Trends in Global Working Age Populations (1950-2100)

IMF published a rapport 'Africa Rising: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend' which contains a very interesting overview of the working age demographic history from 1950 and forecasts until 2100. Especially note the big rising trend for Africa and the downward trends for the West.

IMF

Quarterly EU House Prices (2005-2013Q4)

With new data from Eurostat for the percentage change in q4 2013 of the house prices in the EU I constructed this graph. During the last quarter of 2013 the United Kingdom and Sweden saw big increases in their house prices, while house prices in the Netherlands and Cyprus decreased. For the EU as a whole house prices decreased with 0.1 percent compared to Q4 2012.

Eurostat

History of EU/Euro Zone (1929-2013)

Large overview of the history of the EU and the implementation of the Euro. From the first suggestion for a common European currency in 1929 until Croatia joining the EU in the beginning of 2013.

Euro Zone Unemployment Spreads Q4 2012

When people talk about Euro Zone spreads they normally refer to the difference between the government borrowing interest rate of a particular Euro Zone country in comparison to the interest rate for the German government. German government bonds are taken as the benchmark since lending to the German government is basically seen as risk free. When lending to other countries, especially the southern Euro Zone countries, a risk premium is added on top of the German interest rate to reflect the higher default rate of those countries.

Besides this financial interpretation of spreads, a different form of spreads can be constructed to show the differences in the real economy between the Euro Zone countries: unemployment spreads. Unemployment spreads for the Euro Zone are defined as the difference between the unemployment rate in a particular Euro Zone country and the unemployment rate in Germany. As can be expected Euro Zone countries most hit by the Euro crisis have the highest unemployment spreads, with Greece and Spain even above 20 percent. This is a lot higher than the Euro Area average of 5.8 percent and the EU average of 5,3 percent. Austria, the Netherlands and Finland on the other hand have unemployment rates comparable to that of Germany.

EU Countries 2012 Government Debt Projections

Reuters constructed this graph, with data from the European Commission, which shows the projected government debt ratio's for the selected EU countries. As you cansee for most countries the debt to gdp ratio is well above it's 10 year average.

As you might have expected Greece has the highest debt to gdp ratio. On the other hand, Sweden's debt is even lower than it's 10 year average. Euro Area avearge government debt is expected to be at 95 percent.

Reuters

Share of World GDP Per Continent (1990-2010)

In the twenty years before 2010 China gained a lot of GDP. Since its GDP growth was a lot higher than in Europe and the United States it also gained in its share of World GDP. That is China's economy got bigger compared to Europe, United States and Japan. This is shown in the graph.

Conservable Economist

IMF Euro Zone Inflation Forecasts to 2017 (WEO Fall 2012)

Greek inflation is slowing down tremendously, from more than 4 percent in 2010 to expected deflation in 2013 and 2014. The other countries are expected to have their inflation rates to be relatively close to the EU average. Lower in Spain and Italy and higher in Germany.

Bondvigilants

Where are the Top 500 International Companies Located?

The United States is the only country where more than 100 of the top 500 international companies are located. China is a great second, with Japan, Canada and the big three European countries following shortly. From Business Insider: 'Total revenue at the 500 gained 13.2 percent from 2010, to $29.5 trillion, while profits hit $1.6 trillion'.

Business Insider

Share Prices Of Banks in Japan, U.S. and EU (1980-2012)

You can see the share price of the banks (average) for Japan, U.S. and the EU between 1980 and 2012 in this graph. Japan saw the bank shares rise dramatically during the share and housing bubble of the 1980's. Japan's bank shares didn't enter in the Dot com bubble as for the European and especially the banks in the United States. As you might have expected, bank share prices are currently a lot lower than before the crisis.

Reuters

EU: More than a Million Jobs Available

This chart from the Guardian shows the number of jobs available in the countries of the European Union. Especially in Germany and the United Kingdom are a lot of jobs for applicable. This is more surprising for the United Kingdom, since its economy is not in particular good shape. In Italy and France, with comparable number of inhabitants as Germany and the UK are surprisingly low jobs available.

Click on the source for details per country.

The Guardian

EU Economic & Political Overview

This graph shows per country first the forecasted GDP-growth for 2012, second the unemployment and last the government election date.

Business Insider

12 Euro Zone Countries in Recession (May 2012)

This graph from Reuters shows on the left side the quarterly economic growth in the Euro Zone. The economic block just entered it's second recession in three years. On the right it shows that already 12 countries in the EU are in recession: Spain, Belgium, Cyprus, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.


Click on the source for an interactive view per country.

Reuters

Hourly Labour Costs European Union Private Sector 2011

This chart with data from Eurostat shows the estimated hourly labour costs in euro's for enterprises with more than 10 employees in the European Union. Norway, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and France have the highest labour costs. Bulgaria, Romania and Latvia have the lowest costs.

Eurostat

EU Old Age Dependency Ratio in 2060

This graph from Reuters shows the Old-age dependency ratio. That ratio shows the people being 65 and over for the countries in the EU as a percentage of the people between 15 and 64. A higher ratio means that the working force needs to finance a larger elderly population, compared to countries with a lower ratio. Reuters calls it the pressure on the productive population.

Reuters

China & India Will Consume 50 percent Of World Economy in 2050

In this great graph you can see the developing of the economy (gross domestic product) of the world throughout history, illustrated by the relative importance of the nine great powers of the world. Up until 1800, more than half of the world economy was dominated by China and India. Since 1800 the western powers more and more took over the world economy from Asia. Especially look at the development of the United States and the United Kingdom. The process turned around from 1980 when China introduced economic reforms. China and India are projected to have around half of world GDP again by 2050.

This can also be seen as the rise and the fall of the 'West'.

Nalilord

Market Share for (Groups of) Car Brands in Western Europe (2011)

You can see that Volkswagen Group as car manufacturing group had the largest market share of western Europe in 2011 with 23 percent for new car registrations. PSA-group (Peugeot and Citroen) came in second with 12,5 percent. Renault Group third (10 percent) and GM fourth (9 percent). Volkswagen was the biggest as stand alone brand, followed by Renault.

Reuters

EU Regions: GDP Per Capita

Following on my previous post here I show the GDP per capita (2008). First per country as you can see in the next table. Germany, France and the U.K. are not in the top, while they have the highest number of inhabitants. Norway, Switzerland and Denmark are the top three (besides Luxembourg). Bulgaria, Romania and Poland have the lowest GDP per capita.

In the next graph you can see the GDP per capita on the regional level. Again England, the Netherlands, West-Germany, Switzerland and North Italy stand out.

Eurostat

Population Density In The EU

For a better perspective on what the main countries are in the European Union you can look at the population of the individual countries. First a table containing the inhabitants per country (2008). As you can see Germany, France and the United Kingdom are the top three for most inhabitants. The same top three applies also for the size of the economy (GDP). As you can see Poland with 38 million inhabitants is the most important East-European country, if you look at the people living in the country. Ireland has the lowest population of the West-European countries, with 4,4 million (besides Luxembourg).

Eurostat

Besides looking at countries you can also look at regions to get an even more detailed perspective. Especially the Netherlands, Germany, the U.K. and Italy are densely populated. France and Spain have their inhabitants more sparsely distributed over the country. You can identify the so called banana-shaped growth zone with a historically high growth rate and high population from England, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland to the North of Italy. This is the most densely populated area of Europe.

Eurostat

Unemployment in Germany, Spain & EU Compared

You can see before the introduction of the euro the unemployment rates in Spain and Germany converged.  Until recently Spain and Germany both had their unemployment rate around the average of the European Union. Over the last two decades on average Spain's unemployment rate was about just under 15%. Germany on the other hand had on average an unemployment rate of about 9 percent.

Since the crisis Spain's unemployment rose dramatically. Its now more than double the average in the European Union. In Germany the unemployment even decreased since the crisis. Germany's unemployment hasn't been this low for twenty years.

European Unemployment Pictured

This graph shows the unemployment in Europe with the average unemployment in Europe in the middle (EA17: 17 countries in the Euro Area). Notable countries are Spain with the highest unemployment by far and  Norway with the lowest unemployment.

Economic Pic