According to a new study by the consumer research company GfK, Germany has fallen behind its neighbor Austria in terms of purchasing power. In a comparison of the three German-speaking countries Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Germany is only in third place, GfK announced on Tuesday in Nuremberg.
Switzerland is still the undisputed leader among the three neighboring countries with an annual per capita purchasing power of 49,592 euros. Thanks to an increase of 5.3 percent, Austrians will have an average of 26,671 this year, ahead of Germans with 26,271. However, the increases in purchasing power are of limited significance. The plus will probably fall victim to rising consumer prices in all three countries, said GfK expert Tim Weber.
Purchasing power indicates how much disposable net income the population has available, for example for consumer spending such as housing, leisure time or savings. State benefits such as unemployment benefit, child benefit or pensions are taken into account. (dpa)