HomeBusinessThe World's Richest and Poorest Countries 2023

The World’s Richest and Poorest Countries 2023

What does it mean for a nation to be rich or poor at a time of global pandemic, high inflation and geopolitical tensions? GDP per capita adjusted for relative purchasing power gives us an idea, albeit an imperfect one.

LUCA VENTURA

Before the current ceasefire, one of the world’s poorest countries—Yemen—was heavily bombed by its far richer neighbor, Saudi Arabia.

Would you rather be rich in a poor country or poor in a rich one? Measuring how rich a country is not that easy (spoiler: it is not just about gross domestic product, or GDP). Measuring how rich you are depends to a large degree on how rich and poor countries are defined.

If we simply consider a nation’s gross domestic product—the sum of all goods and services produced by a country during one year—then we would have to conclude that the richest nations are exactly the ones with the largest GDP: United States, China, Japan, Germany. But how could the economies, for example, of Singapore or Luxembourg ever match that of such powerhouses when they are no more than small dots on the world map?

Another problem with GDP is that it does not measure income inequality, that is, how a country’s riches are distributed among the population. That is why a more accurate representation of people’s living conditions begins with dividing a nation’s GDP by the number of people that live there: per capita GDP and its growth rate tell us much more about the social wealth potentially available to each person and whether this wealth is either increasing or decreasing over time.

  Click here to read more details about the world’s richest countries.

However, using per capita GDP still poses a problem: the very same income can buy very little in some countries and go much further in others where basic necessities—food, clothing, shelter, or healthcare—cost far less. To gauge how wealthy a country’s citizens are it is necessary to understand how much they can buy. That is why, when comparing per capita GDP across countries, GDP should be adjusted for purchasing power parity, which helps us take into account the inflation rates and the price of goods and services in each given place.

When considering whether it is better to be rich in a poor country or poor in a rich one, the best chance of enjoying a superior standard of living is to reside in a richer nation no matter where a person falls on the income distribution scale. Then again, wealth for some without a good measure of equality for everyone is problematic, to say the least. The coronavirus pandemic proved it most strikingly. Low-income workers, often migrants, living in some very wealthy nations suddenly found themselves unemployed, homeless and stranded without much of a safety net. Many less affluent nations, in the meantime, bent over backwards to take care of all those in need during the crisis.

Because energy and food are essential goods with few substitutes, higher prices are particularly painful for low-income households. It is easier for families to cut down or eliminate spending on electronics, clothing or entertainment when prices surge, but when it comes to food, heating or transportation—crucial to both live and earn a living—this becomes much more difficult. As a result, an inflationary scenario can often pose a threat to economic and social stability.

This is why, in the long run, it is better not only to be rich but to be egalitarian as well. Too much economic inequality stifles growth for all, political instability is more likely, healthcare care costs and mortality rates are higher, and so are crime and corruption rates. Being rich in a poor country also has costs.

Rank Country/Territory GDP-PPP per capita ($)
1 Ireland 145,196
2 Luxembourg 142,490
3 Singapore 133,895
4 Qatar 124,848
5 Macao SAR 89,558
6 United Arab Emirates 88,221
7 Switzerland 87,963
8 Norway 82,655
9 United States 80,035
10 San Marino 78,926
11 Brunei Darussalam 75,583
12 Hong Kong SAR 74,598
13 Denmark 73,386
14 Taiwan 73,344
15 Netherlands 72,973
16 Iceland 69,779
17 Austria 69,502
18 Andorra 68,998
19 Germany 66,132
20 Sweden 65,842
21 Belgium 65,501
22 Australia 65,366
23 Saudi Arabia 64,836
24 Malta 61,939
25 Finland 60,897
26 Guyana 60,648
27 Bahrain 60,596
28 Canada 60,177
29 France 58,828
30 South Korea 56,706
31 United Kingdom 56,471
32 Israel 54,997
33 Cyprus 54,611
34 Italy 54,216
35 New Zealand 54,046
36 Kuwait 53,037
37 Slovenia 52,641
38 Japan 51,809
39 Czech Republic 50,961
40 Aruba 49,627
41 Spain 49,448
42 Lithuania 49,266
43 Estonia 46,385
44 Poland 45,343
45 Portugal 44,708
46 The Bahamas 43,913
47 Hungary 43,907
48 Puerto Rico 43,845
49 Croatia 42,531
50 Oman 42,188
51 Romania 41,634
52 Slovak Republic 41,515
53 Turkey 41,412
54 Latvia 40,256
55 Panama 40,177
56 Seychelles 39,662
57 Greece 39,478
58 Malaysia 36,847
59 Maldives 36,358
60 Russia 34,837
61 Kazakhstan 32,688
62 Trinidad and Tobago 32,054
63 Bulgaria 32,006
64 St. Kitts and Nevis 29,662
65 Chile 27,608
66 Mauritius 29,164
67 Uruguay 28,470
68 Montenegro 27,761
69 Argentina 27,261
70 Costa Rica 26,422
71 Dominican Republic 25,896
72 Serbia 25,432
73 Libya 24,559
74 Antigua and Barbuda 24,012
75 Mexico 23,820
76 Belarus 23,447
77 China 23,382
78 Thailand 22,675
79 Georgia 21,923
80 North Macedonia 21,111
81 Grenada 20,075
82 Turkmenistan 19,974
83 Bosnia and Herzegovina 19,604
84 Iran 19,548
85 Armenia 19,489
86 Colombia 19,460
87 Botswana 19,398
88 Gabon 19,197
89 Albania 19,029
90 Barbados 18,858
91 Brazil 18,686
92 Azerbaijan 18,669
93 Equatorial Guinea 18,510
94 St. Lucia 18,435
95 Suriname 18,427
96 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 17,793
97 Egypt 16,979
98 Moldova 16,840
99 Palau 16,394
100 Peru 16,132
101 South Africa 16,091
102 Indonesia 15,855
103 Fiji 15,727
104 Kosovo 15,620
105 Paraguay 15,578
106 Mongolia 14,939
107 Vietnam 14,458
108 Sri Lanka 14,223
109 Bhutan 14,170
110 Dominica 14,161
111 Ukraine 13,901
112 Ecuador 13,513
113 Algeria 13,507
114 Tunisia 13,270
115 Iraq 12,927
116 Jordan 12,893
117 Jamaica 12,887
118 El Salvador 11,647
119 Eswatini 11,492
120 Namibia 11,440
121 Philippines 11,420
122 Nauru 11,342
123 Belize 10,939
124 Guatemala 10,546
125 Morocco 10,460
126 Bolivia 10,327
127 Uzbekistan 10,308
128 Lao P.D.R. 9,801
129 Cabo Verde 9,661
130 India 9,073
131 Bangladesh 8,663
132 Venezuela 8,028
133 Nicaragua 7,601
134 Mauritania 7,437
135 Honduras 7,228
136 Angola 7,222
137 Tonga 7,125
138 Côte d’Ivoire 7,011
139 Ghana 6,974
140 Djibouti 6,894
141 Pakistan 6,836
142 West Bank and Gaza 6,688
143 Kenya 6,569
144 Samoa 6,324
145 Kyrgyz Republic 6,250
146 Nigeria 6,178
147 Cambodia 6,092
148 Tuvalu 5,797
149 Tajikistan 5,293
150 Republic of the Congro 5,155
151 Myanmar 5,132
152 Nepal 5,101
153 São Tomé and Príncipe 4,874
154 Marshall Islands 4,669
155 Cameroon 4,665
156 Papua New Guinea 4,516
157 Senegal 4,515
158 Sudan 4,471
159 Benin 4,300
160 Zambia 4,041
161 Micronesia 3,931
162 Ethiopia 3,724
163 Timor-Leste 3,637
164 Tanzania 3,600
165 Comoros 3,463
166 Lesotho 3,251
167 Haiti 3,248
168 Uganda 3,224
169 Guinea 3,218
170 Rwanda 3,090
171 Guinea-Bissau 3,072
172 Vanuatu 3,001
173 The Gambia 2,804
174 Togo 2,754
175 Burkina Faso 2,726
176 Mali 2,656
177 Zimbabwe 2,627
178 Solomon Islands 2,414
179 Kirbati 2,381
180 Eritrea 2,188
181 Sierra Leone 2,082
182 Yemen 2,042
183 Madagascar 1,916
184 Liberia 1,788
185 Chad 1,787
186 Malawi 1,682
187 Niger 1,600
188 Mozambique 1,556
189 Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,474
190 Somalia 1,374
191 Central Afrian Republic 1,127
192 Burundi 891
193 South Sudan 516
Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine N.A.

 

Source: International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook April 2023. Values are expressed in current international dollars, reflecting the corresponding exchange rates and PPP adjustments. 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Coverpage’s editorial stance

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