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The Meridian · 17 stories
Companies, markets and the economy. Reporting and company profiles with clear attribution.
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In 2024, the EU’s total fertility rate was 1.34 live births per woman, the lowest level recorded since the time series began in 2001. Over the past 20 years, the fertility rate has remained consistently below the natural replacement rate of 2.10, varying between 1.34 and 1.57 live births per wom...
Explainer
A practical worksheet for the 27–28 October meeting: separate the rate decision, its explanation and expectations about what comes next.
Official-source brief
In 2025, 89.7% of young people aged 16 to 29 in the EU perceived their health as good or very good. This was clearly higher than the share in the total population aged 16 and over, at 67.9%. This share has stayed largely stable over time, with only a small decline since 2021 from 91.1% to 89.7%. ...
Official-source brief
The annual growth rate of the broad monetary aggregate M3 stood at 3.5% in September 2026, unchanged from the previous month, averaging 3.5% in the three months up to September. The components of M3 showed the following developments. The annual growth rate of the narrower aggregate M1, which comprises currency in circulation and overnight deposits, decreased to 2.7% in September from 2.9% in August. The annual growth rate of short-term deposits other than overnight deposits (M2-M1) increased to 4.6% in September from 4.1% in August. …
Original data analysis
The euro bought more of 1 of the five currencies tracked and less of 4 between 16 October and 23 October 2026. Our calculations compare the same ECB reference-rate dates and show the range of daily readings.
Official-source brief
In 2025, the EU’s Gini coefficient was 29.2, down slightly from 29.4 in 2024. The Gini coefficient measures how income is distributed within a country compared with a situation of a perfectly equal distribution. A value of 0 represents perfect equality, where everyone has the same income, while a...
Official-source brief
In July 2026, 34 145 non-EU citizens submitted a first-time application for international protection in EU countries, 39% fewer than in July 2025 (55 680) and 8% fewer than in June 2026 (37 075). There were also 5 780 subsequent applicants, 52% fewer than in July 2025 (12 040) and 2% fewer than i...
Official-source brief
In September 2026, the price of fuels and lubricants for personal transport in the EU increased by 31.4% compared with September 2025. This followed the year-on-year increases of 16.9% in July and 23.8% in August. September annual increases were higher than those in July and August 2026 in 26 EU...
Official-source brief
In connection with the news releases for the Excessive deficit procedure (EDP) and the Government finance statistics (GFS) published today, a series of related documents have been updated: Note on the stock of liabilities in trade credits and advances; Stock-flow adjustment note explaining the l...
Original data analysis
The euro bought more of 3 of the five currencies tracked and less of 2 between 9 October and 16 October 2026. Our calculations compare the same ECB reference-rate dates and show the range of daily readings.
Original data analysis
The EU rate was 6.1%, but country readings ranged from 3.2% to 10.0%. The Meridian compares all 27 countries for the same month and calculates their distance from the EU rate and changes over time.
Official-source brief
Between 2019, the last pre-COVID-19 year, and 2024, the EU’s GDP grew by 5.6% overall in real terms. However, developments across the 244 regions at level 2 of the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS 2) with available data varied considerably. A total of 197 regions grew, with ...
Official-source brief
In 2024, 81.5 million tonnes of packaging waste were generated in the EU, or 181.0 kg per inhabitant. Packaging waste per capita increased by 3.2 kg compared with 2023, and by 19.6 kg compared with 2014. Of all the packaging waste generated, 40.8% was paper and cardboard, 19.9% plastic, 18.1% gla...
Economy · Public ownership
A new international comparison examines public ownership, oversight and competition.
Business · Company profile
The crypto platform identifies a Zug-registered Swiss company as its operator and brings account information, transaction requests and support into one browser-based service. Its stated offering also includes staking and crypto deposit programmes.
Business · Media
A new financial comparison reflects the separation of its print business.
Economy · Outlook
The October forecast balances technology investment against inflation and borrowing pressures.
