EU Enlargement: gross domestic product per capita of potential future EU members 2022

As of 2022, there are eight official candidate countries for membership in the European Union, as well as two countries identified by the European Commission as potential future candidates. A key element of the Copenhagen Criteria - the conditions which must be fulfilled to join the EU - is the existence of a functioning market economy in the candidate country, with the ability of the country to handle the strong competition and economic pressures which come with joining the European Single Market.

While the political and administrative/institutional criteria have been seen as the key stumbling block which has prevented the current candidate countries from progressing towards full membership, the current state of the economies of candidate countries is also a cause for concern. According to the most recently available data, all candidate countries have lower GDP per capitas than even the poorest EU member state, Bulgaria. 

Ukraine, the newest candidate country, which was granted candidate status by the EU in response to Russia's invasion of the country in 2022, is the poorest candidate country, as measured by GDP per capita. This represents a serious issue, as the EU has never incorporated a country which is so far from the average economic standards of the union. On the other hand, the chance to join the EU could provide an economic boost to Ukraine, or any other candidate country, as can be seen with the fast rising GDP per capitas of countries which have joined the EU since 2004, such as Czechia, Hungary, and Poland.