GDP per Capita

What this measures

GDP per capita divides a country's total economic output by its population, giving a rough average of economic output per person. It is not a measure of income equality or cost of living — a country can have a high average while wealth is distributed very unevenly.

Why it matters

This is usually a far better proxy for typical living standards than total GDP, because it accounts for population size: a country can have an enormous economy and still have low output per person if its population is large enough. It's also why "biggest economy" and "richest country" are frequently two very different lists.

Notable patterns

• Monaco has the highest GDP per capita in this dataset, at $288,001 — even though it ranks only #144 in total GDP, illustrating how a smaller population can produce a high per-person average without a huge total economy.
• The gap between the highest and lowest GDP per capita in this dataset is roughly 1313x — a country in the top spot produces, on average, about 1313 times more economic output per person than one at the bottom.
• The median country in this ranking is Moldova, at $7,576 per person — a useful midpoint for judging whether a given figure is high or low by world standards.

Methodology & sources

Sourced from the World Bank indicator NY.GDP.PCAP.CD (GDP per capita (current US$)). Figures reflect each country's most recent reported year, which varies by country — see the year shown in each row. Some small territories and disputed regions are excluded where the World Bank does not report a figure for them.