The cheapest countries in the EU for investment

Within the European Union, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia are the cheapest member states for investment. 

Data from the European Statistics Office (Eurostat) puts Romania at the top of the cheapest countries in the European Union according to the price of investment, with it being 36% lower than the European average. The other European Union countries that have low prices at investment, by up to 32% lower than the European average, are Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary.

Sweden is at the opposite end of the ranking, with investment costs 35% above the EU average, closely followed in this aspect by Finland and Denmark.

Outside the EU member states, the highest costs were found in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, while the lowest ones were found in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and in Albania, with 44% under the EU average, followed by Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with costs that are 42% and 38% respectively lower than the European Union average.

In order to establish how prices for investment differ in 37 countries, Eurostat conducted several surveys, including both member states and the main economic partners, and the results were expressed in price level indices (PLIs).

Romania is also the cheapest country regarding investment in constructions, with prices that are 57% below the ones in the European Union. The largest differences compared to the European average are found in the residential buildings segment – 64% under the EU average, followed by non-residential buildings – 54% under the EU average, and civil constructions, 48% under the European average.

“The cheapest EU member state for investments in constructions is Romania, which has the lowest price level indices for all main categories”, Eurostat writes.

Numbers up to 62% below the EU average regarding investment in constructions are found in Turkey, followed by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania.

On the other hand, Sweden is the most costliest EU member state when it comes to constructions, apart from the civil constructions segment, where the maximum can be found in Finland.

The cheapest and the most expensive EU countries for machinery, equipment and other products

For machinery and equipment, including metal products and equipment, electrical and optical equipment and transport equipment (see classification of investment products used) the most expensive countries for machinery, equipment and other products are Iceland, Norway and Denmark with respective PLIs of 130, 121 and 117, while Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary are the least expensive countries, with respective PLIs of 87, 88 and 91.

Denmark is the most expensive EU Member State for total machinery and equipment, and for transport equipment, while among the EU Member States, Cyprus, Malta and the Netherlands show the highest prices for metal products and equipment, for electrical and optical equipment, and for software, respectively.

“On the other hand, Poland is the least expensive EU Member State for total machinery and equipment, as well as for electrical and optical equipment. Poland and Bulgaria show the lowest prices for metal products and equipment and for transport equipment. The United Kingdom is the least expensive EU Member State for software. Among all 37 countries, Iceland is the most expensive country for total machinery and equipment, for electrical and optical equipment, and for software. Switzerland has the highest price level for metal products and equipment, while Norway has the highest prices for transport equipment,” Eurostat reports.

At the opposite bottom of the scale, Poland remains the cheapest country for total machinery and equipment when taking into account all 37 countries.