Bulgaria remains the poorest member of the European Union, with an annual gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of 8 600 euro, French non-governmental organisation Observatoire des inegalites said in a report on its website.

Bulgaria's per capita GDP was four times smaller than that of the top performer in the EU, Ireland, which reached 34 200 euro. EU's newest two member states are at the bottom of the ranking, but Romania still outperformed its southern neighbour and recorded a per capita GDP of 9 100 euro.

The Czech Republic had GDP a person of 18 500 euro, Estonia came in at 16 100 euro, Hungary at 15 300 euro and Poland at 12 300 euro.

The average GDP per capita in the 27 EU member states was 25 900 euro. The benchmark analysis draws on the purchasing power of the population and takes into account the living standard differences in individual countries.