Such differences are also a normal phenomenon when any particular economy is in the process of catching up, leading to a higher level of per capita income, or whenever an economy has to cope with structural changes or past shocks of any nature that would be reflected in a new relative price equilibrium.
That being said, developments in price competitiveness and unit labour cost competitiveness across the euro area economies need to be closely monitored. Persistent losses in relative cost competitiveness, for instance, can also relate to a number of structural rigidities leading to inertia in price and wage formation.