Bucharest-Ilfov region topped Berlin on GDP per capita in 2016, EC shows

The recent European Commission report on competitiveness of European regions shows that Bucharest-Ilfov region exceeded Berlin in terms of GDP per capita, capital.ro informs. However, in terms of regional competitiveness index (RCI), Bucharest ranks 161^st , while Berlin is on 45^th of 263 regions analyzed.

RCI index is calculated based on several indicators regarding the efficiency of central and local government, transparency, ease of developing business, organized crime, infrastructure, health, education, employment and innovation.

European Commission’s analysis reveals that Bucharest-Ilfov region is an extremely large distance from other areas of Romania. Three regions in Romania, the South-East, South-West Oltenia and Muntenia South are among the less competitive 10 regions of Europe.

Other regions except Bucharest can be found in the bottom of the ranking, between 240 and 251 places of the 263 analyzed regions.

Overall, the 2016 results are in line with those for 2013. Once again, a polycentric pattern can be observed with strong capital and metropolitan areas as the main drivers of competitiveness. Spill over effects can be seen in most of north-western Europe, but this is much less obvious in the EU regions to the east and south. High levels of within-country variation are observed in many cases which are caused by a clearly outperforming capital region compared to the other regions in the country.

The important added-value of the RCI is that it extends the traditional analysis of competitiveness from a purely economic measure to incorporate social elements. It also takes into account the level of development of a region by shifting the emphasis from more basic issues to innovation related factors.