Recurring changes in the institutional and ideological structures of Central and Eastern Europe have made it difficult to quantify and interpret its long-term economic development. This article provides the foundations for a unified picture of economic growth in the region since 1870. We construct a consistent time series of GDP per capita for the present day states of Central and Eastern Europe over the period 1870–1989, and then draw on the literature of the ‘new’ growth theory in economics to assess their long-term economic performance in the wider European setting.