BRITAIN has pulled further ahead of its rival economies in Europe in a league table of living standards in the world’s richest countries.
UK living standards have advanced further ahead of those in France, Germany, and Italy since the 1990s, when Britain overtook the EU competitors, data produced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development suggests.
The Irish Republic has leapfrogged other EU nations into the first rank of the wealthiest countries for the first time.
The comparisons are based on GDP per head in 2002 after adjusting for price differences in economies, so that the purchasing power of a given income is equal in each country.
The data show Britain in 11th place in the global league, up from 17th in 1999, with the UK having now overtaken Sweden.
