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Top 10 Richest Countries in Europe

What are the richest countries in Europe based on GDP per capita?
2024 data. Purchasing power parity. More info here.
Quiz by relessness
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Last updated: April 22, 2024
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First submittedApril 21, 2017
Times taken122,880
Average score80.0%
Rating4.87
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GDP per Capita
Country
$203,000
Monaco
$144,000
Luxembourg
$134,000
Ireland
$134,000
Liechtenstein
$91,900
Switzerland
GDP per Capita
Country
$87,000
San Marino
$82,800
Norway
$77,600
Denmark
$74,200
Netherlands
$73,800
Iceland
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58 Comments
Quizmaster
+18
Level ∞
Apr 22, 2024
Note: Ireland appears on this list because American megacorps such as Apple, Google, and Facebook funnel their European profits through Ireland for tax reasons.
mf3
+21
Level 87
May 7, 2019
I guess I'm a bit surprised not to see Germany on this list. Or the UK -- are Irishmen flashing big wads of banknotes around London pubs these days?
kolp
+64
Level 87
May 8, 2019
Ireland has a terrible GNI in comparison to their GDP. So no... Most of these countries function as tax havens, which overinflates their GDP while having almost no effects on the actual economy. This model doesn't work very well for large countries such as Germany.
OfficerDibble
+43
Level 81
May 8, 2019
I don't think that was an anti-Irish comment. Ireland does have particularly low corporation tax rates, which attract corporate HQs etc and probably do make its position in lists like this a bit misleading
kogatora
+11
Level 93
May 9, 2019
Ireland's GNI is lower than GDP due to GDP being skewed by corporate tax structures, however they do have a GNI of around $55k which puts them at no 10 in Europe, ahead of Germany at #19 with $43k and UK at #21 with $40k.
kolp
+24
Level 87
May 9, 2019
Really, anti-Irishness? Just google Ireland and tax haven. But let's not let facts get in the way of petty nationalism. @kogatora: GNI is of course also an inexact measure of "country wealth". As you say, the huge divergence is a first indicator of dodgy tax structures. From the top of my mind, only Luxembourg has a worse ratio in Europe. Might just be my anti-Luxembourgishness though.
NQChien
+3
Level 66
Jul 31, 2019
Ireland imposes a very high tax rate. So GDP per capita is high.
Constantinos
+1
Level 72
Nov 25, 2020
But what about Netherlands and Sweden? Albeit much smaller than UK and Germany their economic model is closer to those two.
spingospungo
+3
Level 57
May 25, 2022
And just to complete the logic, the low rate of Irish corporation tax means that international companies declare their profits there even if they're not made via the Irish economy. I've read elsewhere that the "true" GDP is about 70% of the official figure. As others have said that feels more accurate. I've been there a couple of times and it certainly doesn't seem like a hugely wealthy country.
priamos
+1
Level 63
Apr 30, 2024
Exactly. The big tech companies, for example, allocate valuable patent rights to their Irish subsidiaries. Then their other subsidiaries in higher-tax countries have to pay no corporate taxes because they have large "expenses" in the form of royalty payments to.... the Irish subsidiary. This creates a very high value-added (=GDP) in the Irish economy, but the individuals who ultimately pocket the money are very much not located in Ireland.
Lomeo
+1
Level 52
Nov 25, 2020
the UK is quite low tho, lower than France even
gkmaster
+1
Level 37
Jul 6, 2022
Just missed out on Norway
ingriddurden
+6
Level 59
May 8, 2019
Ireland ? are you sure ?
salvadoran
+1
Level 62
May 8, 2019
surprised
FinlandForever19
+8
Level 82
May 8, 2019
Ireland is strange. I've seen enough of that place to know it isn't the fourth richest country in Europe. Must be like the Equatorial Guinea of Europe.
PjotrL
+8
Level 75
May 10, 2019
As they have lots of oil and a dictator president?
Geographystar
+7
Level 67
Jul 22, 2019
Just curious, what did you mean by that?
lazydaisee
+24
Level 44
Jul 30, 2019
GDP does not measure how wealthy a country is. It literally measures the value of goods and services declared in that country however those goods and services often belong to other countries.

For example, Nike could have a factory in Bangladesh that produces a billion dollars worth of shoes but the ppl who actually work in the factory earn a few dollars a day whilst the profits go to another country. GDP would give the false impression that Bangladesh gets a billion dollars from that factory.

GNI or GNP are far more reliable measures.

priamos
+6
Level 63
Nov 25, 2020
It's not just about "profits", it's very much about how those profits are generated. In the case of Ireland, tech companies transfer the ownership of their valuable intellectual property rights to their Irish subsidiaries. Then they let other group companies pay - through the nose - for the right to use these patented goods and technologies. Intended benefit: transfer of profits to a low-tax country. Unintended effect: the GDP figures indicate an astounding value creation in Ireland.
Constantinos
+2
Level 72
Jul 5, 2022
Ireland is top5 in that index too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GNI_(nominal)_per_capita

CapitalAce
+4
Level 57
Nov 25, 2020
One reason for this apparent disparity is that how rich a country looks depends also on how long it has had a high per capita GDP. A country that has had a high GDP per capita for one hundred years (compared to the rest of the world) is going to look more developed than a country that has only recently entered the ranks of richer countries. Ireland was quite or very poor for most of its existence. It is only recently that it has become a high GDP country. So it may still look poor in many areas. Housing stock, roads, bridges, other infrastructure, etc. take a while to develop and are not going to change much in a few years, whereas the per capita GDP can grow quickly.
Sulps
+8
Level 56
Jul 30, 2019
According to Wikipedia, there are 9 places that Hines, ITEP and Zucman all find to be top 10 tax havens: Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, Netherlands, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Bermuda. Tax havens tend to have an inflated GDP. Sure enough, out of these 9 places, the 4 European countries all show up in this quiz.
divantilya
+3
Level 36
Jul 30, 2019
Are you sure that it's the continental Netherlands that's the tax haven, or its constituent countries of Curacao and Sint Maarten?
kogatora
+1
Level 93
Apr 19, 2022
It's the continental Netherlands. Curacao income tax rates are between 9.75% and 46.5%, corporation tax mostly at 22%. Sint Maarten has low income tax (mostly around 6%, up to 35%) but charges companies payroll taxes and corporation tax of 34.5%. The mainland is a tax haven because although income tax is up to 52% and corporation tax of 15 or 25.8%, it has zero tax on qualifying investment funds and no withholding tax on dividends, and resident parent companies can be exempt on income earned from overseas subsidiaries as long as they pay more than 10% tax elsewhere. The big reason though is that anything classed as intellectual property (e.g. brand licensing, patents, copyrights etc) is taxed at 5%.
RudeDog
+1
Level 59
Jul 5, 2022
The British are responsible for more than half of these (Ireland, Singapore, Cayman Islands, BVI, Hong Kong and Bermuda). Its the British that are responsible for this form of legalised corruption! I'm a Brit too in case you're wondering why I spelt legalised correctly ;)
Enderboi
+2
Level 33
Jul 11, 2022
Ha ha! Golden. I spell with the British English spelling of words like colour or realise even though I'm American, so both my friends and my spell-check look at me like I have a second head.
Cathal341
+11
Level 51
Jul 30, 2019
As an Irish person I can confirm what many of the comments are saying about the country being a Tax Haven. We have very low Corporate Tax here.
RedLightning
+1
Level 47
Jul 30, 2019
I got all of them except Monaco, the number one!
PietjePuk24
+2
Level 73
Nov 13, 2023
monaco was even represented by the picture
Coldplay25
+10
Level 59
Jul 30, 2019
Every time it's an answer, I always wonder what it's like to live in San Marino
ing
+3
Level 71
Apr 24, 2022
It's hilly.
Bearn
+4
Level 24
Jul 31, 2019
I totally forgot Iceland :C
epleStorm
+13
Level 47
Jul 31, 2019
Norway is the richest country when you look at the real economy, and disregard financial mumbo jumbo that doesn't make life better for the population as such.
jmellor13
+16
Level 67
Nov 25, 2020
I feel like it's still Monaco, right? Isn't that country just a tiny city for the mega rich? I agree Norway is probably the richest country that isn't a microstate and depends on a regular economy instead of just wealth accrued elsewhere and passed down through generations.
Koult45
+2
Level 53
Oct 24, 2020
I thought I was over the whole "Forgetting Netherlands and Belgium exist half the time" thing. But it came back with a vengeance when I was about to 100% this entire series in the first try. :(
Malbaby
+3
Level 70
Nov 25, 2020
It seems that to make the top 10 wealthiest nations in this context, you have to have a small (comparative) population, an inviting tax programme and reasonable welfare provision. Population of these 10 countries added together is about 47 million, which is about 6% of Europe's total of 740 million.
thedb
+6
Level 68
Nov 25, 2020
no vatican city?
detkoeu
+5
Level 37
Nov 26, 2020
vatican should be definitely on the list. their business generates billions of $ each year and population is barely 1000. so per capita the TOP 1 wealthiest country (even though exact figure is unknown).
SlipperyEel
+2
Level 46
Nov 25, 2020
Lewis Hamilton lives at Monaco. This is to avoid tax. Do you think he deserves a knighthood?
YellowJacket
+3
Level 79
Nov 25, 2020
Yes. The British government also said that his taxes are all fine. A lot of current and former F1 drivers don't live in the country that they are officially from. Nico Rosberg was officially a German but has lived in Monaco his entire life.
ciaranracing
+4
Level 41
Nov 26, 2020
i'm not a fan of the guy, but I'm happy he is getting knighted. His achievements in the sport have been achieved by no one else and I'm glad the British government or whoever it is that decides these things are finally recognising his talent.
CUFCDarren
+2
Level 45
Apr 30, 2024
He comes from Stevenage, anyone who has lived in Stevenage deserves a medal of some kind.
YashShelar
+1
Level 46
Nov 25, 2020
Only missed Monaco
erikah23
+2
Level 52
Nov 27, 2020
not to be that person but a picture of Charles Leclerc's ferrari might have been better, given that he's actually from Monaco lol
NQChien
+2
Level 66
Nov 28, 2020
Netherlands: a relative "populous" country with still high GDP per capita. Others follow the rule: the smaller the country is, the higher the GDP per capita.
Raffles
+1
Level 70
Jul 5, 2022
Iceland?
Calliope
+2
Level 43
Jul 5, 2022
Give me an award for the dumbest quiz-taker, I did not see the word Europe in the title and kept trying to put in Middle-Eastern countries wondering how none of them were on there.
EnlightWolif
+1
Level 47
Apr 30, 2024
deserved
ed1969
+2
Level 72
Jul 5, 2022
Guess Ireland bounced back from that potato famine OK...they're rolling in cash now.
raneman11
+2
Level 67
Jul 5, 2022
Apple is at any rate. Average Irish is doing okay but nowhere near the Swiss.
Ainmclarach
+1
Level 61
Apr 30, 2024
Not our population though, we’re still three million short of pre-famine levels.
SteelersFan
+3
Level 58
Jul 5, 2022
Why is everybody surprised about Ireland? Yeah, it’s a tax haven, but even besides that, it’s not poor. Everybody is acting like it’s a third world country or something
raneman11
+2
Level 67
Jul 5, 2022
I'm not sure the ambitious young Irish leaving the country for the UK, US and Australia because that's where the jobs are would defend it so heartily. It's a pretty country but even the countries with half the average GDP per capita have a lot more going on.
Conor46
+1
Level 72
Aug 8, 2023
There are jobs galore in Ireland these days. The reason people leave is that the cost of living is very high compared to the average salary, particularly in the cities.

Also, Ireland is a country where emigration is normalised to a massive extent. It's a normal thing for people to do, even if there are no great push factors involved.

Ainmclarach
+1
Level 61
Aug 23, 2023
Take the UK and US off of that list, and add Canada and the UAE.
WWEFan619
+1
Level 60
Sep 15, 2022
I knew immediately Monaco is #1 when I saw the thumbnail.

I highly appreciate that you used a Sebastian Vettel picture though!

Nickelz
+1
Level 66
Nov 16, 2022
Done with 1 second remaining.
Annbrew
+1
Level 18
Dec 17, 2023
I know literally nothing abt this topic so I just put randomly some centre european countries until I realized that I have to put all the smallest ones there lol. Why is that?
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