Top 13 Richest Countries in the World

Not many people are aware of the richest nations in the world. Different metrics need to be considered to determine the world’s leading economies. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), location, size of the population, and GDP per capita are the key economic pointers that are used to rank economics all across the globe.

The GDP per capita is the value of final goods and services produced in a nation in a year divided by the average of the population recorded in that same year. This is a crucial factor that makes it possible to rank nations based on their wealth and compare them with one another. High per capita GDP reflects the financial wellbeing of people in that country.

Countries that are ranked high on the list are seen to have a small population, less corruption, high living standards, hoard of tourism, flourishing trade, and massive production. They are also seen to have diverse and complex economies that are one of the major exporters in the world.

These small and rich nations benefit from sophisticated tax regimes, and financial sectors that assist them in attracting professional talent and foreign investments.

As money and power are closely interlinked to one another, these rich nations are also the most powerful in the world. Based on the data obtained from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, we have determined GDP per capita of countries and list them in ascending order.

13. United States

The GDP Per Capita of the United States is $59,500.

The U.S. economy constitutes one-quarter of the worldwide economy. Due to this reason, it is regarded as an economic superpower. The US has held the title of the largest economy in the world since 1871. In nominal terms, the overall size of the U.S. economy is $20.58 trillion, and it is expected to reach $22.32 trillion in the year 2020.

The reason for being so incredible is that it is backed by advanced technology, infrastructure, and a massive amount of natural resources. However, when the economy is evaluated with respect to purchasing power parity, then the United States was seen to lose it to its competitor nations.

12. San Marino

The GDP Per Capita of San Marino States is $60,360.

The total population of this country is nine million. It is presently recovering from its economic set caused due to recession. According to the IMF report, the government has taken up measures to increase the rate of employment and external and domestic demands that have greatly assisted in growth in the GDP of San Marino.

11. Hong Kong

The GDP per Capita of Hong Kong is $61,020.

The country has a population of over seven million people. It has sustained at the top positions in terms of economic liberty since 1995. One of the downsides of this region is that it suffers from a high level of disparities in income.

Hong Kong has been the former British colony and the administrative region of China. It is the entrance to the top financial center in Asia. Ranked at No. 11^th position among the 190 economies, one of the distinctive features about the company is its tax incentives and good infrastructure.

Hong Kong has become a highly popular destination for the launch of a start-up, with foreign firms that have permitted to own a hundred percent of their businesses without any citizenship requirements.

As per the government statistics, in this country, only five people live below the poverty line. This makes the island extremely rich. Hong Kong is an island with the largest population of high-net-worth individuals throughout the world. Here, more than 10,000 people have a net worth of thirty million and more.

10. Switzerland

The GDP per Capita of Switzerland is $61,360.

Switzerland is connected to Italy on its south border, France to its west, Germany to its north, and Liechtenstein and Austria to its east. The country has a population of eight million people. It is a well-developed economy that boasts of its thriving tourism industry, and social market. The total population in this country is calculated to be 8 million.

The country has witnessed exponential growth over the last few decades. It has broken the hurdles of a centralized closed economy for emerging into a manufacturing and export center of the world.

As per the prediction of IMF, the growth of Switzerland will reach one and ½ percentage in two to three years. After when the central bank lost $52 million, the company has formulated and implemented several policies in the direction of boosting its economy.

9. United Arab Emirates

The GDP per Capita of The United Arab Emirates is $68,250.

Agriculture, pearl trading, and fishing have been the revenue generation occupation for people in this Persian Gulf nation. After the discovery of oil in the 1950s, the economy underwent a major positive transformation. In the present scenario, the nation is seen to have considerable wealth, conventional Islamic architecture, showy shopping centers, and tax-free salaries that allures professionals from different parts of the world to this country. Only 20 percent of its total population is comprised of locally-born residents.

It has a large-sized export and manufacturing base. Looking at the performance in the last couple of years, the role of the services department has increased to a reasonable extent. However, the role of the manufacturing sector in forming the GDP has declined.

The economy of the United Arab Emirates is becoming highly diversified. Outside the conventionally dominant hydrocarbon sector, several major industries in this country include tourism, construction, trade, and finance. The Dubai World Expo that is going to take place somewhere this year, the country is expected to attract around 25 million visitors from abroad.

8. Kuwait

The GDP per Capita of Kuwait is $69,670.

It lies in the Western region of Asia. Kuwait is connected to Saudi Arabia, and Iraq on its borders. It is considered to be the sixth-largest oil reserves in the country.

The Arabian Desert covers a significant area of Kuwait. With the discovery of an abundance of oil under its sands in 1938, Kuwait made around eight percent of the entire world’s reserve. The present situation of this oil industry is equivalent to half of the overall GDP of the country and more than 90 percentage of its exports. Kuwait is a small state with a population of 4 million people who are concentrated in urban regions. Located on the northern corner of the Persia Gulf, Kuwait is among the highly democratic and advanced nations in the world.

7. Norway

The GDP per Capita of Norway is computed to be $70,590.

The total population of Norway is more than five million people. Oil is the resource that drives the economy of this country. As the top producer of petroleum in western Europe, the nation has benefitted from increasing prices after a decade of decline. With huge revenues that boost the economy, the governor of the central bank has decided to increase the rate of interest to the highest level since the year 2015. Sub-zero rates have helped the nation to encourage growth and investment. Norway has the lowest bridges related to inequality in income throughout the world.

6. Ireland

The GDP per Capita of Ireland is computed to be $72,630.

Ireland is considered to be the second-largest nation of the British Isles. It stood in the third position in Europe. The nation has one of the highest economic growth rates all over Europe. Amidst uncertainties in European economies, Italy’s economic griefs, and rising oil prices, the Irish economy is moving up in the economic ladder at a consistent rate. In 2019, it saw expansion by more than four percentage that in turn made it the fastest-growing economy after the financial crisis in 2008.

With a population of below five million inhabitants, the country became one of the most challenging hits by the worldwide downturn. After implementing politically tough improvement measures that included a sharp decline in wages and restructuring the banking area, the nation recovered its lost financial health. Slowly employment rates went up, and its per capita GDP got doubled.

5. Brunei

The GDP per Capita of Brunei is $76,740.

The population of this country is about 400,000 people. Crude oil production and natural gas account for making ninety percent of its overall GDP. The country is known to derive its fortune by its massive immense reserves of natural gas, and oil. Despite being a prosperous and affluent nation, malnutrition, adultery, death penalty, and sodomy are very common here. Though Brunei is ranked in one of the top ten wealthiest countries in the world, it does not seems like though, as richness doesn’t come by money alone.

4. Singapore

The GDP per Capita of Singapore is $90,530.

It is an island city-state located in Southeast Asia and also the second-largest overseas investor in India. Another very interesting thing about this country is that the world’s highest number of millionaires lives here. This shows how affluent the country is!

In 2018, there was noticed an expansion in its economy by 3.2%. Afterward, it showed a drastic deceleration due to worldwide trade tensions. Yet, the reason for such a slowdown in GDP per capita figures of the country could be hard to interpret.

As per the International Monetary Fund, GDP per capita raised to more than $86,000 in 2017 and reached $89,000 in the next year. It is estimated that this rising trend will continue till 2024 and could reach the $99,000 mark too.

In 1965, when Singapore got independent, around fifty percent of its population was uneducated. With negligible natural resources, the country became one of the wealthy, and business-friendly places through its smart policy and hard work. Presently, Singapore has become thriving manufacturing, financial, and trade hub with 97% of the literate population.

3. Luxembourg

The GDP per Capita of Luxembourg is $109,190.

Located in the western region of Europe, the country has Germany, France, and Belgium on its borders. Luxembourg is viewed to have a high-income market and a stable economy that features consistent and moderate growth.

The European nation of Luxembourg is defined and classified as the most affluent nations throughout the world. The finding is based on the GDP values of the country that is computed by dividing the country’s GDP by the size of the population. This gives you GDP value per capita in the country. In the case of Luxembourg, the GDP of this country was 107,053 USD in 2017. It saw an increase in 2019 that brought the overall GDP to 119,719 USD.

2. Macao

The GDP per capita of Macao is $122,201.

There has been a lot of speculations that in the coming years, Macao will climb to the first place of the ranking of the wealthiest nation. This country has been a colony of the Portuguese Empire in the past.

Post liberalization of the gaming industry in 2001, the astounding progress of this nation was observed by the special administrative area of the People’s Republic of China. With a population of more than 600,000 and forty casinos spread throughout its territory of around thirty square kilometers, Macao is viewed as a money-making machine.

1. Qatar

The GDP per capita of Qatar is $124,930.

Qatar occupies the first place in the list of wealthiest countries in the world. It is a small-sized middle eastern country whose capital is Doha. Its economy is majorly dependent on the export of crude oil.

After losing an average of $15,000 every year, the prices of hydrocarbon began to rise in 2014. The total GDP per person of the country in 2019 was speculated to remain over $134,000 more than what was in 2018. Qatar takes pride in its huge gas, petrochemical, and oil reserves and a small population of only 2.6 million.

The world is becoming richer. These are the top thirteen most affluent nations in the world based on the latest figures obtained by the International Monetary Fund. These wealthy economies serve as the driving engine of growth and commands a majority of the worldwide wealth.