Statistics

Eurobarometer published the results of the opinion poll about the happiness of people living in the European Union. About 27.000 Europeans took part in the pool, 87% of them admitted that they feel happy. The happiest people are in Denmark, the most unsatisfied are people in Bulgaria.

Czech people are not so satisfied at their work as people from old member state. On the other hand, Czech people don’t complain about too much stress at work. Only one quarter of Czech people are interested in politics and three quarters don’t trust any institutions. Only 40% of Czech workers feel any pressure from their employers to educate themselves at work.

Generally, people in Europe fear unemployment, the increase of the cost of living and uncertain pensions. They consider health, family and friends the most important things in their lives. Nine people out of ten appreciate their free time and 84% of European people appreciate good work.

According to the statistics made by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the difference between the highest and lowest salaries in the Czech Republic has risen, but still the Czech Republic belongs to OECD countries with the smallest wage inequality.

The Gini coefficient, that measures the rate of wage inequality, is for the Czech Republic 26, while the average rate for all OECD countries is 31. The higher the number is, the larger is the difference between the salaries. Lower coefficient is only in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Austria.

The low coefficient for the Czech Republic is caused by a generous social system and social equality supported by eight years of the governance of Social Democrats. Economists predict that the number will grow due to expected tax reforms.

Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, released a data informing about the degree of economic development of all regions in 27 countries of the European Union.

The survey measured the regional GDP per inhabitant in the 27 countries of European Union in 2004. The best results belongs to the Inner London with 303% of the average of the European Union GDP. London is followed by Luxembourg and Brussels. The lowest positions belong to the North-East of Romania with 24%.

Prague is in the 12th place of all the regions. It scored 157% of the average 27EU GDP per person. Other Czech regions did not reach up 70% of the average GDP of the European Union. The region in the Czech Republic with the lowest GDP per person is the central Moravia. Read here the whole report.

The statistics made by the agency STEM/MARK for the Ministry for Regional Development and CzechTourism show some interesting facts about the incoming tourism in the Czech Republic.

In terms of tourists who visit the country only for one day, the majority of them comes from Germany (63%). Then from Poland (13%), Slovakia (11%) and Austria (10%). They mostly cross the border for shopping and their average expenses are 2101 CZK per person per day.

Foreign tourist spend on average 4 days in the Czech Republic. Americans, Japanese and Russians stay here the longest. Most visitors who spend here at least one night, come from Germany (29%), Great Britain (16%), Slovakia (8%), Austria (6%) and Poland (6%). They come here mainly for recreation and entertainment and to visit their relatives and friends. Their average expenses are 2 498 CZK per person per day.

The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal published the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom which ranks 157 countries in 10 categories. The highest economic freedom has Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. The lowest Libya, Cuba and North Korea.

The chart evaluated the business freedom, trade freedom, fiscal freedom, freedom from government, monetary freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom, property rights, freedom from corruption and labour freedom of the countries.

The Czech Republic is in the 31st position. The best score of the Czech Republic is in the monetary and financial areas, the worst in the level of corruption and state interference. For more information click here.

Those who have ever travelled to Prague by car and were stuck in a traffic jam will not be surprised that the number of cars in Prague comparing to the number of inhabitants is the highest in the whole country.

According to the statistics made by the Automotive Industry Association, there is one car for 1,94 people, which means that almost every other Prague inhabitant has a car. For example in the northern Moravia one car is “shared” by three people. The average in the Czech Republic is 2,5 people per one car.

Also cars in Prague are the newest. The average age of the cars is 12,95 years, while the average age of all cars registered in the Czech Republic is 13,87. Two fifth of all the cars are less then 5 years old.

The The Public Opinion Research Centre made a survey to find out what Czech people think about safety risks for the Czech Republic. 1119 people above 15 years old took part in the survey made last December.

From the answers of the respondents is clear that Czech people fear the international organized crime the most. More than two thirds of the people consider it as a big danger. The second thread that Czech people fear the most are terrorists and terrorist organizations. 6 people out of 10 consider it as very dangerous.

Another question investigated the opinion of people on the biggest actual thread for the Czech Republic. People could chose from a war conflict, an epidemic or a natural disaster. According to the statistic, Czech people evaluated natural disaster as the most probable.

People were also asked which country may be the biggest potential thread for the safety and piece in the Czech Republic. 21% of people do not see any other state as a potential thread. 24 % did not know. If people mentioned a state, it was mostly Iraq (24%), Iran (17%) and Afghanistan (10%).

Prague has been ranked the 13th position in revenue per available room for 2006. From all central and east European countries is Prague the only city in the top 15. Prague achieved a revenue per available room of EUR 85.10 (2383 CZK).

These data are presented by KPMG (providing audit, tax, and advisory services), and the Bench (proving global benchmarking data). They evaluated the average room rate with room occupancy.

The best ranked is London with the revenue of EUR 166.63 (average room rate is EUR 205.3 with occupancy of 81.7%). Other positions belong to Moscow with the revenue of EUR 161.78 and Dubai with the result of EUR 156.03.

According to the report of Eurostat, the Czech Republic belongs to the countries in the European Union where people get divorced the most. 67 married couples out of 100 get divorced in the Czech Republic. The only states in the European Union which have a higher divorce rate are Belgium and Estonia.

The average divorce rate in the EU is 40 marriages out of 100. The smallest divorce rate is in Ireland and Cyprus where it is quite difficult to get divorce. People get divorced the most after 3 or 5 years after the wedding. The average length of divorced marriages is 12 years.

Statistics and sociologists have a simple explanation for these numbers. Higher percentage of divorces nowadays is caused by the change of lifestyle. However, they also point out the divorce rate reached its peak and not it is going down. There are also more and more people who live together without being married.

According to the survey made by Feri Rating & Research for Capital magazine, Prague and other cities from Eastern European Union have bright prospects for further development until 2013. Feri Rating & Research evaluated economic growth (30%), purchasing power (30%), labour market (20%) and the number of inhabitants (20%).

European city with the highest development potential is Dublin, then Luxembourg and Helsinki. However, Warsaw is in the fifth place, Budapest in the 7th place and Prague in the 8th place. Brussels is in the 18th position, Rome 28th, Paris 30th, Vienna 35th and Berlin in the 79th place.

Feri Rating & Research is one of the largest economic research and forecasting institutes in Europe. They specialize in investment market and product ratings.

On 1st January 2007 it has been 14 years since the former Czechoslovakia split peacefully into two independent countries – the Czech and Slovak republics. The Public Opinion Research Centre made a survey to find out what people in the Czech Republic think about the split.

More than a half of Czech people think that the division was a good step. To be exact, 56 % of people agree with the split, while in 1993 only every fourth person (25%) agreed. About 1/3 of Czech people (34%) now don’t agree with the split, while in 1993 it was 53 %.

47 % of Czech people believe that the relations between Czech and Slovak inhabitants are the same as before the split. 25% think the relations are better, 18% think that they are worse.

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is the centre of government, economics and culture. It attracts people who want to build a career. About one sixth of all Czech people work in Prague. This number is growing every year. The unemployment in Prague is falling every year- from 3,9 percent last year to 3,5 percent this year.

However, there are less people living in Prague than in 1989. It is caused by rich Prague citizens moving into large houses in the villages around Prague who just commute to Prague every day.

The Czech Republic also notices the higher number of foreigners living here. This year there are 310 049 foreigners in the Czech Republic, which is about 30 000 people more than last year. 89 997 foreigners live in Prague. They are mainly from Ukraine, Slovak, other EU countries and Vietnam.

According to the survey of Gallup International conducted for Transparency International 17 percent of Czech people gave somebody a bribe in the last 12 months. That is even more than in Russia, Philippines, Pakistan, India or Thailand. The average in the European Union is 2 percent.

Global Corruption Barometer 2006 is a public opinion survey that explores the extend of corruption through the eyes of ordinary citizen around the world. Among the world’s least corrupt countries are Finland, Iceland and New Zealand, the most corrupt country is Haiti.

Czech people think that the most corrupt institute is police and political parties. 40 percent of Czech people do not believe in the efficiency of government’s measures against corruption. 21 percent of Czech people think that the government does not fight the corruption, 21 percent think that the government even supports it.

According to the Eurobarometer of the EU most of Czech people (81%) are satisfied with their life. Nine out of ten Czech people are proud of their nationality, almost three quarters are proud to be Europeans.

According to the Public Opinion Research Centre of the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences 69 % of Czech people do not consider marriage useless. 64,4% single women and 63,6% single men want to get married.

In the chart of aims in life Czech people want to find a partner for life (1st position), have children (2nd), be successful at work (3rd), get married (4th) and have the highest education possible (5th).

According to the Human Development Index 2006, the Czech Republic is on the 30th position out of 177 states of the world (complete list of states). This index measures comparatively life expectancy, literacy, education, and standards of living for countries worldwide. That means that also the average salary is considered.

The average salary in the Czech Republic rose 6,1% this year to 19 968 CZK. However, high salaries of top managers and IT experts are also included. Only one third of Czech people reach the average salary. The worst situation is in regions around Karlovy Vary, Hradec Kralove and Ceske Budejovice where the average salary is reached only by 23% of workers.

The best situation is in Prague. The average or higher salary is given to 57% of workers. The average salary in Prague region is around 25 000.

For comparison, Slovakian average salary is 14 419 CZK, Hungarian 18 056 and Polish 17 896 CZK. On the other hand, Austrian average salary is 76 351 CZK.

Prague’s region belongs to the most competitive regions in the EU. That is the statement of Sheffield University in Great Britain and the George Washington University.

The most competitive region in the EU (out of 118 regions) is Brussels which has the highest GDP per capita. Then it is Finnish Uusimaa including Helsinki. Nokia mobile company is seated in this region. Then it is Paris and Stockholm. Only two regions from the new EU member states are in the first ten regions – Prague and Bratislava.

The most competitive country in the EU is Finland, then Luxembourg, Switzerland and Norway.

Competitive index measures investment, employment in research and development, number of patent applications, highway accessibility, productivity, wages, public transport capacity, etc.

The rate of corruption in the Czech Republic has improved but still it is one of the worst in European Union. Transparency International evaluated the situation in 163 countries and gave index of the corruption rate. 10 points is the best, 0 points means the worst rate of corruption.

The best country with the lowest corruption are Finland, Iceland and New Zealand. Countries with the highest corruption are Iraq, Burma and Haiti. From all members of the European Union the worst is Poland in 61st place. The best from the new EU member states is Estonia in 23rd place.

The Czech Republic was evaluated as one of 10 states who improved during the last year the most. This year the Czech republic was in 46th place with 4,8 points. Last year it was in 47th place with 4,3 points. Still, the Czech Republic has to do a lot to fight corruption.

Privacy International, a human rights organization, issued the results of the ranking assessment of the state of privacy in European countries together with eleven benchmark countries, such as the USA, Canada, Russia or China.

The aim of this survey was to find countries with nurtured privacy protection and respect for privacy. The survey does not want to humiliate the worst ranking countries but to show that good privacy environment is possible.

The Czech Republic is 18th together with Slovakia out of 37 countries. The best ranking countries are Germany and Canada with the healthiest privacy environment. The worst ranking countries of the survey are Malaysia and China, in EU it is the United Kingdom.

If you want to learn more about the survey, click here.

According to the research made by CVVM (Centre for the research of public opinion) the most prestigious occupation in the Czech Republic is being a doctor. The doctors have been on the first position since the 60’s of the last century. They keep the main position mainly because of their necessity in society, their responsibility and qualification.

The second position is taken by scientist, third by university professors. Primary school teachers, computer programmers, designers and judges are next on the list. At the end of the list there are cleaning women and surprisingly members of parliament.

The research also compared the prestige with the salaries of individual occupations. Even though doctors are on the first position, their average salary is about a half the salary of judges. Be a member of parliament is maybe not so prestigious but their average salary is one of the best in the Czech Republic.

Sometimes we bring you reviews of Prague written by foreign visitors. But what do the Prague people think about the capital? Factum Invenio Company interviewed 250 casual Prague residents about their attitude towards Prague in September and October this year.

More than three quarters of people living in Prague think that the image of Prague is getting better. Mainly young people and people not doing physical labour appreciate the modernization of Prague and they think that the City of Prague takes good care of historical sights, parks and public places. On the other hand one fifth of the people (mainly people older than 45 years and people working physically) think that Prague is not improving, even getting worse.

The report does not mention whether also the feeling of safety was included in the research. Nevertheless, the City of Prague try to increase safety in Prague by installing 111 more security cameras and hiring 1000 more police officers.