Money
The World’s Richest Countries Across 3 Metrics
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
The World’s Richest Countries Across 3 Metrics
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
How do you measure the economic success of a country?
By one classic measure, GDP per capita shows individual economic prosperity. But comparing countries simply by this metric doesn’t tell the whole story. To get a better idea of living standards, it helps to look at how far your money will go along with adjusting for labor productivity.
This graphic shows the world’s richest countries by three different measures, based on data from The Economist and Sondre Solstad. All figures are in U.S. dollars.
World’s Richest Countries, by GDP per Capita
As the table below shows, smaller countries fare much better—of the top 10 richest countries, eight of them have populations under 10 million people.
Rank | Country | GDP per Capita 2022 |
---|---|---|
1 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | $126,426 |
2 | 🇧🇲 Bermuda | $118,846 |
3 | 🇳🇴 Norway | $106,149 |
4 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | $92,101 |
5 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | $88,046 |
6 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | $82,808 |
7 | 🇺🇸 United States | $76,399 |
8 | 🇮🇸 Iceland | $72,903 |
9 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | $66,983 |
10 | 🇦🇺 Australia | $64,491 |
11 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | $55,985 |
12 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | $55,873 |
13 | 🇨🇦 Canada | $54,966 |
14 | 🇮🇱 Israel | $54,660 |
15 | 🇦🇪 UAE | $53,758 |
16 | 🇦🇹 Austria | $52,131 |
17 | 🇫🇮 Finland | $50,537 |
18 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | $49,583 |
19 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR | $48,984 |
20 | 🇩🇪 Germany | $48,432 |
21 | 🇬🇧 UK | $45,850 |
22 | 🇫🇷 France | $40,964 |
23 | 🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam | $37,152 |
24 | 🇮🇹 Italy | $34,158 |
25 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | $30,436 |
26 | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | $30,152 |
Luxembourg, whose financial sector makes up 25% of its GDP, is the world’s richest country by GDP per capita.
With a population of just 660,000, the country is also considered a tax haven, incentivizing foreign investment due to its favorable tax policies. Due to the small nation’s considerable wealth, its citizens enjoy free education, healthcare, and transportation.
Bermuda, like Luxembourg, is known as a tax haven. Several multinationals shelter billions in the island nation—including Google, which moved $23 billion in a shell company in 2017 to lower foreign tax costs.
With a GDP per capita of $82,808, Singapore is the richest country in Asia thanks to its role as a global hub for finance, trade, and tourism.
A New Lens: Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
Another way to compare countries adjusts GDP per capita based on the relative price of goods and services in order to account for differences in the cost of living and local currency strength.
This provides a clearer comparison of living standards across countries since the value of a dollar can buy more goods in different countries. Below, we show how countries perform differently based on this measure, known as GDP per capita adjusted by purchasing power parity (PPP):
Rank | Country | GDP per Capita 2022, PPP |
---|---|---|
1 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | $142,214 |
2 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | $127,565 |
3 | 🇳🇴 Norway | $114,899 |
4 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | $114,648 |
5 | 🇧🇲 Bermuda | $95,837 |
6 | 🇦🇪 UAE | $87,729 |
7 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | $83,598 |
8 | 🇺🇸 United States | $76,399 |
9 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | $74,005 |
10 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | $69,577 |
11 | 🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam | $69,275 |
12 | 🇮🇸 Iceland | $69,081 |
13 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR | $69,049 |
14 | 🇦🇹 Austria | $67,936 |
15 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | $65,027 |
16 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | $64,578 |
17 | 🇩🇪 Germany | $63,150 |
18 | 🇦🇺 Australia | $62,625 |
19 | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | $61,228 |
20 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | $59,065 |
21 | 🇫🇮 Finland | $59,027 |
22 | 🇨🇦 Canada | $58,400 |
23 | 🇫🇷 France | $55,493 |
24 | 🇬🇧 UK | $54,603 |
25 | 🇮🇹 Italy | $51,865 |
26 | 🇮🇱 Israel | $49,509 |
As we can see, Singapore significantly jumps up the ranking, when adjusting for PPP.
Looking at the world’s richest countries this way shows that living standards are high in Singapore since their currency can go further than in other countries. Often, richer countries will have higher prices as a result of higher labor productivity, advanced technology, and other factors.
Similarly, the UAE rises into the top 10, outpacing both Switzerland and America. As one of the top oil-producing countries worldwide, it made $100 billion in oil revenues in 2022, equal to about $100,000 per citizen.
World’s Richest Countries, Adjusted for Hours Worked
How do the rankings change when accounting for productivity?
To analyze this, GDP per capita on a PPP basis is adjusted by the estimated hours worked per person. Economies that have high quality, productive workforces with strong standards of living tend to rank well using this measure.
Rank | Country | GDP per Capita 2022, PPP adjusted for hours worked |
---|---|---|
1 | 🇳🇴 Norway | $110,834 |
2 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | $92,446 |
3 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | $88,940 |
4 | 🇧🇲 Bermuda | $84,326 |
5 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | $74,461 |
6 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | $72,256 |
7 | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | $68,654 |
8 | 🇦🇪 UAE | $68,100 |
9 | 🇦🇹 Austria | $67,397 |
10 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | $66,909 |
11 | 🇺🇸 United States | $66,500 |
12 | 🇩🇪 Germany | $64,292 |
13 | 🇮🇸 Iceland | $64,082 |
14 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | $62,918 |
15 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | $62,508 |
16 | 🇫🇷 France | $62,121 |
17 | 🇫🇮 Finland | $58,643 |
18 | 🇬🇧 UK | $53,925 |
19 | 🇧🇭 Bahrain | $52,929 |
20 | 🇮🇹 Italy | $52,165 |
21 | 🇦🇺 Australia | $50,915 |
22 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | $50,235 |
23 | 🇨🇦 Canada | $50,014 |
24 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR | $45,765 |
25 | 🇮🇱 Israel | $41,240 |
26 | 🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam | $40,761 |
In this case, Norway has the best ranking globally. This strong showing is likely influenced by working fewer hours compared to the American population due to greater holiday allowances, among other factors.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is in 11th place when adjusting for hours worked, with mainly Western European nations ahead in the ranking. Similarly, countries including the Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Brunei drop when adjusting for working hours.
Importantly, the world’s richest countries can’t be understood by a single measure. It’s only by looking at a range of metrics that we can see how countries vary in the rankings depending on the measure and criteria chosen.
Personal Finance
Mapped: The Income a Family Needs to Live Comfortably in Every U.S. State
Families in expensive states require over $270,000 annually to live comfortably.
The Income a Family Needs to Live Comfortably in Every U.S. State
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Families in the top five most expensive U.S. states require an annual income exceeding $270,000 to live comfortably.
This visualization illustrates the income necessary for two working adults with two children to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in each state.
“Comfortable” is defined as the income needed to cover a 50/30/20 budget, with 50% allocated to necessities like housing and utilities, 30% to discretionary spending, and 20% to savings or investments.
The calculations for family income needed in each state were done by SmartAsset, using the cost of necessities sourced from the MIT Living Wage Calculator, last updated on Feb. 14, 2024.
Massachusetts Tops the List
Massachusetts is the most expensive state to live comfortably in, requiring a total family income of about $301,184. Hawaii ($294,611) comes in second, followed by Connecticut ($279,885).
Housing is one main reason Massachusetts is an expensive state to live in, particularly in the Boston area. In addition, the state also has a high cost of living, including expenses such as healthcare and utilities.
Rank | State | Income for 2 working adults raising 2 children |
---|---|---|
1 | Massachusetts | $301,184 |
2 | Hawaii | $294,611 |
3 | Connecticut | $279,885 |
4 | New York | $278,970 |
5 | California | $276,723 |
6 | Colorado | $264,992 |
7 | Washington | $257,421 |
8 | Oregon | $257,338 |
9 | New Jersey | $251,181 |
10 | Rhode Island | $249,267 |
11 | Vermont | $248,352 |
12 | Minnesota | $244,774 |
13 | New Hampshire | $244,109 |
14 | Alaska | $242,611 |
15 | Maryland | $239,450 |
16 | Nevada | $237,286 |
17 | Virginia | $235,206 |
18 | Illinois | $231,962 |
19 | Arizona | $230,630 |
20 | Pennsylvania | $230,464 |
21 | Maine | $229,549 |
22 | Delaware | $228,966 |
23 | Wisconsin | $225,056 |
24 | Utah | $218,483 |
25 | Michigan | $214,490 |
26 | Nebraska | $213,075 |
27 | Georgia | $212,826 |
28 | Montana | $211,411 |
28 | Iowa | $211,411 |
30 | Idaho | $211,245 |
31 | North Carolina | $209,331 |
31 | Ohio | $209,331 |
33 | Florida | $209,082 |
34 | Indiana | $206,003 |
35 | New Mexico | $203,923 |
36 | Wyoming | $203,424 |
37 | Missouri | $202,259 |
38 | North Dakota | $202,176 |
39 | Texas | $201,344 |
40 | South Carolina | $200,762 |
41 | Kansas | $196,768 |
42 | Tennessee | $195,770 |
43 | Oklahoma | $194,106 |
44 | Alabama | $193,606 |
45 | South Dakota | $192,608 |
46 | Kentucky | $190,112 |
47 | Louisiana | $189,613 |
48 | West Virginia | $189,363 |
49 | Arkansas | $180,794 |
50 | Mississippi | $177,798 |
Meanwhile, Mississippi is the least expensive state for a family to live comfortably, requiring $177,798 per year. Arkansas ($180,794) comes in second, followed by West Virginia ($189,363). In common, all these states share low prices of housing.
Learn More About Cost of Living From Visual Capitalist
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic, which ranks the median down payment for a house by U.S. state.
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