.7		[31st of 43]
Economy > Overview Internally, the EU is attempting to lower trade barriers, adopt a common currency, and move toward convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to bolster Europe's trade position and its political and economic power. Because of the great differences in per capita income among member states (from $7,000 to $69,000) and historic national animosities, the EU faces difficulties in devising and enforcing common policies. For example, since 2003 Germany and France have flouted the member states' treaty obligation to prevent their national budgets from running more than a 3% deficit. In 2004 and 2007, the EU admitted 10 and two countries, respectively, that are, in general, less advanced technologically and economically than the other 15. Eleven established EU member states introduced the euro as their common currency on 1 January 1999 (Greece did so two years later), but the UK, Sweden, and Denmark chose not to participate. Of the 12 most recent member states, only Slovenia (1 January 2007) and Cyprus and Malta (1 January 2008) have adopted the euro; the remaining nine are legally required to adopt the currency upon meeting EU's fiscal and monetary convergence criteria.
Exports	$1,330,000,000,000.00		[1st of 189]
Exports > Commodities machinery, motor vehicles, aircraft, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, fuels, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, wood pulp and paper products, textiles, meat, dairy products, fish, alcoholic beverages.
Exports > Partners US 23.3%, Switzerland 7.6%, Russia 5.2%, China 4.8%
GDP	$11,050,000,000,000.00		[2nd of 203]
GDP (official exchange rate)	$16,620,000,000,000.00		[1st of 192]
GDP (purchasing power parity)	$14,430,000,000,000.00		[1st of 187]
GDP > Composition by sector > Agriculture	2.1%		[125th of 146]
GDP > Composition by sector > Industry	27.1%		[86th of 146]
GDP > Composition by sector > Services	70.7%		[24th of 146]
GDP > Real growth rate	3%		[148th of 198]
Imports	$1,466,000,000,000.00		[2nd of 185]
Imports > Commodities machinery, vehicles, aircraft, plastics, crude oil, chemicals, textiles, metals, foodstuffs, clothing
Industrial production growth rate	3.2%		[68th of 147]
Industries among the world's largest and most technologically advanced, the European Union industrial base includes: ferrous and non-ferrous metal production and processing, metal products, petroleum, coal, cement, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, rail transportation equipment, passenger and commercial vehicles, construction equipment, industrial equipment, shipbuilding, electrical power equipment, machine tools and automated manufacturing systems, electronics and telecommunications equipment, fishing, food and beverage processing, furniture, paper, textiles, tourism
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	1.8%		[142nd of 192]
Share of household income > Highest 10%	25.2%		[15th of 34]

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