Real income is the income ofindividuals ornations after adjusting forinflation. It iscalculated by dividingnominal income by theprice level.Real variables such as real income andreal GDP arevariables that aremeasured inphysical units, whilenominal variables such asnominal income andnominal GDP are measured inmonetary units. Therefore, real income is a more usefulindicator ofwell-being since it measures theamount ofgoods and services that can bepurchased with the income. Growth of real income is related toreal gross national income per capita growth.
According to theclassical dichotomy theory, real variables and nominal variables are separate in thelong run, so they are not influenced by each other. In other words, if the nominal starting income was 100 and there was 10% inflation (general rise in prices, for example, what cost 10 now costs 11), then with nominal income of still 100, one can buy roughly 9% less; so if nominal income was not adjusted for inflation (did not rise by 10%), real income has dropped by approximately 9%.[1] But if the classical dichotomy holds, nominal income will eventually go up by 10%, leaving real income unchanged from its original value.
The real gross national income (GNI) per capita in constant 2015 USD according to theWorld Bank is shown for last available year:[2]
| Country | GNI per capita (constant 2015 USD) | Year |
|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan | 570.3 | 2015 |
 Albania | 4793.0 | 2021 |
 Algeria | 3643.4 | 2023 |
 Angola | 2106.8 | 2023 |
 Antigua and Barbuda | 15045.6 | 2015 |
 Argentina | 12337.2 | 2023 |
 Armenia | 5433.3 | 2023 |
 Aruba | 27222.6 | 2015 |
 Australia | 63230.5 | 2023 |
 Austria | 45302.9 | 2022 |
 Azerbaijan | 5324.6 | 2015 |
 Bahamas | 28016.7 | 2022 |
 Bahrain | 21884.6 | 2021 |
 Bangladesh | 1016.7 | 2015 |
 Barbados | 16274.7 | 2015 |
 Belarus | 6239.7 | 2023 |
 Belgium | 43210.4 | 2022 |
 Belize | 6162.4 | 2023 |
 Benin | 1292.2 | 2023 |
 Bermuda | 118137.1 | 2022 |
 Bhutan | 3176.2 | 2022 |
 Bolivia | 3041.0 | 2022 |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina | 6404.7 | 2023 |
 Botswana | 6438.3 | 2022 |
 Brazil | 8765.4 | 2023 |
 Brunei Darussalam | 28236.6 | 2022 |
 Bulgaria | 9425.2 | 2023 |
 Burkina Faso | 705.2 | 2021 |
 Burundi | 262.9 | 2023 |
 Cabo Verde | 3686.3 | 2023 |
 Cambodia | 1503.0 | 2023 |
 Cameroon | 1429.6 | 2023 |
 Canada | 45025.4 | 2023 |
 Cayman Islands | 45853.9 | 2015 |
 Central African Republic | 383.5 | 2022 |
 Chad | 589.4 | 2023 |
 Chile | 13488.3 | 2023 |
 China | 11489.3 | 2022 |
 Colombia | 6807.4 | 2023 |
 Comoros | 1376.9 | 2023 |
 DR Congo | 523.9 | 2023 |
 Republic of the Congo | 1608.3 | 2023 |
 Costa Rica | 12044.8 | 2022 |
 Ivory Coast | 2392.0 | 2023 |
 Croatia | 17249.7 | 2023 |
 Cuba | 7920.0 | 2019 |
 Curaçao | 19082.1 | 2015 |
 Cyprus | 27584.0 | 2023 |
 Czech Republic | 18837.8 | 2022 |
 Denmark | 64538.1 | 2022 |
 Djibouti | 3062.3 | 2023 |
 Dominica | 7408.5 | 2015 |
 Dominican Republic | 8491.5 | 2023 |
 Ecuador | 6031.3 | 2023 |
 Egypt | 3996.7 | 2023 |
 El Salvador | 4170.8 | 2023 |
 Equatorial Guinea | 4722.6 | 2019 |
 Estonia | 21491.4 | 2022 |
 Eswatini | 4350.9 | 2022 |
 Ethiopia | 888.0 | 2023 |
 Faroe Islands | 54153.8 | 2015 |
 Fiji | 4795.1 | 2015 |
 Finland | 45739.1 | 2023 |
 France | 42963.8 | 2022 |
 Gabon | 5345.7 | 2022 |
 The Gambia | 698.3 | 2023 |
 Georgia | 5679.4 | 2023 |
 Germany | 44177.8 | 2023 |
 Ghana | 2007.2 | 2022 |
 Greece | 19430.7 | 2022 |
 Grenada | 7401.3 | 2015 |
 Guatemala | 4516.4 | 2023 |
 Guinea | 906.3 | 2023 |
 Guinea-Bissau | 762.2 | 2023 |
 Guyana | 5701.1 | 2015 |
 Haiti | 1210.2 | 2023 |
 Honduras | 2374.1 | 2023 |
 Hong Kong | 47707.5 | 2023 |
 Hungary | 14818.5 | 2022 |
 Iceland | 52857.6 | 2015 |
 India | 2206.7 | 2023 |
 Indonesia | 4132.1 | 2023 |
 Iran | 5199.6 | 2022 |
 Iraq | 4092.1 | 2021 |
 Ireland | 66662.1 | 2022 |
 Isle of Man | 77330.1 | 2021 |
 Israel | 43655.2 | 2022 |
 Italy | 33616.7 | 2023 |
 Jamaica | 5156.3 | 2019 |
 Japan | 37124.4 | 2022 |
 Jordan | 4018.6 | 2015 |
 Kazakhstan | 9672.0 | 2022 |
 Kenya | 1726.9 | 2022 |
 Kiribati | 3193.3 | 2015 |
 South Korea | 32740.4 | 2023 |
 Kosovo | 4945.2 | 2023 |
 Kuwait | 30252.0 | 2019 |
 Kyrgyzstan | 1741.2 | 2022 |
 Laos | 2138.3 | 2016 |
 Latvia | 17511.0 | 2022 |
 Lebanon | 2117.2 | 2023 |
 Lesotho | 1128.6 | 2022 |
 Liberia | 639.0 | 2015 |
 Libya | 10231.6 | 2022 |
 Liechtenstein | 138201.3 | 2015 |
 Lithuania | 16201.6 | 2022 |
 Luxembourg | 74240.0 | 2022 |
 Macau | 38187.6 | 2022 |
 Madagascar | 452.6 | 2023 |
 Malawi | 531.3 | 2015 |
 Malaysia | 11379.4 | 2023 |
 Maldives | 8717.2 | 2015 |
 Mali | 726.1 | 2023 |
 Malta | 28348.5 | 2023 |
 Marshall Islands | 6062.3 | 2022 |
 Mauritania | 1624.0 | 2023 |
 Mauritius | 11580.4 | 2023 |
 Mexico | 10069.9 | 2023 |
 Micronesia | 3433.6 | 2015 |
 Moldova | 3733.7 | 2023 |
 Mongolia | 3916.4 | 2023 |
 Montenegro | 8460.4 | 2023 |
 Morocco | 3321.1 | 2023 |
 Mozambique | 539.3 | 2022 |
 Myanmar | 1116.8 | 2015 |
 Namibia | 4272.0 | 2023 |
 Nauru | 10421.3 | 2015 |
 Nepal | 1105.5 | 2023 |
 Netherlands | 49500.6 | 2022 |
 New Caledonia | 34264.0 | 2015 |
 New Zealand | 41844.4 | 2022 |
 Nicaragua | 2074.8 | 2023 |
 Niger | 544.9 | 2019 |
 Nigeria | 2610.5 | 2015 |
 North Macedonia | 5986.8 | 2023 |
 Norway | 105006.0 | 2022 |
 Oman | 17081.0 | 2021 |
 Pakistan | 1634.0 | 2023 |
 Palau | 12066.8 | 2022 |
 Panama | 12797.5 | 2015 |
 Papua New Guinea | 2335.3 | 2015 |
 Paraguay | 6205.8 | 2023 |
 Peru | 6110.9 | 2023 |
 Philippines | 4051.0 | 2023 |
 Poland | 16544.3 | 2023 |
 Portugal | 22160.6 | 2023 |
 Puerto Rico | 20965.6 | 2023 |
 Qatar | 65508.3 | 2015 |
 Romania | 12014.7 | 2023 |
 Russia | 9995.9 | 2023 |
 Rwanda | 975.2 | 2023 |
 Samoa | 3776.6 | 2023 |
 São Tomé and Príncipe | 1309.1 | 2015 |
 Saudi Arabia | 21094.7 | 2015 |
 Senegal | 1423.5 | 2023 |
 Serbia | 7288.1 | 2023 |
 Seychelles | 16471.2 | 2023 |
 Sierra Leone | 609.9 | 2021 |
 Singapore | 51848.7 | 2015 |
 Sint Maarten | 35448.7 | 2015 |
 Slovakia | 17497.9 | 2023 |
 Slovenia | 23982.8 | 2022 |
 Solomon Islands | 2094.5 | 2022 |
 Somalia | 505.4 | 2015 |
 South Africa | 6080.6 | 2023 |
 South Sudan | 940.0 | 2015 |
 Spain | 27189.4 | 2022 |
 Sri Lanka | 3843.7 | 2023 |
 Saint Kitts and Nevis | 18711.5 | 2015 |
 Saint Lucia | 9437.5 | 2015 |
 St. Vincent and Grenadines | 7201.9 | 2015 |
 Sudan | 1324.7 | 2015 |
 Suriname | 8884.7 | 2015 |
 Sweden | 57925.9 | 2022 |
 Switzerland | 86537.2 | 2022 |
 Syria | 825.1 | 2015 |
 Tajikistan | 1677.2 | 2022 |
 Tanzania | 1039.4 | 2022 |
 Thailand | 5414.3 | 2015 |
 East Timor | 1647.0 | 2022 |
 Togo | 925.5 | 2023 |
 Tonga | 4761.1 | 2021 |
 Trinidad and Tobago | 18344.7 | 2015 |
 Tunisia | 3802.1 | 2023 |
 Turkey | 15666.8 | 2024 |
 Turkmenistan | 5845.1 | 2015 |
 Turks and Caicos Islands | 24059.1 | 2015 |
 Tuvalu | 5238.7 | 2015 |
 Uganda | 935.9 | 2023 |
 Ukraine | 2288.3 | 2023 |
 United Arab Emirates | 41081.9 | 2020 |
 United Kingdom | 41316.4 | 2020 |
 United States of America | 65103.0 | 2022 |
 Uruguay | 16800.7 | 2023 |
 Uzbekistan | 2799.6 | 2015 |
 Vanuatu | 2950.0 | 2022 |
 Vietnam | 3473.0 | 2022 |
 Palestine | 3739.6 | 2022 |
 Yemen | 1453.1 | 2015 |
 Zambia | 1282.6 | 2015 |
 Zimbabwe | 1311.6 | 2022 |
Economic classification of countries | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three/Four-World Model | |||||
| Gross domestic product (GDP) |
| ||||
| Gross national income andIncome | |||||
| Wages andsalary | |||||
| Wealth | |||||
| Othernational accounts | |||||
| Human development | |||||
| Digital divide | |||||
| Net international investment position (NIIP) | |||||
