Euro 2012 championship saw a Mediterranean final where Spain has beaten Italy. Portugal dropped out in semi-final and Greece in quarter-final. But if we look at GDP per capita of EU average figures then we will see a Euro 2012 Championship reversed leading by countries which could not even qualify for a Top 16. A small rule-proving exception was Poland, one of hosting countries (next to Ukraine).

According to a recent data provided by the Eurostat, Lithuanian GDP per capita of EU average has leaped its pre-crisis level of 2008 (see a graph below). Measured by actual individual consumption (AIC) it has reached a level of 2007, comparable to that of Czech Republic and Slovakia, while keeping Estonia and Hungary behind and caching-up with Poland in front.

An actual GDP per capita of EU average by Lithuania in a third consecutive year is still behind that of Poland, however, it got higher than that of Croatia (was close to quarterfinal, but a group was unlucky). Estonia took over Hungary and Latvia keeps up after Croatia.

A relative year-to-year increase of Lithuanian ratio, followed by Latvia, Hungary and Poland now is highest among EU Member States. Whereas a relative year-to-year fall was steepest in Greece and a significant drop was observed in Portugal. Positions of Italy and Spain were unchanged after significant falls in 2010.

Is Basketball better fine-tuned to a GDP per capita of EU average? Follow 2012 Olympic Games in London (United Kingdom, by the way, is not very successful in relative growth, so we will see how it will manage in Basketball).

Graph: Lithuanian wealth per capita of EU average (red line – measured by GDP per capita, green line – measured by an alternative welfare indicator on actual individual consumption per capita, better adapted to reflect the situation of households):