The richest country’s average citizen earns more in a week than the poorest country’s average citizen earns in a year.
How to Play: Guess if the country on the right has HIGHER or LOWER GDP per capita than the one on the left.
Name A
Name B
Top 10 Countries by GDP Per Capita
GDP per capita divides total GDP by population. Small, wealthy countries dominate the top — Luxembourg, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway. The biggest economies (US, China, India) sit in different parts of the ranking.
| # | Name | GDP per Capita (USD) | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luxembourg | 132,000 | USD |
| 2 | Ireland | 104,000 | USD |
| 3 | Norway | 99,000 | USD |
| 4 | Switzerland | 93,000 | USD |
| 5 | Singapore | 85,000 | USD |
| 6 | United States | 82,000 | USD |
| 7 | Iceland | 82,000 | USD |
| 8 | Denmark | 68,000 | USD |
| 9 | Australia | 65,000 | USD |
| 10 | Netherlands | 63,000 | USD |
What GDP Per Capita Measures
GDP per capita is total GDP divided by population. It is widely used as a proxy for average prosperity, though it does not capture inequality, cost of living, or non-cash welfare. A country can have high GDP per capita with most wealth concentrated at the top.
Luxembourg’s $132,000 figure is unusual because the country’s population (650,000) is much smaller than its workforce (about 500,000, including 200,000+ cross-border commuters from Belgium, France, and Germany). The commuters produce GDP that gets credited to Luxembourg, while their consumption happens elsewhere — inflating per-capita GDP without proportional living-standard gains.
Ireland is similarly distorted — its $104,000 GDP per capita reflects multinationals (Google, Apple, Pfizer) using Ireland as their European HQ for accounting purposes. ‘Modified GNI’ is a metric Ireland uses to filter out this corporate-residency effect; on that measure, Ireland sits closer to $50-60k per capita.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country has the highest GDP per capita?
Luxembourg at about $132,000. Ireland and Singapore are also very high but partially due to corporate-tax residency effects.
Is GDP per capita the same as average income?
No. GDP per capita includes corporate profits, government spending, and depreciation — not just wages. Median income is typically much lower.
Why is Burundi the lowest?
Burundi has roughly 13 million people, very limited industrial economy, and per-capita GDP around $250. It is consistently ranked among the world’s poorest countries by all measures.
Are these PPP-adjusted or nominal?
Values here are nominal USD. PPP-adjusted figures often shift the rankings — China and India rank higher in PPP terms; Western countries lower.
Note: GDP per capita in nominal USD per IMF World Economic Outlook 2024. Microstates (Monaco, Liechtenstein) excluded for comparability.
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