North Friesland has the highest purchasing power in the north
In no other district or independent city in Schleswig-Holstein is the purchasing power per capita as high as in North Friesland. And the four independent cities of Lübeck, Neumünster, Kiel and Flensburg lag far behind in the north. These are the findings of calculations by the German Economic Institute (IW), which compared average per capita nominal incomes in Germany on a regional basis and compared them with the respective cost of living.
The idea behind the ranking is that differences in the cost of living could compensate for some of the differences in income - or exacerbate them. As everywhere in Germany, it is clear that the highest purchasing power lives away from the cities. An earlier analysis had shown that higher housing costs often drive the price level in cities. In addition, nominal incomes there are often significantly lower than outside the cities.
With an average nominal income of around 27,500 euros, the analysts arrive at a price-adjusted income of 28,225 euros for North Friesland. This is by far the highest figure in the north, which also puts North Friesland in 11th place in a nationwide comparison. At the bottom of the scale are the residents of Flensburg with a per capita real income of 20,720 euros, the eighth lowest of the 400 cities and districts surveyed nationwide. The situation is not much better in Kiel (21,043 euros), Neumünster (21,796 euros) and Lübeck (22,078 euros).
The districts of Stormarn (EUR 26,605), Rendsburg-Eckernförde (EUR 26,298), Dithmarschen (EUR 25,981) and Pinneberg (EUR 25,551) rank far behind Nordfriesland. Segeberg (EUR 24,701) has the lowest value of the districts.
The ranking is based on data from the Federal Statistical Office on nominal income as at 2021, which the IW has combined with its index of the regional cost of living. This is based, among other things, on 24 million price data queried in 2022.
Despite North Friesland having the highest nominal income among the northern districts, the consumers in Flensburg face the lowest real income due to higher prices. Consequently, some consumers in the cities of Lübeck, Neumünster, Kiel, and Flensburg may struggle with affordability despite their income levels.
Source: www.dpa.com
