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9 December 2010
Last updated at 10:21 ET
By Guto Thomas
BBC Wales political correspondent
Wales may qualify for the highest level of European funding for the third time, figures on the wealth of the nation suggest.
Provisional statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggest Wales will fail to reach 75% of the average UK figure.
The 2009 statistics suggest the gross valued added (GVA) figure per head for Wales is 74.3%.
It was called "an ironic mix of good and bad news" by a Plaid Cymru AM.
The party's Rhodri Glyn Thomas, a member of the assembly's European Affairs Committee, said the figures are bad news in that they demonstrate the current weakness of the Welsh economy, while the influx of extra European cash at a time of cuts in domestic public spending could only be a good thing for Wales.
Whilst decisions about regional EU funding for 2014 onwards have yet to be made, it's likely that qualification for the next round of aid would depend on GVA statistics for a three year period, such as 2007 to 2009.
The GVA for Wales in 2007 was 74.6%, 74.1% in 2008 and 74.3% in 2009 - giving an average in the region of 74.3%.
If this level of GVA continues, it is conceivable that the poorest regions of Wales would qualify for the highest level of aid again.
This is despite the investment of billions of pounds of European funding in the poorest parts of Wales since 1999.
About £3bn in Objective 1 European funding was received in 1999 to 2006 and another £2bin in convergence funding from 2007 to 2013.
'Hugely disappointing'
Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan described the latest figures as "hugely disappointing", and that the statistics, which were released on Wednesday, "show that under the final year of the previous government Wales was still the poorest part of the UK and the prosperity gap with the rest of the UK is widening".
"The prosperity level in Wales is now below what it was when the Welsh assembly was created in 1999 and is significantly below the level it was at in 1989 under the last Conservative government.
"While relative GVA per head in Wales performed slightly better than the UK as a whole during that period, our share of total GVA remains a challenge.
The Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy Ieuan Wyn Jones argued: "These figures show how all parts of the UK were hit hard as the first phase of the global recession took hold.
"While relative GVA per head in Wales performed slightly better than the UK as a whole during that period, our share of total GVA remains a challenge.
The ONS statistics reveal that west Wales and the valleys - which benefited from both types of European funding - has the lowest GVA per head of all the comparable regions in the UK.
GVA per head in 2008 was just £12,860 - which is 62.6% of the UK average.
This is likely to lead to further questions about the way in which European funding has been spent in Wales over the last decade.
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Provisional statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggest Wales will fail to reach 75% of the average UK figure.
The 2009 statistics suggest the gross valued added (GVA) figure per head for Wales is 74.3%.
It was called "an ironic mix of good and bad news" by a Plaid Cymru AM.
The party's Rhodri Glyn Thomas, a member of the assembly's European Affairs Committee, said the figures are bad news in that they demonstrate the current weakness of the Welsh economy, while the influx of extra European cash at a time of cuts in domestic public spending could only be a good thing for Wales.
Whilst decisions about regional EU funding for 2014 onwards have yet to be made, it's likely that qualification for the next round of aid would depend on GVA statistics for a three year period, such as 2007 to 2009.
The GVA for Wales in 2007 was 74.6%, 74.1% in 2008 and 74.3% in 2009 - giving an average in the region of 74.3%.
If this level of GVA continues, it is conceivable that the poorest regions of Wales would qualify for the highest level of aid again.
This is despite the investment of billions of pounds of European funding in the poorest parts of Wales since 1999.
About £3bn in Objective 1 European funding was received in 1999 to 2006 and another £2bin in convergence funding from 2007 to 2013.
'Hugely disappointing'
Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan described the latest figures as "hugely disappointing", and that the statistics, which were released on Wednesday, "show that under the final year of the previous government Wales was still the poorest part of the UK and the prosperity gap with the rest of the UK is widening".
"The prosperity level in Wales is now below what it was when the Welsh assembly was created in 1999 and is significantly below the level it was at in 1989 under the last Conservative government.
"While relative GVA per head in Wales performed slightly better than the UK as a whole during that period, our share of total GVA remains a challenge.
The Deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy Ieuan Wyn Jones argued: "These figures show how all parts of the UK were hit hard as the first phase of the global recession took hold.
"While relative GVA per head in Wales performed slightly better than the UK as a whole during that period, our share of total GVA remains a challenge.
The ONS statistics reveal that west Wales and the valleys - which benefited from both types of European funding - has the lowest GVA per head of all the comparable regions in the UK.
GVA per head in 2008 was just £12,860 - which is 62.6% of the UK average.
This is likely to lead to further questions about the way in which European funding has been spent in Wales over the last decade.
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