When it comes to the richest countries in the world, size doesn’t always mean wealth. Small countries tend to dominate the top, as they heavily rely immigrant workers who are not granted resident status and often don’t reside in the countries they are working in, and thus not counted in the GDP per capita calculations. They also benefit from having sophisticated financial sectors and tax regimes that help attract foreign investments and professional talent.
Others small countries have large reserves of hydrocarbons or other lucrative natural resources. This article ranks the richest countries in the world by gross domestic product (at purchasing power parity) per capita, i.e., the purchasing power parity (PPP) value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given year, divided by the average (or mid-year) population for the same year.
Here are the top 20 richest countries in the world.
|
Rank |
Country |
GDP per capita (PPP) |
|
1. |
Luxembourg |
$118,001 |
|
2. |
Singapore |
$97,057 |
|
3. |
Ireland |
$94,392 |
|
4. |
Qatar |
$93,508 |
|
5. |
Switzerland |
$72,874 |
|
6. |
Norway |
$65,800 |
|
7. |
United States |
$63,416 |
|
8. |
Brunei Darussalam |
$62,371 |
|
9. |
Hong Kong SAR |
$59,520 |
|
10. |
Denmark |
$58,932 |
|
11. |
United Arab Emirates |
$58,753 |
|
12. |
San Marino |
$58,427 |
|
13. |
Netherlands |
$57,534 |
|
14. |
Macao SAR |
$56,078 |
|
15. |
Iceland |
$55,596 |
|
16. |
Taiwan |
$55,724 |
|
17. |
Austria |
$55,218 |
|
18. |
Sweden |
$54,146 |
|
19. |
Germany |
$54,076 |
|
20. |
Australia |
$51,680 |
