GCG Index: Western Europe

Using the same methodology used to calculate the global GCG Index (Gravity Center GATE), we analyze how the center of gravity of economic and trade activity in Western Europe has shifted, taking for this purpose the geographic coordinates of the center of each country that makes up the EU-15, the real GDP of each, and exports.

Between 1960 and 2020, the European center of gravity has shifted from the north of Luxembourg, down to Switzerland, to begin an ascent to the center of France today. Thanks to the GCG Index (Gravity Center GATE), we can observe the evolution of the EU-15 countries and those that are part of the EFTA (European Free Trade Agreement) over the decades and how economic crises and events such as the creation of the European Union's single market have influenced the convergence process of these countries.

The movement of the GCG Index confirms the conclusions of other studies that there has been a significant slowdown in the economic convergence of southern Europe with the north and center. The fall and subsequent rise of the center of gravity towards the center of the continent since the creation of the euro in 1999 shows that the countries of the south have lost weight, while those of the north and center have regained it.