Ireland’s gross domestic product per head was the fourth highest among the EU states in 2011, new data from Eurostat showed today.

The figures were based on preliminary estimates for the year, and showed Ireland was behind Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria in terms of GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards.

Luxembourg recorded the highest level, at more than two and a half times the EU27 average. Ireland recorded a level of 27 per cent higher than the average.

Trailing that was Finland, Belgium and Germany, which were between 15 per cent and 20 per cent above the average, with France and the UK at between 5 and 10 per cent above average.

At the opposite end of the scale were countries such as Romania, which was 50 per cent below the average of the EU, and Bulgaria at 55 per cent.