Kensington Palace Gardens property house prices
A house on Kensington Palace Gardens, which has previously been named as Britain's most expensive street Getty

It's official. Kensington, Chelsea and Notting Hill are the richest places to live in Europe, according to a European-wide report.

These areas – defined as Inner London West – enjoy local economies that are almost six times the European average, according to the European Union's data unit eurostat.

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It said the area topped Europe's elite places to live with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita at 580% of the EU average in 2015. More than twice as large as its nearest rival.

The median average hourly wage across the EU was €13.2, according to eurostat in 2014, the latest data it has available. The current average annual salary in the UK is £28,336, said the Office for National Statistics.

The London area, renowned for rich bankers, Arab princes and Russian oligarchs, led Europe's top five rich list, beating the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (264%), Germany's Hamburg (206%) Brussels in Belgium (205%) and Bratislava in Slovakia (188%).

The Euro data body notes that some areas can become a magnate for rich foreigners, bringing in work but also pushing up prices.

It said: "In some regions the GDP per capita figures can be significantly influenced by commuter flows. Net commuter inflows in these regions push up production to a level that could not be achieved by the resident active population on its own."

The British regions made four appearances among Europe's top 20 places to live. Next came Inner London East (175%), covering such areas as Stoke Newington, Shoreditch and Whitechapel. This was followed by North Eastern Scotland (155%), covering oil-rich Aberdeen, then came the combined south-eastern counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (150%).