Perennially, the five largest economies in Europe have been the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. The order in which we mention them has significance: This is how they rank when we look at them in terms of real GDP per capita, as in the FRED graph above.

Notice that the ranking has not changed in over 60 years, except for the most minor and temporary deviations. This period covers major economic events: the integration of these economies in the Economic Union, oil price shocks, the opening of Eastern Europe, and more recently a financial crisis, Brexit, Covid-19, and a war in Ukraine.

This ranking is different from the ranking of these economies by their total real GDP, as in the FRED graph below. First, Germany has a population that is significantly larger than the others, noting here that Germany encompasses East and West Germany before reunification in 1990 for these statistics. Second, the largest European economics have followed quite different demographic trajectories, leading to significant implications for the size of their economies: Notice how the UK was initially first and temporarily dropped to fourth, while Italy was second before suffering a significant slowdown that has currently brought it down to fourth.

In the end, the size of the economy matters little when countries are integrated economically and politically, as they are within the European Union, except for limited circumstances related to policy decisions.

How these graphs were created: Search FRED for “per capita GDP Germany” and take the series in constant prices. Click on “Edit Graph,” open the “Add Line” tab, and search for “per capita GDP France.” Repeat for the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. For the second graph, follow a similar procedure.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann.