Irish are second richest in EU

The wealth gap between the old and new EU member states is narrowing but Luxembourg and Ireland are still the wealthiest countries in the bloc.

Portugal has fallen behind three of the new members — Cyprus, Slovenia and the Czech Republic — in wealth per person.

Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and the Czech Republic experienced the biggest growth in their gross domestic product, per capita, in the EU 25 between 2003 and 2005.