Measuring adjusted income compared to the cost of living reveals a significant disparity within the European continent. Some countries with low annual incomes enjoy higher purchasing power, such as Turkey, compared to countries with high incomes but weaker purchasing power, such as France, Spain, and Italy. The “Visual Capitalist” platform indicates that this criterion depends on the annual net income of a family of three, emphasizing that wealth does not depend on income alone, but also includes the size of assets, growth opportunities, and other financial flows.
Turkey tops the list of countries where limited income is sufficient to consider a family “rich,” with a required income of 19.2 thousand euros per year. It is followed by Serbia with 20.5 thousand euros, then Romania with 25.2 thousand euros, Hungary with 25.7 thousand euros, and Slovakia with 27.7 thousand euros. Then comes Bulgaria with a net income of 31.4 thousand euros, followed by Greece with 35.3 thousand euros, Poland with 36.7 thousand euros, Croatia with 40.1 thousand euros, and the Czech Republic with 45.4 thousand euros.
In the middle segment, a family in Portugal needs 45.6 thousand euros per year, in Latvia 46.8 thousand euros, in Lithuania 48.2 thousand euros, in Slovenia 58.19 thousand euros, in Estonia 59.7 thousand euros, Spain 67.14 thousand euros, Cyprus 68.49 thousand euros, Italy 71.7 thousand euros, and Malta 71.9 thousand euros.
As for countries with a higher cost of living, the minimum required income starts from 83.7 thousand euros in Sweden, 85.9 thousand euros in France, 88 thousand euros in Finland, 89.6 thousand euros in Belgium, 93.2 thousand euros in Germany, 97.5 thousand euros in the Netherlands, 101.4 thousand euros in Ireland, 103.46 thousand euros in Austria, 105.3 thousand euros in Denmark, 117.3 thousand euros in Norway, up to Luxembourg, which tops the list with an annual income of 175.2 thousand euros for a family of three. (cnbc)
