GDP per capita in select years and regions of Europe compared to the west 1950-1998

Compared to Western Europe over the late 20^th century, the GDP per capita across some of Western Europe's peripheral countries (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain) grew from approximately half of the rest of Western Europe's rate in 1950, to three quarters in 1998. By comparison, GDP per capita in the Eastern Bloc fell in the same period, from 42 to 29 percent in Central and Eastern Europe, and from 57 to 21 percent in the Soviet Union and its successor states.