A glance at the list of Europe’s richest regions is likely to elicit a puzzled shake of the head from most observers. However, the facts become clear when you consider the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The subject of the study is therefore not the money in residents’ private accounts, but economic performance. At first glance, it remains astonishing that Ireland tops this list. Not so long ago, the Emerald Isle was still the poorhouse of Western Europe. However, anyone who has listened to the news or read the daily newspapers will have a slight idea why the Republic of Ireland tops this statistic by a wide margin.
The internet and finance are the golden goose
The Republic of Ireland has not only made friends among its partner states in Europe with its tax policy towards multinational corporations. Take, for example, the discussions with Google and Meta in Ireland or Amazon in Luxembourg, the number two among the rich regions.
In addition to the internet giants, financial institutions have now also established themselves not only in Luxembourg but also in Dublin. Luxembourg has always been one of Europe’s most important financial centres, particularly in the areas of foreign exchange trading, funds and structured investment products. More and more fund companies are moving their headquarters or at least their tax-relevant headquarters to Dublin. Irish Funds is an association of the who’s who of the fund industry. In Dublin alone, 19,500 people work for various providers, with a total of 37,500 employees nationwide.
The reason why the south of the Republic of Ireland ranks ahead of Hamburg or the Ile de France, for example, is good for a smile. Kerrygold, the famous Irish butter, is shipped all over the world from Ireland’s second largest city, Cork. No technology, no opaque financial contracts, but butter is the key to prosperity in the south of Ireland.
Every region with a unique selling point
What the financial industry is to Ireland and Luxembourg, the European Union is to Brussels. Many highly paid civil servants work in bureaucratic behemoths such as the EU, but so do well-paid private sector employees. This automatically raises the gross national product above that of Antwerp or Liège, for example. Brussels would probably be the most prosperous region in Belgium as its capital city.
North Holland, to pick out a region that is actually completely unspectacular, seems to be relentlessly busy. In 2014, there were already 278,700 companies there. Among the companies based primarily in Amsterdam are ING, Phillips and Stellantis. These three companies alone are likely to make a significant contribution to the region’s GDP.
In Hamburg, it is still the port that drives the finances of the city and its population. After all, it is the third largest port in Europe and one of the 21 largest ports in the world.
Upper Bavaria may not be able to boast a port like Hamburg, but the mountains, which are virtually the opposite of the sea, contribute significantly to GDP through tourism. BWM, a world-renowned car manufacturer, is just one of over 388,000 companies registered with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
The Oktoberfest also keeps the cash registers ringing in Upper Bavaria. In 2025, 6.5 million visitors came and drank 6.5 million litres of beer. The estimated figures for this year reflect a value of 1.57 billion euros for the city of Munich, which in turn includes 634 million euros in direct expenditure at the Oktoberfest.
Unique selling points and/or the concentration of companies ultimately determine the regional gross domestic product per capita and show that, with a view to Europe, they can lead to astonishing results.
