When it comes to the top 20 richest countries in the world today, size doesn’t always mean riches. Small countries tend to conquer the top, as they heavily rely on immigrant employees who are not granted resident status and often don’t live in the countries they are working in, and therefore not counted in the GDP per capita calculations. They likewise benefit from having sophisticated financial sectors and tax regimes that enable them to attract foreign investments and professional talent.
Other smaller countries have large reserves of hydrocarbons or other lucrative natural resources. This post ranks the richest countries in the world by gross domestic product (at purchasing power equivalence) per capita, i.e., the purchasing power parity (PPP) value of all definitive goods and services that are manufactured within a country in a given year, divided by the average (or mid-year) inhabitants or population for the same year.
Here are the top 20 richest countries in the world.
Rank
|
Country | GDP per capita (PPP)
|
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 | $55,724
|
17. | Austria
|
$55,218 |
18.
|
Sweden | $54,146
|
19. | Germany
|
$54,076 |
20.
|
Australia | $51,680 |