It's surprising how many of the wealthiest countries in the world are also some of the smallest.
When people think about the richest countries in the world, they often imagine large, economically dominant nations. Similarly, the smallest nations might bring to mind remote or less prosperous places. However, it's surprising to learn that many of the wealthiest countries are also some of the smallest by size or population.
Small and wealthy nations like Luxembourg, Singapore, and Hong Kong often thrive due to their advanced financial sectors and favorable tax systems, which attract foreign investments and skilled professionals. Others, such as Qatar and Brunei, capitalize on vast natural resources like hydrocarbons.
The term "rich" typically refers to a country’s economic prosperity. However, rather than solely relying on gross domestic product (GDP), dividing the GDP by the number of residents provides a better measure of how wealthy a population is relative to another. Smaller nations often appear wealthier because their economies are large compared to their small populations.
To understand a nation’s living standards more accurately, we must account for inflation and the cost of local goods and services. This calculation produces purchasing power parity (PPP), which standardizes economic comparisons across countries using international dollars.
Nevertheless, a high PPP does not automatically mean everyone in that country is better off. These figures reflect averages, and in many nations, structural inequalities favor the privileged few, skewing perceptions of overall prosperity.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed deep inequalities in ways that were previously unimaginable. While wealthier nations, often more vulnerable to the virus due to aging populations and other risks, had the resources to address the crisis, access to these resources was not equally distributed. Additionally, the economic downturn disproportionately affected low-wage workers, exposing a new type of inequality. Some individuals could work remotely, while others lost their jobs and were left without sufficient safety nets, exposing flaws in even the most acclaimed welfare systems.
In times of such crises, being in a country with robust welfare systems and reliable healthcare is undoubtedly advantageous. In the world's 10 poorest countries, the average per-capita purchasing power is under $1,200, compared to nearly $80,000 in the 10 richest countries.
However, there are reasons to question these measures of economic prosperity. The IMF has cautioned against taking certain figures at face value. Many high-ranking nations are tax havens, where wealth generated elsewhere artificially inflates GDP through complex accounting and legal maneuvers. Approximately 15% of global jurisdictions are tax havens, and around 40% of foreign direct investment involves "phantom" transactions—financial flows passing through empty corporate entities without significantly impacting the local economy or people's wellbeing. Combined with unequal resource distribution, this explains why significant poverty can exist even in the wealthiest nations.
Rank
Country
1 Luxembourg 118,001$
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 Province of China 55,724$
17 Austria 55,218$
18 Sweden 54,146$
19 Germany 54,076$
20 Australia 51,680$
21 Belgium 51,096$
22 Finland 49,853$
23 Bahrain 48,766$
24 Canada 48,720$
25 Saudi Arabia 46,811$
26 France 46,062$
27 Korea 44,621$
28 United Kingdom 44,117$
29 Malta 42,856$
30 Japan 42,248$
31 New Zealand 42,018$
32 Kuwait 41,627$
33 Italy 40,861$
34 Czech Republic 40,618$
35 Israel 40,547$
36 Cyprus 40,107$
37 Lithuania 38,824$
38 Slovenia 40,067$
39 Spain 39,121$
40 Estonia 38,834$
41 Poland 34,103$
42 Portugal 34,043$
43 Puerto Rico 34,025$
44 The Bahamas 34,148$
45 Hungary 33,030$
46 Slovak Republic 32,709$
47 Latvia 31,509$
48 Romania 30,526$
49 Turkey 30,253$
50 Oman 30,178$
51 Aruba 29,090$
52 Greece 28,748$
53 Russia 27,903$
54 Croatia 27,717$
55 Malaysia 27,402$
56 Panama 27,003$
57 Kazakhstan 26,565$
58 Seychelles 25,414$
59 Trinidad and Tobago 25,031$
60 Bulgaria 23,817$
61 Chile 23,366$
62 Uruguay 22,459$
63 St. Kitts and Nevis 20,987$
64 Argentina 20,751$
65 Mauritius 20,292$
66 Belarus 20,187$
67 Costa Rica 19,990$
68 Guyana 19,684$
69 Maldives 19,609$
70 Montengegro 19,252$
71 Serbia 19,146$
72 Mexico 19,130$
73 Antigua and Barbuda 18,618$
74 Dominican Republic 18,608$
75 Thailand 18,236$
76 Equatorial Guinea 17,788$
77 China 17,192$
78 Botswana 16,893$
79 North Macedonia 16,715$
80 Turkmenistan 16,520$
81 Gabon 15,970$
82 Grenada 15,431$
83 Bosnia and Herzegovina 15,047$
84 Georgia 14,918$
85 Brazil 14,916$
86 Suriname 14,513$
87 Azerbaijan 14,431$
88 Colombia 14,324$
89 Palau 14,309$
90 Albania 14,218$
91 Barbados 13,553$
92 St. Lucia 13,359$
93 Armenia 13,261$
94 Sri Lanka 13,214$
95 Ukraine 13,110$
96 Iran 13,073$
97 Paraguay 12,881$
98 Moldova 12,811$
99 Egypt 12,790%
100 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 12,606$
101 Indonesia 12,222$
102 Bhutan 12,060$
103 South Africa 12,032$
104 Peru 11,871$
105 Mongolia 11,825$
106 Fiji 11,567$
107 Lebanon 11,564$
108 Kosovo 11,274$
109 Algeria 11,112$
110 Dominica 11,072$
111 Ecuador 11,009$
112 Vietnam 10,869$
113 Jordan 10,306$
114 Tunisia 10,120$
115 Iraq 10,003$
116 Jamaica 9,975$
117 Nauru 9,856$
118 Namibia 9,396$
119 Eswatini 8,957$
120 Philippines 8,452$
121 El Salvador 8,422$
122 Bolivia 8,344$
123 Guatemala 8,293$
124 Lao P.D.R. 8,111$
125 Morocco 7,620$
126 Uzbekistan 7,449$
127 Angola 6,932$
128 India 6,461$
129 Cabo Verde 6,424$
130 Tonga 6,191$
131 Belize 6,046$
132 Libya 5,893$
133 Mauritania 5,834$
134 Ghana 5,693$
135 Samoa 5,653$
136 Nicaragua 5,575$
137 Honduras 5,450$
138 West Bank and Gaza 5,388$
139 Côte d'Ivoire 5,365$
140 Bangladesh 5,307$
141 Myanmar 5,242$
142 Nigeria 5,187$
143 Venezuela 5,178$
144 Pakistan 5,150$
145 Djibouti 5,096$
146 Kyrgyz Republic 5,036$
147 Kenya 4,926$
148 Cambodia 4,695$
149 Tuvalu 4,497$
150 Republic of Congo 4,188$
151 Sudan 4,098$
152 Nepal 4,061$
153 Papau new Guinea 3,833$
154 São Tomé and PrÃncipe 3,829$
155 Marshall Islands 3,786$
156 Tajikistan 3,676$
157 Cameroon 3,646$
158 Senegal 3,478$
159 Micronesia 3,446$
160 Benin 3,437$
161 Timor-Leste 3,382$
162 Zambia 3,342$
163 Comoros 3,048$
164 Haiti 2,916$
165 Ethiopia 2,908$
166 Tanzania 2,821$
167 Lesotho 2,718$
168 Zimbabwe 2,622$
169 Guinea 2,604$
170 Vanuatu 2,586$
171 Uganda 2,574$
172 Solomon Islands 2,455$
173 Mali 2,401$
174 Afghanistan 2,390$
175 Guinea-Bissau 2,348$
176 Rwanda 2,337$
177 The Gambia 2,276$
178 Burkina Faso 2,262$
179 Kiribati 2,200$
180 Togo 2,199$
181 Yemen 1,927$
182 Eritrea 1,821$
183 Sierra Leone 1,725$
184 Chad 1,611$
185 Madagascar 1,599$
186 Liberia 1,557$
187 Mozambique 1,277$
188 Niger 1,259$
189 Democratic Republic of Congo 1,106$
190 Malawi 993$
191 Central African Republic 979$
192 Somalia 925$
193 South Sudan 791$
194 Burundi 760$