In Focus Europe's Uneven Development
| Author | Benjamin D. Hennig,Dimitris Ballas,Danny Dorling |
| Published date | 01 December 2015 |
| Date | 01 December 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/2041-9066.12109 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
20 POLITICAL INSIGHT • DECEMBER 2015
In Focus
Europe’s Uneven
Development
Benjamin D. Hennig, Dimitris Ballas and Danny Dorling plot the changing regional economic
geography of Europe.
Europe is in an economic crisis - but
the crisis is felt in very different
ways in different places. Official
unemployment rates are high,
especially in the south of Europe, but
joblessness is very low in places, such as
Germany (see Figure 1).
The highest unemployment rates are
mostly found in the austerity-stricken states:
of Greece, Italy (especially in the south), and
Spain. The Spanish region of Andalusia has the
highest unemployment rate in Europe (34.8
per cent). In addition, there were a total of 30
regions with unemployment rates of over 20
per cent. These include all 13 Greek regions,
as well as 13 regions in Spain and four in Italy.
In contrast, the lowest observed regional
unemployment rate in Europe in 2014 was
2.5 per cent, in two regions: the capital city
region of Prague, in the Czech Republic, and
the German region of Upper Bavaria (which
includes the city of Munich).
The imposition of punitive nancial
sanctions did reduce regional unemployment
rates in some countries and regions, but has
hit some of the poorest in society. In Britain,
there were 1,046,398 sanctions applied to
Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants in 2012,
encouraging people to take any job on oer
or declare themselves self-employed.
Figures 2 and 3 (see opposite page) reveal
the absolute change in Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) between 2007 and 2014, split
into overall increase and decline as reported
by the World Bank. All countries in these two
maps are shaded using a rainbow colour
scheme, starting with shades of dark red
to demarcate the countries with the most
recent association with the European Union
and moving through to a shade of violet for
the oldest member states. The area of each
country is drawn in proportion to the total
GDP or growth (in the left map) and decline
(in the right map).
In all, 14 countries experienced a GDP
decline: Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal
and Finland experienced the sharpest
decline in total GDP and dominate the rst
map. However, in relative terms, Greece
experienced the highest contraction with a
GDP change of -25.8 per cent (total change
between 2007-2014 as a proportion of GDP
in 2007), followed by Andorra (-22.2 per cent),
Croatia (-10.6 per cent), Italy (-8.9 per cent)
and Portugal (-7.3 per cent).
These massive negative changes in GDP
are also reected in the unemployment rates
in the regions of these countries as shown in
the detailed regional map. Growth, in contrast,
is centred on Germany, Turkey, Poland, the
United Kingdom, France and Switzerland.
However, it is worth noting that in relative
terms, four countries registered a signicant
increase in growth of over 20 per cent: Kosovo
(24.6 per cent), Turkey (24.5 per cent), Albania
(24.1 per cent) and Poland (23.9 per cent).
Growth in GDP does not mean growth in
wages. For example, in the UK median wages
have not yet returned to their 2007 levels. Most
of what growth there has been has only been
reected in greater wealth for a few, mostly a
minority of those living in the south of England,
where a housing ination has resulted in a
debt-fuelled mini boom. Behind every map are
a thousand further issues on the ground.
The maps shown here are updated versions
of maps rst produced in a
Social Atlas of
Europe
(Policy Press, June 2014).
To continue reading
Request your trial