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Richest Countries by Per-Capita GDP

We have a list of the top 21 richest countries based on per-capita income. How many can you name?
2024 estimates. Purchasing power parity. More info here.
There is no info for the Vatican
Color-coded by continent
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: April 23, 2024
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First submittedJanuary 18, 2013
Times taken225,349
Average score75.0%
Rating4.95
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Income
Country
$203,000
Monaco
$144,000
Luxembourg
$134,000
Ireland
$134,000
Singapore
$134,000
Liechtenstein
$112,000
Qatar
$97,000
United Arab Emirates
Income
Country
$92,000
Switzerland
$87,000
San Marino
$85,000
United States
$83,000
Norway
$80,000
Guyana
$78,000
Denmark
$78,000
Brunei
Income
Country
$77,000
Taiwan
$74,000
Netherlands
$74,000
Iceland
$70,000
Saudi Arabia
$69,000
Austria
$69,000
Sweden
101 Recent Comments
+7
Level 63
Apr 4, 2017
wow I didn't even try Ireland since the UK wasn't on the list.
+6
Level 62
Jan 31, 2024
very different economies.
+2
Level 59
Aug 19, 2024
Ireland is actually on it because there's so many shell companies that funnel their money through Ireland. The number in inflated because of it, and the real GDP is much less.
+1
Level 68
Apr 4, 2017
Brunei?
+6
Level 81
Apr 2, 2018
oil rich tiny emirate
+1
Level 28
May 20, 2017
I though Brunei Taiwan and San Marino were just average countries when it comes to money. looking forward to visiting there
+1
Level 43
Jan 5, 2018
I would have never guessed Ireland was not only on the top of the list, but on the list!
+5
Level 76
Jan 14, 2018
Were Vatican open and honest about their finances, they'd be topping the list. After all, the Catholic Church is the financially largest 'corporation' after the Mafia, which only surpassed them last year.
+4
Level 35
Jan 16, 2018
I always forget Brunei on these quizzes...
+2
Level 76
Jan 23, 2018
Where does Saudi Arabia rank?
+1
Level 60
Jan 24, 2018
It's below the US
+2
Level 60
Jan 24, 2018
Iceland isn't in the correct place, neither is Taiwan
+2
Level ∞
Jan 25, 2018
Fixed
+4
Level 62
Mar 10, 2018
Surprised to not see Bahrain on here.
+1
Level 75
Apr 2, 2018
They just discovered a new oil field, maybe that will make a difference in a few years.
+3
Level 81
Apr 2, 2018
^ Hadn't heard about this new discovery. That's interesting. The country is so tiny, where else could they look? Drilling further down?

Bahrain used up its oil reserves quite a while ago. The country now has a Russian vagina based economy. There are quite a few lower-class neighborhoods around the small island and even in Manama. They are not as wealthy as their Gulf neighbors. But not quite poor, either.

+7
Level 27
Apr 5, 2018
"The country now has a Russian vagina based economy."

Is that a typo? Or do I not understand the reference.

+1
Level 81
Aug 24, 2018
not a typo. Though last time I was there just a couple months ago I found out that some of the most famous and often-visited RV emporiums in Hoora had been shut down or repurposed, so maybe they're looking to diversify.
+1
Level 68
Sep 4, 2024
Bummer.
+1
Level 47
Mar 19, 2018
Average person in Ireland is doing better than in Switzerland, Norway or Sweden - very interesting indeed.
+9
Level 49
May 28, 2019
Not necessarily. It might just mean there are a small number of extremely wealthy people.
+2
Level 44
Aug 31, 2020
It's more to do with the very low population density, the population still hasn't recovered to where it was before the Irish famine, but the country is still doing very well financially.
+12
Level 67
Jul 21, 2021
Tax haven. Their GDP went up 25% the year Apple moved its european headquarters there.
+2
Level 59
Apr 2, 2018
Had no idea Ireland's per-capita is so high.
+17
Level 75
Jun 12, 2018
It's primarily because of foreign investment - many major companies set up their European HQ in Ireland because of low corporation tax. So the per-capita income is actually a lot higher than the average wage.
+8
Level 54
Apr 22, 2020
which means that a lot of the 'income' recorded in Ireland has nothing to do with income generated in Ireland.
+2
Level 74
Apr 2, 2018
This isn't the Top 20 list it's top 23
+1
Level 61
May 31, 2023
It's now Top 21.
+1
Level 68
Apr 2, 2018
Guess I should move to either Europe, the Middle East, Asia, North America, or Australia.
+8
Level 72
Apr 23, 2024
Really narrows it down, doesn't it?
+2
Level 67
Apr 3, 2018
I FORGOT AMERICA!
+1
Level 5
Apr 6, 2018
What is this information based on? What things have been taken into account? Free education, health care level and the costs, maternity and paternity leave...

I doubt that.

Unfortunately.

Now this does not clear the whole truth.

Roosa

+7
Level 63
May 7, 2019
The income per capita is simply a countries GDP divided by the population. There's data for almost every country so it's easy to compare and rank. But of course it doesn't say anything about living standards.
+5
Level 69
May 12, 2019
Click through the link in the description and it will take you to all the information on the criteria, definitions, sources, methodology, etc.
+1
Level 69
Apr 10, 2018
Damn! Forgot Canada! So focused on some “rich-and-forgotten-paradises-of-oil” of Middel East that missed a obvious one!
+1
Level 51
Dec 2, 2018
People say Qatar is the richest. They are incorrect or formerly correct. It's Monaco. =]
+3
Level 81
Mar 4, 2019
Depends on the year, which data set you are using, and how you measure.
+1
Level 49
Mar 4, 2019
HOW DID I FORGET THE US??
+1
Level 77
May 28, 2019
No way! Japan is below Finland by $6000
+1
Level 69
May 28, 2019
I was thinking about Germany but I decided not to type it for some reason.
+2
Level 75
Oct 18, 2019
How are Belgium, New Zealand, and Andorra not on here?
+4
Level 73
Apr 18, 2020
GDP per capita is not simply about the median income or living standards of a particular country. While this is a very good, consistent and numerical way of comparing almost all countries, results can be heavily skewed by a small group of super-rich people or by the operation of large corporations in that country (such as in Ireland). Just because a nation has a high GDP does not necessarily mean that this filters down equally to its constituents and in an opposite way, nations that have quite good living standards may be omitted from the list as they don't have the rich individuals and corporations to boost their GDP
+2
Level 56
Apr 7, 2020
I swear whenever I take a quiz where I only miss one it is always Taiwan that I have missed.
+4
Level 70
Apr 16, 2020
In every quiz type 'Taiwan' in first.
+1
Level 70
Apr 16, 2020
Why is 'Saudi Arabia' quoted at $55,300 here, when in the 'Focus Economics' listing it is given as $23,536. The rest of the figures seem about the same?
+1
Level 67
Jul 21, 2021
Probably because the other source included guest workers into their calculations?
+1
Level 71
Apr 19, 2020
So Germany has dropped off the list since the reset. I can't believe at least a few of the countries on this list being ahead of Germany in per capita GDP.
+3
Level 67
Jun 11, 2020
I think the first time I did this quiz Australia was in the middle. They slip a couple of places every time. Now we are the last position. Time to say farewell...
+1
Level 71
Apr 20, 2022
still hanging in there!
+3
Level 56
Jun 16, 2022
Thanks to Scomo
+2
Level 35
Jun 26, 2020
Singapore down to 83% guessed now
+1
Level 46
Sep 16, 2020
forgot Malta and Iceland
+5
Level 47
Nov 16, 2020
Norway is the first country on the list where the wealth is based on a substantive and real economy.

The others before her are either harbours for moneymovers, with an oversized financial sector, or clan-based countries totally dependent on petroleum revenue. Ireland is, unfortunately, in the first category.

+5
Level 67
Jul 21, 2021
Norway would probably be even with the other Nordic countries if it wasn't for it's oil though. In terms of actual economic productivity I'd say 1st place in Europe should go to the Dutch.
+1
Level 39
Mar 30, 2021
How I did answer Malta but forgot Australia?
+1
Level 39
Mar 30, 2021
HOW???????????????
+1
Level 69
Jun 13, 2021
Missed Ireland, Switzerland, Iceland, Malta, but apparently I got Switzerland and Malta last time but missed a few more
+3
Level 73
Jul 27, 2021
Seems like being a pope/cardinal isn't as lucrative as I would have thought...
+1
Level 43
Apr 26, 2022
Nor is working directly under/with the pope, or as security there or anything. I was surprised too!
+3
Level 73
Aug 26, 2021
As of 2020, the US is outranked by eleven countries. Six of these gain a significant amount of revenue from being tax havens (Monaco, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Singapore, Ireland, Switzerland). The other five all rank in the top six countries in terms of oil production per capita (Qatar, Brunei, UAE, Kuwait, Norway). Furthermore, the most populous among these is UAE which ranks 93rd in population among all countries. The combined populations of these eleven countries represent 0.54% of the world population, while the USA itself has 4.21% of the world population.

In other words, USA NUMBER ONE!

+1
Level 56
Jun 16, 2022
You can just as easily say that the US is generating a significant amount of its revenue due to being a tax haven.
+2
Level 58
Oct 6, 2021
irish gdp is inflated by Apple alone in a bid to avoid global tax lol
+8
Level ∞
Apr 19, 2022
The U.S. needs to bomb Ireland. Wonder how many billions that little island has stolen from us over the years? /s

Seriously, though, instead of raising taxes on regular people, the U.S. needs to find a way to stop these tax-dodging megacorps like Apple and Google.

+1
Level 70
Apr 20, 2022
No Kuwait or Saudi Arabia?
+1
Level ∞
Apr 20, 2022
Nope.
+1
Level 71
Apr 23, 2022
They might be on there if you divided by CITIZENS rather than by total population.
+2
Level 71
Apr 23, 2022
I knew Ireland was better off than the UK, but I'm amazed to discover it's more than TWICE as rich. As for Brunei, if you take one particular person's portion of the GDP out, I'm sure the country drops off the list entirely.
+1
Level 17
Apr 25, 2022
As someone from the UK, I'm VERY surprised at Ireland.
+6
Level 63
Apr 25, 2022
It does not tell the full story. This is GDP per capita and due to being a bit of a tax haven, Ireland is home to many major global corporations, including Facebook, Apple, Google and many pharmaceutical companies and obviously they boost the GDP by a lot. An ordinary Irishman is not that much richer than an ordinary Brit.
+4
Level 83
Apr 23, 2024
Yep Ireland's GDP figures are very misleading as to the actual conditions in the country.
+1
Level 72
Apr 25, 2022
General reply to at least 70% of comments (maybe): Gini coefficient. When you separate the countries on the list by greater/smaller Gini coefficient, it tells you most of what you need to know.
+1
Level 43
Apr 26, 2022
difficult!
+1
Level 69
May 5, 2023
100% 2:33
+2
Level 66
May 10, 2023
Time for an update!
+1
Level 54
Jul 26, 2023
Surprise to see Japan doesn't make the list anymore. And what about South Korea?
+4
Level 58
Sep 16, 2023
Guyana should be on here now I think, kind of crazy, if im not wrong theyre 61 thousand
+1
Level 66
Nov 1, 2023
Yes, they haven't updated it yet
+1
Level 72
Apr 23, 2024
Now why does this quiz have to be color-coded by continent? Figuring out which continents are gonna have countries here is half the fun of taking the quiz, if not more!! I swear, I've been on this website for more than ten years, and it'll always have a special place in my heart, but the way you guys are dumbing things down more and more is really getting to me. It's an unfortunate thing, and you guys should stop doing it!!
+8
Level 46
Apr 23, 2024
guyana??? oh
+6
Level 92
Apr 23, 2024
I had no idea either, but took a guess to get it right.

"Guyana's GDP per capita is rapidly increasing due to oil production, which began in 2019 and reached 278,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2022. The country is expected to remain one of the fastest growing economies with double-digit growth rates in 2023 and 2024 as additional oil fields start operation."

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/guyana/overview

+3
Level 76
Apr 23, 2024
That's very, very interesting. Are regular people also benefiting from this?
+2
Level 49
Apr 28, 2024
Not just that, but the oil is light sweet crude oil, which is just about the jackpot you can get when it comes to that stuff.

I'm not super knowledgeable about it, but I believe it has VERY low amounts of sulphur, which takes a lot of energy, time, money, & infrastructure to remove AND which compromises on the amount of byproducts that can be created.

TLDR: Basically less sulphur = less costs, more products

Sidenote: My English teacher two years back used to work in Aruba and he said the all the refineries there were based around very sulphurated Venezuelan oil.

+2
Level 50
Apr 23, 2024
I only got Guyana from seeing the answers were color coded. Missed Brunei and Austria
+2
Level 59
Apr 23, 2024
Yeah the color codes were good clues.

Blue - Europe

Red - Asia

Purple - Africa

Orange - North America

Green - South America

Oceania - Probably light blue

And I know guyana's economy just doubled which is impressive...but its GDP per capita is still only 18.000...not 80,000

+2
Level ∞
Apr 24, 2024
Thanks, but I'll trust the numbers from the IMF.
+1
Level 59
Apr 24, 2024
18k is nominal, not PPP
+2
Level 56
Apr 24, 2024
It's projected that the (PPP) GDP per capita is 144,160 in 2028 making Guyana the second richest country in the world. That's 1033% increase from 2018-2028 thanks to the oil find.
+2
Level 47
Apr 24, 2024
wtf is guyana
+1
Level 44
Apr 24, 2024
It's a South American country north of Brazil and I'm almost certain it shouldn't be on this list because Guyana's GDP/capita is nowhere near 80 000 USD, it's closer to 20 000 USD.
+4
Level ∞
Apr 24, 2024
Our source is 2024 estimates from the IMF as explained in the link from the caveat. Please don't make unsourced assertions.
+1
Level 61
Apr 24, 2024
When the US is the only big country on the list
+6
Level 91
Apr 24, 2024
And know we know why Venezuela who has absolutely no legitimate claim wants to annex 2/3rds of Guyana. Another booming economy that they would love to destroy.
+5
Level 77
Apr 25, 2024
Their "claim" is just a technicality from many years ago. And it existed well before Guyana's economy skyrocketed. Maybe you should do some research before you make claims like that.
+5
Level 91
Apr 25, 2024
It was settled 120 years ago and 3 of the 5 members of the arbitration board wanted to give them the territory up to Orinoco. For the sake of unanimity they settled on the current boundary. Every appeal/dispute since then has ruled in favor of Guyana.
+1
Level 65
Apr 27, 2024
The main thing is not to let Venezuela take advantage of this formality
+3
Level 71
Apr 25, 2024
If you remove tax havens/corporate domiciles and petrostates, the US stands quite alone.
+1
Level 54
Apr 27, 2024
The smaller the country, the better is to live their.
+5
Level 65
Apr 27, 2024
Is that why life on Nauru is better than in Australia, and in Haiti than in Canada? This pattern can sometimes be noticed, but this doesn't mean that it is the cause
+7
Level 65
Apr 27, 2024
I have never prayed for a distant country as much as for Guyana. God grant that everything works out for this tiny country, they have a lucky ticket, let them use it properly.
+2
Level 63
Apr 29, 2024
GDP per capita and per capita income are two very different things.
+1
Level 66
Aug 26, 2024
Guyana. What a turnaround. OIL!!!

(Incoming corruption soon.)