Thegross domestic product (GDP)per capita figures on this page are derived from PPP calculations. Such calculations are prepared by various organizations, including theIMF and theWorld Bank. As estimates and assumptions have to be made, the results produced by different organizations for the same country are not hard facts and tend to differ, sometimes substantially, so they should be used with caution.
Comparisons of national wealth are frequently made based onnominal GDP andsavings (not just income), which do not reflect differences in thecost of living in different countries (seeList of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita); hence, using a PPP basis is arguably more useful when comparinggeneralized differences inliving standards between economies because PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and theinflation rates of the countries, rather than using onlyexchange rates, which may distort the real differences in income.
This is why GDP (PPP) per capita is considered one of the indicators of a country's standard of living,[2][3] The relation betweenGDP per capita and standard of living has been criticized. Alternative measures of standard of living includelist of countries by average wage anddisposable household and per capita income. GDP (PPP) and GDP (PPP) per capita are usually measured byinternational dollar, which is a hypotheticalcurrency that has the same purchasing power in every economy as theU.S. dollar in theUnited States. The share of the shadow economy is significant in many European countries, ranging from less than 10 to over 40% of GDP.[4]Since 2014, EU member states have been encouraged by Eurostat, the official statistics body, to include some illegal activities.[5][6][7]
Table
Main table
All figures are in currentinternational dollars, androunded to the nearestwhole number.The table initially ranks each country or territory with their latest available year's estimates, and can be re-ranked by any of the sources.
*Nearly all country links in the table connect to articles titled "Income in (country orterritory)" or to "Economy of (country orterritory)".
^There is no explicit "GDP (PPP) per capita" World estimate provided by the IMF. For this figure, the GDP (PPP) world value[9] has been divided by the global population according to the IMF.[14]
^Data is for the area controlled by the Government of theRepublic of Cyprus.
^TheEU is included because it is much more than afree-trade association likeASEAN,NAFTA, orMercosur. -- See:"The World Factbook".CIA. 2014. Archived fromthe original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved17 November 2022.Although the EU is not a federation in the strict sense, it is far more than a free-trade association such as ASEAN, NAFTA, or Mercosur, and it has certain attributes associated with independent nations: its flag, currency (for some members), and law-making abilities, as well as diplomatic representation and a common foreign and security policy in its dealings with external partners. Thus, the inclusion of basic intelligence on the EU has been deemed appropriate as a new, separate entity in The World Factbook. --However, because the EU is anorganization and not asovereign state, it does not receive a ranking in this list.
There are many natural economic reasons for GDP-per-capita to vary between jurisdictions (e.g. places rich in oil and gas tend to have high GDP-per-capita figures). However, it is increasingly being recognized thattax havens, orcorporate tax havens, have distorted economic data which produces artificially high, or inflated, GDP-per-capita figures.[15] It is estimated that over 15% of global jurisdictions are tax havens (seetax haven lists).[16] An IMF investigation estimates that circa 40% of global foreign direct investment flows, which heavily influence the GDP of various jurisdictions, are described as "phantom" transactions.[17]
A stunning $12 trillion—almost 40 per cent of all foreign direct investment positions globally—is completely artificial: it consists of financial investment passing through empty corporate shells with no real activity. These investments in empty corporate shells almost always pass through well-known tax havens. The eight major pass-through economies—the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hong Kong SAR, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Ireland, and Singapore—host more than 85 per cent of the world's investment in special purpose entities, which are often set up for tax reasons.
In 2017, Ireland's economic data became so distorted by U.S. multinational tax avoidance strategies (seeleprechaun economics), also known asBEPS actions, that Ireland effectively abandoned GDP (and GNP) statistics as credible measures of its economy, and created a replacement statistic calledmodified gross national income (or GNI*). Ireland is one of the world's largestcorporate tax havens.
Ireland has, more or less, stopped using GDP to measure its economy. And on current trends [because Irish GDP is distorting EU-28 aggregate data], the eurozone taken as a whole may need to consider something similar.
The statistical distortions created by the impact on the Irish National Accounts of the global assets and activities of a handful of large multinational corporations have now become so large as to make a mockery of conventional uses of Irish GDP.
^There have been no exclusive estimates for the world average by the IMF. 2023 calculations are based on the global GDP (PPP), and population estimates by the IMF.[1]
^The following countries are from 2022 data: San Marino and U.S. Virgin Islands
^The following countries are from 2022 data: San Marino and U.S. Virgin Islands
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