Inequality, which is always underestimated by the EU and Eurostat, fell in Europe in 2011. Thus a long-term trend towards more cohesion was resumed after a brief hiatus in 2010. This is perhaps surprising given the implementation of austerity policies. In fact, national inequality also increased on average compared to 2010. Evidently, however, nominal growth rates in poorer countries in 2011 were higher than in the richer member states, which led to a slight reduction in inequality between states.