Over the last three decades, GDP per capita in Belgium has increased substantially, by around 2½ per cent per year on average. Per capita growth was higher than in the United States, which is often taken as a reference point in this respect, but the gap relative to the United States, with a relatively high GDP per capita, has not yet been closed. In Belgium, GDP per capita (in 1995 PPP dollars) increased from around $12 500 in 1970 to $25 000 in 2000, but remained some $8 000 below the level in the United States (Figure 25).