Europe's wealth gap was laid bare on Monday in new data showing that Luxemburgers have on average seven times greater purchasing power than fellow EU members Bulgaria.
Compared to a European average expressed as 100, the people of Luxembourg, a substantial private banking and finance centre, enjoy spending power pegged at 268 percent of that average.
Ireland came in second, on 131 percent, with Britain and Germany comfortably above on 117 percent and 116 percent respectively.
The statistics, before massive austerity cuts, gave Greece 95 percent of the EU average, whereas Poland, the bloc's fastest-growing economy, came in at just 61 percent.