Top 5 European Economies and How Would They Rank if They Were U.S. States

Creatix Economist / September 23, 2025

Curious about how the top 5 European economies would rank if they were U.S. states? 

Here are three comparisons: nominal GDP; per capita; and purchasing power parity (PPP). As you will see, Europe’s biggest economies look enormous on total GDP when compared to individual US states because they have lots of people in comparison (tens of millions more than any U.S. state.) Therefore, their aggregates can rival California or Texas. 

However, when we switch to per-capita, the picture flips: fewer hours worked on average (shorter weeks, longer holidays, earlier retirement), an industry mix with fewer hyper-scalable tech/finance giants, and older demographics all pull GDP per person below most U.S. states. 

Nominal dollar comparisons also penalize Europe when the U.S. dollar is strong. Adjusting for cost of living (purchasing power parity, PPP) narrows the gap, yet doesn’t erase it because underlying productivity and incomes remain higher across much of the U.S. And remember, country averages blend rich hubs (Paris, Munich, Milan, London) with poorer regions, dragging national means below many individual states. 

1) Nominal GDP Comparison

This is using 2024 nominal GDP in USD (World Bank/BEA) and including Russia in Europe. For European Union, we swap Russia with Spain. 

Rank (Europe)	Country	2024 GDP (USD)	If it were a U.S. state, it would be…
1	Germany	$4.66T	Bigger than any state → #1 (ahead of California at $4.10T). (Wikipedia)
2	United Kingdom	$3.64T	Between California and Texas → effectively #2. (Wikipedia)
3	France	$3.16T	Also between California and Texas → effectively #3 (smaller than UK, larger than TX at $2.71T). (Wikipedia)
4	Italy	$2.37T	Between Texas ($2.71T) and New York ($2.30T). (Wikipedia)
5	Russia	$2.17T	Between New York ($2.30T) and Florida ($1.71T). (Wikipedia)

Sources (consistent 2024 vintage):
– Country sizes: World Bank figures as compiled in List of countries by GDP (nominal). (Wikipedia)
– State sizes and “where they slot”: BEA 2024 state GDP, compiled in List of U.S. states and territories by GDP (the page also shows a convenient “states vs countries” table using 2024 data). (Wikipedia)

EU-only variant (swap Russia → Spain)

If you exclude Russia and use the EU’s “big five,” Spain ($1.72T) would be #5 and would slot just above Florida (between New York and Florida). (Wikipedia)

Notes: These are nominal (exchange-rate based) totals; rankings can wiggle year-to-year with FX moves. 

2) Nominal GDP per capita (current US$), and where each would sit among US states (2024)

• Germany — $55,800 → would slot between Mississippi ($53,061) and Arkansas ($60,276), i.e., second-to-last among states. (Wikipedia)

• United Kingdom — $52,637 → below Mississippi → would be last among states. (Wikipedia)

• France — $46,150 → below all states (well under Mississippi). Last. (Wikipedia)

• Italy — $40,226 → below all states. Last. (Wikipedia)

• Russia — $14,889 → below all states. Last. (FRED)

Source notes: Country 2024 per-capita figures are from World Bank (as collated on Wikipedia); state per-capita figures are BEA 2024 (New York $117,332 top; Mississippi $53,061 bottom). (Wikipedia)

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3 Cost-of-living–adjusted comparison (PPP vs. US states’ price-level–adjusted incomes)

There’s no official “PPP GDP per-capita” for US states. The closest apples-to-apples we can do is compare country PPP GDP per capita (Int$) with US states’ per-capita personal income adjusted for Regional Price Parities (RPP)—a BEA cost-of-living adjustment. Treat this as a proxy (GDP vs. personal income aren’t identical concepts).

Country PPP GDP per capita (IMF/WB, 2024) → Nearest RPP-adjusted state PCPI (BEA, 2022) → rough placement

• Germany — Int$ ~70,900 → near Nebraska $71,563 / Virginia $67,542–Colorado $74,025 → roughly upper-middle among states. (Statistics Times)

• France — Int$ ~65,940 → around US average $65,470; near Maryland $66,911 / Pennsylvania $67,042 → middle of the pack. (Statistics Times)

• United Kingdom — Int$ ~62,574 → similar to Texas $64,183 / Florida $63,446 / Ohio $63,179 → lower-middle. (Statistics Times)

• Italy — Int$ ~60,993 → close to Michigan $61,050 / North Carolina $61,684 → lower-middle. (Statistics Times)

• Spain — Int$ ~55,089 → near South Carolina $57,314 / West Virginia $56,018 → bottom quintile, but not last. (Statistics Times)

• Russia — Int$ ~47,299 → below the lowest RPP-adjusted state (Mississippi $53,099) → would be last. (Statistics Times)

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Quick caveats (so you can interpret this cleanly)

• Section 1 compares GDP per capita (nominal) country vs. GDP per capita by state—cleanest like-for-like for 2024.

• Section 2 uses PPP (countries) vs. RPP-adjusted personal income (states) as the best practical cost-of-living proxy. It’s informative about living-standards power, but it’s not the same macro concept, and state RPP data are latest for 2022. (Wikipedia)

Quick Analysis — Big Totals, Modest Averages

• Totals vs. averages. Germany/UK/France/Italy (and Russia in the Europe-wide cut) have huge populations, so their total GDPs can rival or exceed California/Texas. But when you divide by 60–85 million people, the per-capita figure naturally drops—often to the bottom of the U.S. state table.

• Hours worked & employment. Many European economies have shorter workweeks, longer vacations, earlier retirement, and lower prime-age employment than the U.S. That’s a feature (more leisure), but mechanically it reduces GDP per person, even with solid productivity.

• Industry mix & scale-ups. The U.S. concentrates outsized, high-margin sectors (big-tech platforms, advanced services, top-tier finance/biopharma) in a few mega-clusters. Europe is more weighted to mid-margin manufacturing and regulated/services, with fewer hyper-scalable giants—so value added per worker skews lower.

• Exchange rates vs. PPP. In nominal dollars, a strong USD pushes European figures down (both totals and per-capita). Switching to PPP removes the currency penalty and lifts Europe closer to U.S. living-standard measures—but not enough to catch most states because underlying productivity/incomes still run higher in the U.S.

• Demographics. Older age structures and slower population growth in Europe lower labor-force participation and drag per-capita GDP relative to younger, faster-growing U.S. states.

• Averaging across regions. National per-capita numbers average rich hubs (Paris, Munich, Milan, London) with poorer regions, pulling the countrywide mean below that of many individual U.S. states.

Net: Europe’s biggest economies look massive on total GDP because of scale; they look modest on per-capita/PPP because of fewer hours worked, different sector mix, demographics, and (in nominal terms) FX. PPP narrows but doesn’t erase the gap because the U.S. still enjoys higher productivity and income levels.

Now you know it.

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