http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html
Rank Country GDP - per capita Date of Information
1 Luxembourg $ 58,900 2004 est.
2 United States $ 40,100 2004 est.
3 Guernsey $ 40,000 2003 est.
4 Norway $ 40,000 2004 est.
5 Jersey $ 40,000 2003 est.
6 British Virgin Islands $ 38,500 2004 est.
7 Bermuda $ 36,000 2003 est.
8 San Marino $ 34,600 2001 est.
9 Hong Kong $ 34,200 2004 est.
10 Switzerland $ 33,800 2004 est.
11 Cayman Islands $ 32,300 2004 est.
12 Denmark $ 32,200 2004 est.
13 Ireland $ 31,900 2004 est.
14 Iceland $ 31,900 2004 est.
15 Canada $ 31,500 2004 est.
16 Austria $ 31,300 2004 est.
17 Australia $ 30,700 2004 est.
18 Belgium $ 30,600 2004 est.
19 United Kingdom $ 29,600 2004 est.
20 Netherlands $ 29,500 2004 est.
21 Japan $ 29,400 2004 est.
22 Finland $ 29,000 2004 est.
23 France $ 28,700 2004 est.
24 Germany $ 28,700 2004 est.
25 Man, Isle of $ 28,500 2003 est.
26 Sweden $ 28,400 2004 est.
27 Aruba $ 28,000 2002 est.
28 Gibraltar $ 27,900 2000 est.
29 Singapore $ 27,800 2004 est.
30 Italy $ 27,700 2004 est.
31 Monaco $ 27,000 2000 est.
32 European Union $ 26,900 2004 est.
33 Andorra $ 26,800 2003 est.
34 Taiwan $ 25,300 2004 est.
35 United Arab Emirates $ 25,200 2004 est.
36 Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) $ 25,000 2002 est.
37 Liechtenstein $ 25,000 1999 est.
38 Brunei $ 23,600 2003 est.
39 Spain $ 23,300 2004 est.
40 New Zealand $ 23,200 2004 est.
41 Qatar $ 23,200 2004 est.
42 Faroe Islands $ 22,000 2001 est.
43 Greece $ 21,300 2004 est.
44 Kuwait $ 21,300 2004 est.
45 Guam $ 21,000 2000 est.
46 Israel $ 20,800 2004 est.
47 Cyprus $ 20,300 2004 est.
48 Greenland $ 20,000 2001 est.
49 Slovenia $ 19,600 2004 est.
50 Macau $ 19,400 2003
51 Bahrain $ 19,200 2004 est.
52 Korea, South $ 19,200 2004 est.
53 Malta $ 18,200 2004 est.
54 Portugal $ 17,900 2004 est.
55 Bahamas, The $ 17,700 2004 est.
56 Puerto Rico $ 17,700 2004 est.
57 French Polynesia $ 17,500 2003 est.
58 Virgin Islands $ 17,200 2002 est.
59 Czech Republic $ 16,800 2004 est.
60 Barbados $ 16,400 2004 est.
61 New Caledonia $ 15,000 2003 est.
62 Hungary $ 14,900 2004 est.
63 Slovakia $ 14,500 2004 est.
64 Uruguay $ 14,500 2004 est.
65 Martinique $ 14,400 2003 est.
66 Estonia $ 14,300 2004 est.
67 Oman $ 13,100 2004 est.
68 Mauritius $ 12,800 2004 est.
69 Northern Mariana Islands $ 12,500 2000 est.
70 Lithuania $ 12,500 2004 est.
71 Argentina $ 12,400 2004 est.
72 Poland $ 12,000 2004 est.
73 Saudi Arabia $ 12,000 2004 est.
74 Latvia $ 11,500 2004 est.
75 Turks and Caicos Islands $ 11,500 2002 est.
76 Netherlands Antilles $ 11,400 2003 est.
77 Croatia $ 11,200 2004 est.
78 South Africa $ 11,100 2004 est.
79 Antigua and Barbuda $ 11,000 2002 est.
80 Chile $ 10,700 2004 est.
81 Trinidad and Tobago $ 10,500 2004 est.
82 Russia $ 9,800 2004 est.
83 Malaysia $ 9,700 2004 est.
84 Costa Rica $ 9,600 2004 est.
85 Mexico $ 9,600 2004 est.
86 Botswana $ 9,200 2004 est.
87 Palau $ 9,000 2001 est.
88 Saint Kitts and Nevis $ 8,800 2002 est.
89 World $ 8,800 2004 est.
90 French Guiana $ 8,300 2003 est.
91 Bulgaria $ 8,200 2004 est.
92 Brazil $ 8,100 2004 est.
93 Thailand $ 8,100 2004 est.
94 American Samoa $ 8,000 2000 est.
95 Guadeloupe $ 7,900 2003 est.
96 Kazakhstan $ 7,800 2004 est.
97 Seychelles $ 7,800 2002 est.
98 Iran $ 7,700 2004 est.
99 Romania $ 7,700 2004 est.
100 Anguilla $ 7,500 2002 est.
101 Turkey $ 7,400 2004 est.
102 Namibia $ 7,300 2004 est.
103 Cyprus $ 7,135 2004 est.
104 Macedonia $ 7,100 2004 est.
105 Tunisia $ 7,100 2004 est.
106 Saint Pierre and Miquelon $ 7,000 2001 est.
107 Panama $ 6,900 2004 est.
108 Belarus $ 6,800 2004 est.
109 Libya $ 6,700 2004 est.
110 Algeria $ 6,600 2004 est.
111 Colombia $ 6,600 2004 est.
112 Belize $ 6,500 2004 est.
113 Bosnia and Herzegovina $ 6,500 2004 est.
114 Dominican Republic $ 6,300 2004 est.
115 Ukraine $ 6,300 2004 est.
116 Reunion $ 6,000 2004 est.
117 Fiji $ 5,900 2004 est.
118 Gabon $ 5,900 2004 est.
119 Venezuela $ 5,800 2004 est.
120 Turkmenistan $ 5,700 2004 est.
121 China $ 5,600 2004 est.
122 Peru $ 5,600 2004 est.
123 Samoa $ 5,600 2002 est.
124 Dominica $ 5,500 2003 est.
125 Saint Lucia $ 5,400 2002 est.
126 Swaziland $ 5,100 2004 est.
127 Cook Islands $ 5,000 2001 est.
128 Lebanon $ 5,000 2004 est.
129 Philippines $ 5,000 2004 est.
130 Nauru $ 5,000 2001 est.
131 Grenada $ 5,000 2002 est.
132 Albania $ 4,900 2004 est.
133 El Salvador $ 4,900 2004 est.
134 Paraguay $ 4,800 2004 est.
135 Armenia $ 4,600 2004 est.
136 Jordan $ 4,500 2004 est.
137 Suriname $ 4,300 2004 est.
138 Egypt $ 4,200 2004 est.
139 Morocco $ 4,200 2004 est.
140 Guatemala $ 4,200 2004 est.
141 Jamaica $ 4,100 2004 est.
142 Sri Lanka $ 4,000 2004 est.
143 Maldives $ 3,900 2002 est.
144 Azerbaijan $ 3,800 2004 est.
145 Wallis and Futuna $ 3,800 2004 est.
146 Guyana $ 3,800 2004 est.
147 Ecuador $ 3,700 2004 est.
148 Niue $ 3,600 2000 est.
149 Indonesia $ 3,500 2004 est.
150 Iraq $ 3,500 2004 est.
151 Montserrat $ 3,400 2002 est.
152 Syria $ 3,400 2004 est.
153 Lesotho $ 3,200 2004 est.
154 Georgia $ 3,100 2004 est.
155 India $ 3,100 2004 est.
156 Cuba $ 3,000 2004 est.
157 Vanuatu $ 2,900 2003 est.
158 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines $ 2,900 2002 est.
159 Honduras $ 2,800 2004 est.
160 Equatorial Guinea $ 2,700 2002 est.
161 Vietnam $ 2,700 2004 est.
162 Bolivia $ 2,600 2004 est.
163 Mayotte $ 2,600 2003 est.
164 Saint Helena $ 2,500 1998 est.
165 Serbia and Montenegro $ 2,400 2004 est.
166 Ghana $ 2,300 2004 est.
167 Tonga $ 2,300 2002 est.
168 Nicaragua $ 2,300 2004 est.
169 Pakistan $ 2,200 2004 est.
170 Papua New Guinea $ 2,200 2004 est.
171 Angola $ 2,100 2004 est.
172 Guinea $ 2,100 2004 est.
173 Bangladesh $ 2,000 2004 est.
174 Cambodia $ 2,000 2004 est.
175 Micronesia, Federated States of $ 2,000 2002 est.
176 Cameroon $ 1,900 2004 est.
177 Laos $ 1,900 2004 est.
178 Mongolia $ 1,900 2004 est.
179 Moldova $ 1,900 2004 est.
180 Sudan $ 1,900 2004 est.
181 Zimbabwe $ 1,900 2004 est.
182 Gambia, The $ 1,800 2004 est.
183 Uzbekistan $ 1,800 2004 est.
184 Mauritania $ 1,800 2004 est.
185 Burma $ 1,700 2004 est.
186 Senegal $ 1,700 2004 est.
187 Kyrgyzstan $ 1,700 2004 est.
188 Solomon Islands $ 1,700 2002 est.
189 Chad $ 1,600 2004 est.
190 Togo $ 1,600 2004 est.
191 Marshall Islands $ 1,600 2001 est.
192 Haiti $ 1,500 2004 est.
193 Nepal $ 1,500 2004 est.
194 Uganda $ 1,500 2004 est.
195 Cote d'Ivoire $ 1,500 2004 est.
196 Bhutan $ 1,400 2003 est.
197 Cape Verde $ 1,400 2002 est.
198 Korea, North $ 1,400 2004 est.
199 Djibouti $ 1,300 2002 est.
200 Rwanda $ 1,300 2004 est.
201 Benin $ 1,200 2004 est.
202 Burkina Faso $ 1,200 2004 est.
203 Sao Tome and Principe $ 1,200 2003 est.
204 Mozambique $ 1,200 2004 est.
205 Central African Republic $ 1,100 2004 est.
206 Tuvalu $ 1,100 2000 est.
207 Kenya $ 1,100 2004 est.
208 Tajikistan $ 1,100 2004 est.
209 Nigeria $ 1,000 2004 est.
210 Tokelau $ 1,000 1993 est.
211 Eritrea $ 900 2004 est.
212 Zambia $ 900 2004 est.
213 Niger $ 900 2004 est.
214 Mali $ 900 2004 est.
215 Liberia $ 900 2004 est.
216 Afghanistan $ 800 2003 est.
217 Congo, Republic of the $ 800 2004 est.
218 Kiribati $ 800 2001 est.
219 Ethiopia $ 800 2004 est.
220 Madagascar $ 800 2004 est.
221 Yemen $ 800 2004 est.
222 West Bank $ 800 2003 est.
223 Congo, Democratic Republic of the $ 700 2004 est.
224 Guinea-Bissau $ 700 2004 est.
225 Tanzania $ 700 2004 est.
226 Comoros $ 700 2002 est.
227 Burundi $ 600 2004 est.
228 Somalia $ 600 2004 est.
229 Gaza Strip $ 600 2003 est.
230 Sierra Leone $ 600 2004 est.
231 Malawi $ 600 2004 est.
232 East Timor $ 400 2004 est.

This page was last updated on 17 May, 2005

italy 27000?¿?¿?Spain 23000¿??¿?france 28000?¿¿?¿?¿ i think that list is not well done

the last datas said italy 31000 , spain 26660, france 32000..

the last datas said italy 31000 , spain 26660, france 32000..

Not sure about those figures, where did you get them from?

The CIA usually seems to produce different figures from the other, neutral organisations that produce PPP figures such as the IMF, World Bank, OECD etc.

Guernsey = ??

San Marino = ?? ;)

10x 4 da' DATA :)

10x 4 da' DATA :)

:?: In English that means....?

Seriously, where is Guernsey?

Seriously, where is Guernsey?

http://www.irishwolfhounds-guernsey.com/gsy04.jpg

http://www.ired.com/pix/news/mkt/channel.gif

http://www.guernsey.net/~gasa/digi%20map/Guernsey.jpg

http://www.wordtravels.com/dbpics/countries/Channel%20Islands/Guernsey%20St-PeterPort.jpg

http://www.atsnotes.com/catalog/guernsey/guernsey-56.JPG

Along with Jersey it's a tax haven where rich people put their money to avoid paying for their fair share of public services in the country where they live and therefore it is very rich.

It's a state like San Marino and Montecarlo. Anyway i've never heard it

Sealand is missing too.

Yay not bad 35 United Arab Emirates $ 25,200 2004 est

the latest? seems like this list is several years old!

qatar is listed on #41 with 23.200
qatar actually has 40.000

here's the article from this week from reuters:


Qatar's per capita income rises to $40,000

Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Doha

Per capita income in Qatar has risen to $40,000, the country's economy and trade minister said. 'We enjoy one of the world's highest GDPs per capita at almost $40,000 per head and, conservatively, exports are growing at over 10 per cent per annum,' said Shaikh Mohamed bin Ahmed Al Thani.

He was speaking at a seminar to promote Qatar's international financial centre, which opened in Doha this year.

'The financial capacity of Qatar is enormous with around $100,000 billion earmarked for investment to 2010... Qatar's GDP is growing at over 10 per cent per annum,' he added.

Qatar's economy grew by around 20 per cent in 2004, with per capita GDP touching $33,600, according to World Economic Forum statistics published last month.

Analysts say Qatar is the wealthiest, fastest-growing country in the Arab world, with the world's third-largest gas reserves and a population of less than 800,000.-Reuters

the latest? seems like this list is several years old!

qatar is listed on #41 with 23.200
qatar actually has 40.000

here's the article from this week from reuters:


Qatar's per capita income rises to $40,000

It's not the same thing, this list is for PPP (adjusted for price levels).

The per capita incomes of oil and gas rich countries can vary enourmously from year to year depending on the oil price though so your quote is probably right. How much of that money actually goes to the regular people of the country in salaries is a different matter, most of it will be profits of multinational corporations and tax income for the government not income of individuals.

It's not the same thing, this list is for PPP (adjusted for price levels).

The per capita incomes of oil and gas rich countries can vary enourmously from year to year depending on the oil price though so your quote is probably right. How much of that money actually goes to the regular people of the country in salaries is a different matter, most of it will be profits of multinational corporations and tax income for the government not income of individuals.

um.. no but CIA has huge mistake here.. they don't actually use appropriate method to calulate the measurment.. they use something special calculation.. so called " CIA calculation.." which is so weird.. and you know what.. U.S' ppp is over 42000$ and Ireland's ppp is surely over 37000$..
also other figures are very strange compared to economist or IMF's figures.

http://eb.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=gl_market_glance&country_id=1380000138

I agree that CIA seems to be the least reliable of the organisations who do these calculations. Ireland does seem too low and also Hong Kong is usually lower than it is here.

Rank Country 2005 GDP (PPP) per capita
US dollars
1 Luxembourg 66,821
2 Norway 41,941
3 United States 41,557
4 Ireland 40,003
5 Iceland 35,686
6 Denmark 34,718
7 San Marino 34,600*
8 Canada 34,444
9 Switzerland 33,168
10 Austria 32,962
Hong Kong (PR China) 32,292
11 Belgium 31,549
12 Japan 31,384
13 Australia 31,020
14 Finland 30,818
15 Netherlands 30,363
16 United Kingdom 30,309
17 Germany 30,150
18 Qatar 29,607
19 Sweden 29,537
20 Italy 29,414
21 France 29,203
22 Singapore 28,228
23 Republic of China, a.k.a. Taiwan 27,122
24 Monaco 27,000*
European Union 26,900*
25 Andorra 26,800*
26 Liechtenstein 25,000*
27 Brunei 24,826
28 New Zealand 24,805
29 Spain 24,803
Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) 23,770
30 United Arab Emirates 23,723
31 Equatorial Guinea 23,154
32 Israel 22,944
33 South Korea 22,543
34 Slovenia 21,695
35 Greece 21,529
36 Cyprus 20,669
37 Malta 20,015
38 Portugal 19,949
39 Bahrain 19,748
40 Czech Republic 19,475
41 Bahamas 19,139
42 Barbados 17,170
43 Hungary 16,627
44 Estonia 16,461
45 Oman 16,300
46 Kuwait 16,297
47 Slovakia 16,110
48 Saint Kitts and Nevis 15,050
49 Lithuania 14,198
50 Trinidad and Tobago 13,958
51 Poland 13,275
52 Argentina 13,153
53 Saudi Arabia 13,123
54 Mauritius 13,029
55 Latvia 12,886
56 Croatia 12,364
57 Seychelles 12,135
58 Antigua and Barbuda 11,604
59 Chile 11,537
60 Libya 11,354
61 Russia 11,209
62 Malaysia 11,160
63 South Africa 11,035
64 Botswana 10,866
65 Costa Rica 10,316
66 Mexico 10,090
67 Uruguay 9,619
68 Bulgaria 9,205
69 Palau 9,000*
70 Brazil 8,745
71 Grenada 8,608
72 Thailand 8,542
73 Romania 8,258
74 Kazakhstan 8,252
75 Tunisia 8,223
76 Belarus 8,186
77 Iran 8,065
78 Turkey 7,958
79 Turkmenistan 7,854
80 Republic of Macedonia 7,749
81 Tonga 7,706
82 Maldives 7,640
83 Belize 7,635
84 Panama 7,327
85 Colombia 7,303
86 Ukraine 7,182
87 Algeria 7,095
88 Dominican Republic 7,055
89 Gabon 6,977
90 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6,679
91 Namibia 6,658
92 Samoa 6,390
93 Cape Verde 6,287
94 Fiji 6,282
95 Dominica 6,250
96 Lebanon 6,205
97 People's Republic of China 6,193
98 Suriname 6,025
99 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,827
100 Venezuela 5,801
101 Peru 5,594
102 Saint Lucia 5,516
103 Albania 5,323
104 Serbia and Montenegro 5,204
105 Swaziland 5,181
106 Nauru 5,000*
107 Philippines 4,770
108 Guyana 4,685
109 Paraguay 4,663
110 Jordan 4,615
111 El Salvador 4,525
112 Azerbaijan 4,500
113 Jamaica 4,471
114 Morocco 4,444
115 Egypt 4,282
116 Sri Lanka 4,145
117 Guatemala 4,136
118 Armenia 4,048
119 Ecuador 4,010
120 Syria 3,871
121 Indonesia 3,853
122 Iraq 3,500*
123 Vanuatu 3,397
124 Bhutan 3,330
125 India 3,262
126 Bolivia 3,049
127 Georgia 3,038
128 Cuba 3,000*
129 Angola 2,829
130 Honduras 2,793
131 Vietnam 2,782
132 Nicaragua 2,779
133 Ghana 2,601
134 Kiribati 2,591
135 Pakistan 2,567
136 Sudan 2,417
137 Papua New Guinea 2,414
138 Zimbabwe 2,413
139 Mauritania 2,307
140 Cameroon 2,284
141 Moldova 2,262
142 Lesotho 2,163
143 Cambodia 2,116
144 Kyrgyzstan 2,061
145 Laos 2,049
146 Mongolia 2,046
147 Federated States of Micronesia 2,000*
148 The Gambia 1,999
149 Bangladesh 1,998
150 Guinea 1,986
151 Djibouti 1,957
152 Solomon Islands 1,922
153 Senegal 1,914
154 Uzbekistan 1,834
155 Uganda 1,817
156 Chad 1,744
157 Comoros 1,717
158 São Tomé and Príncipe 1,638
159 Haiti 1,614
160 Marshall Islands 1,600*
161 Togo 1,600
162 Côte d'Ivoire 1,475
163 Nepal 1,471
164 Rwanda 1,431
165 Myanmar 1,417
166 North Korea 1,400*
167 Republic of the Congo 1,379
168 Tajikistan 1,373
169 Mozambique 1,335
170 Burkina Faso 1,326
171 Nigeria 1,188
172 Central African Republic 1,163
173 Benin 1,147
174 Kenya 1,125
175 Tuvalu 1,100*
176 Mali 1,084
177 Eritrea 917
178 Zambia 911
179 Madagascar 911
180 Sierra Leone 901
181 Liberia 900*
182 Niger 896
183 Ethiopia 859
184 Guinea-Bissau 856
185 Afghanistan 800*
186 Burundi 753
187 Yemen 745
188 Tanzania 720
189 Democratic Republic of the Congo 675
190 Somalia 600*
191 Malawi 596
192 East Timor 400*

^^^ Who published that list?

Maybe we should take the figures from CIA, IMF, World Bank, OECD etc and make an average.

isn't there are 202 countries?

US isnt number 2 anymore.

Edit: search on the internet, and there are only 193 countries.

Wow, some countries surprise me. Israel in the 20,000+ club. That is great news!!!

Seriously, where is Guernsey?
Outch! Where is Sicily? :bash: :bash: :bash: :weirdo:

Made by THE ECONOMIST


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@Willo, Yes, I see now but these are MER figures not PPP so it's not the same thing.

Outch! Where is Sicily? :bash: :bash: :bash: :weirdo:
I'm sorry if i didn't know where is a little island, lost in the sea like Guernsey.

[QUOTE=willo] Made by THE ECONOMIST
[QUOTE]
This is just a preview, not real facts! :bash:

Frankly I never really understood how they "cook" the numbers for most of the countries. If you've got decent accounting standards and a reliable national statistical apparatus then they may be more or less trustworthy, even considering that accounting and statistical methods do vary between countries. But seriously, who believes this is the case but in a relative small lot of highly formalized and developed countries? Accounting practices are extremely crude in most small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries, many companies wouldn't be able to give an accurate valuation of their assets even if they wanted to tell you in earnest. And what do you think they'll tell the guy from the tax office when he knocks the door once or twice a year? You can bet it's going to be a total bullshit figure, after all nobody enjoys paying taxes. If you consider that 95-99% of all companies are small companies, then you may guess how reliable the input data going into the statistics really is. I know there is much more data used in GDP estimation, like e.g. rising or falling electricity usage as an indicator of industrial activity, but the tax office data sure is key data.

[QUOTE=willo] Made by THE ECONOMIST
[QUOTE]
This is just a preview, not real facts! :bash:

that's just a preview, but it's a serious survey of expected figures. the datas will be near those figures so as i see, there's nothing wrong about taking it as a reference

Rank Country 2005 GDP (PPP) per capita
US dollars
1 Luxembourg 66,821
2 Norway 41,941
3 United States 41,557
4 Ireland 40,003
5 Iceland 35,686
6 Denmark 34,718
7 San Marino 34,600*
8 Canada 34,444
9 Switzerland 33,168
10 Austria 32,962
Hong Kong (PR China) 32,292
11 Belgium 31,549
12 Japan 31,384
13 Australia 31,020
14 Finland 30,818
15 Netherlands 30,363
16 United Kingdom 30,309
17 Germany 30,150
18 Qatar 29,607
19 Sweden 29,537
20 Italy 29,414
__________________
Australia should be more, if not, canada should be lower,

where is this san marino place anyway?

Australia should be more, if not, canada should be lower,

where is this san marino place anyway?

Why should it? Canada is usually a bit ahead of Australia in these rankings, Australia is usually just ahead of Netherlands, UK etc so it doesn't look too much out to me.

San Marino is a small republic surrounded by Italy.

meh, i belive australia has surpassed canada now in economy, per capita

meh, i belive australia has surpassed canada now in economy, per capita

This list (and most others) would suggest otherwise.

cello1974 of course Israel in 20,000:)))))
and we are in 22th place of the rank of live(not GDP)


where is European Union?it's country?

Israel GDP is 122 bn$!!!!
it's so good for this small country!
(Greece 102 with 10 million people)

Allthese figures can be interpreted differently. I think they should be used as a general guide not the bible.
In Europe Ger,Fra,Ita,UK.......all about the same and Spain about 20%less.
The US the highest of all countries over 10million.
Canada and Australia about the same.
The thing that matters when comparing economic data is the Standard of Living. It truly reflects how these numbers transverse into reality for the citizenry.
This also helps get a real picture within the country.
Latin American countries have below average incomes but this can be disceptive.
Mexico and Uruguay have generally the same income levels with Uruguay being 15 to 20% higher but there is a huge difference in standard of living. Uruguay has a very large middle class with free education, healthcare, and comphrensive social welfare system. Mexico on the other hand has a huge disparity in incomes with so much of the wealth being in relativly few hands. The quality of life for the average Mexican is not even close to standard of living enjoyed by Uruguayans.

Allthese figures can be interpreted differently. I think they should be used as a general guide not the bible.
In Europe Ger,Fra,Ita,UK.......all about the same and Spain about 20%less.
The US the highest of all countries over 10million.
Canada and Australia about the same.
The thing that matters when comparing economic data is the Standard of Living. It truly reflects how these numbers transverse into reality for the citizenry.
This also helps get a real picture within the country.
Latin American countries have below average incomes but this can be disceptive.
Mexico and Uruguay have generally the same income levels with Uruguay being 15 to 20% higher but there is a huge difference in standard of living. Uruguay has a very large middle class with free education, healthcare, and comphrensive social welfare system. Mexico on the other hand has a huge disparity in incomes with so much of the wealth being in relativly few hands. The quality of life for the average Mexican is not even close to standard of living enjoyed by Uruguayans.
This is very true.

The southern cone countries in South America have a better quality of life (HDI) than their economic rank would suggest.

Interestingly South Africa fares miserably on this score. Violence, AIDS?

With exceptions most Islamic countries don't seem to be that good at turning economic quantity into quality of life.


GDP per capita (PPP US$) rank minus HDI rank 2003 (UNDP)
Sorted by HDI rank

High human development
1 Norway 4
2 Iceland 2
3 Sweden 15
4 Australia 8
5 Netherlands 3
6 Belgium 5
7 United States -5
8 Canada 1
9 Japan 5
10 Switzerland -3
11 Denmark -5
12 Ireland -9
13 United Kingdom 6
14 Finland 3
15 Luxembourg -14
16 Austria -6
17 France 3
18 Germany -5
19 Spain 5
20 New Zealand 8
21 Italy -5
22 Israel 4
23 Portugal 7
24 Greece 7
25 Cyprus -3
26 Hong Kong -11
27 Barbados 9
28 Singapore -7
29 Slovenia 3
30 Korea, Rep. of 7
31 Brunei Darussalam -4
32 Czech Republic 7
33 Malta 8
34 Argentina 11
35 Poland 17
36 Seychelles -3
37 Bahrain -2
38 Hungary 4
39 Slovakia 5
40 Uruguay 19
41 Estonia 7
42 Costa Rica 9
43 Chile 10
44 Qatar -19
45 Lithuania 12
46 Kuwait -17
47 Croatia 7
48 United Arab Emirates -25
49 Bahamas -15
50 Latvia 11
51 Saint Kitts and Nevis -5
52 Cuba 38
53 Belarus 9
54 Trinidad and Tobago 1
55 Mexico 3

Medium human development
56 Antigua and Barbuda -8
57 Bulgaria 12
58 Malaysia -2
59 Panama 23
60 Macedonia, TFYR 15
61 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 2
62 Mauritius -12
63 Russian Federation 3
64 Colombia 3
65 Brazil -1
66 Bosnia and Herzegovina 13
67 Belize 16
68 Dominica 18
69 Venezuela 15
70 Samoa (Western) 4
71 Saint Lucia 17
72 Romania 9
73 Saudi Arabia -33
74 Thailand -2
75 Ukraine 23
76 Kazakhstan -5
77 Suriname 18
78 Jamaica 27
79 Oman -36
80 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 7
81 Fiji 11
82 Peru 14
83 Lebanon 18
84 Paraguay 7
85 Philippines 19
86 Maldives 7
87 Turkmenistan 13
88 Georgia 33
89 Azerbaijan 24
90 Jordan 13
91 Tunisia -18
92 Guyana 2
93 Grenada -23
94 Dominican Republic -26
95 Albania 11
96 Turkey -16
97 Ecuador 12
98 Occupied Palestinian Territories 19
99 Sri Lanka 13
100 Armenia 19
101 Uzbekistan 21
102 Kyrgyzstan 16
103 Cape Verde -18
104 China -2
105 El Salvador -17
106 Iran, Islamic Rep. of -29
107 Algeria -31
108 Moldova, Rep. of 21
109 Viet Nam 21
110 Syrian Arab Republic -1
111 South Africa -64
112 Indonesia 2
113 Tajikistan 41
114 Bolivia 12
115 Honduras 1
116 Equatorial Guinea -78
117 Mongolia 25
118 Gabon -40
119 Guatemala -22
120 Egypt -12
121 Nicaragua 2
122 Sao Tome and Principe 28
123 Solomon Islands 13
124 Namibia -59
125 Botswana -65
126 Morocco -19
127 India -12
128 Vanuatu -17
129 Ghana -1
130 Cambodia 9
131 Myanmar 28
132 Papua New Guinea -12
133 Swaziland -34
134 Comoros 4
135 Lao People's Dem. Rep. 10
136 Bhutan 5
137 Lesotho -13
138 Sudan -4
139 Bangladesh 7
140 Congo 22
141 Togo 3

Low human development
142 Cameroon 1
143 Nepal 8
144 Pakistan -7
145 Zimbabwe -18
146 Kenya 14
147 Uganda 1
148 Yemen 21
149 Madagascar 17
150 Haiti -11
151 Gambia -20
152 Nigeria 13
153 Djibouti -28
154 Mauritania -21
155 Eritrea 3
156 Senegal -9
157 Guinea -22
158 Rwanda -5
159 Benin 1
160 Tanzania, U. Rep. of 14
161 Côte d'Ivoire -13
162 Malawi 11
163 Zambia 7
164 Angola -32
165 Chad -8
166 Guinea-Bissau -4
167 Congo, Dem. Rep. of the 5
168 Central African Republic -16
169 Ethiopia -2
170 Mozambique -15
171 Burundi 0
172 Mali -5
173 Burkina Faso -17
174 Niger -10
175 Sierra Leone 0

Frankly I never really understood how they "cook" the numbers for most of the countries. If you've got decent accounting standards and a reliable national statistical apparatus then they may be more or less trustworthy, even considering that accounting and statistical methods do vary between countries. But seriously, who believes this is the case but in a relative small lot of highly formalized and developed countries? Accounting practices are extremely crude in most small and medium sized enterprises in developing countries, many companies wouldn't be able to give an accurate valuation of their assets even if they wanted to tell you in earnest. And what do you think they'll tell the guy from the tax office when he knocks the door once or twice a year? You can bet it's going to be a total bullshit figure, after all nobody enjoys paying taxes. If you consider that 95-99% of all companies are small companies, then you may guess how reliable the input data going into the statistics really is. I know there is much more data used in GDP estimation, like e.g. rising or falling electricity usage as an indicator of industrial activity, but the tax office data sure is key data.


bush :eek2:

Israel GDP is 122 bn$!!!!
it's so good for this small country!
(Greece 102 with 10 million people)
Well according to cia world factbook


Israel

GDP - per capita: $20,800 (2004 est.)

GDP: $129 billion (2004 est.)

External debt : $74.46 billion (2004 est.)


Hellas:

GDP - per capita: $21,300 (2004 est.)

GDP: $226.4 billion (2004 est.)

External debt : $67.23 billion (2004 est.)

This information is from wikipedia:

List of countries by GDP (PPP)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is a list of countries of the world sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year. GDP dollar estimates here are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations.

The table below includes all 191 United Nations member states, the European Union, Hong Kong SAR (PRC), Macau SAR (PRC), Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands), and Republic of China (Taiwan).
Rank Country 2005 GDP (PPP)
millions of US dollars
— World 59,559,770
1 United States 12,332,296
— European Union 12,329,110
2 People's Republic of China 8,091,851[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29#fn_PRC)
3 Japan 4,009,327
4 India 3,602,894
5 Germany 2,498,471
6 United Kingdom 1,825,837
7 France 1,811,561
8 Italy 1,694,706
9 Russia 1,585,478
10 Brazil 1,552,542
11 Canada 1,111,846
12 South Korea 1,099,066
13 Mexico 1,064,889
14 Spain 1,026,340
15 Indonesia 863,654
16 Australia 638,713
17 Republic of China (Taiwan) 629,858
18 Turkey 570,748
19 Iran 560,348
20 Thailand 559,489
21 South Africa 532,011
22 Argentina 516,951
23 Poland 512,890
24 Netherlands 498,703
25 Philippines 409,445
26 Pakistan 392,526
27 Ukraine 339,676
28 Saudi Arabia 337,268
29 Colombia 336,808
30 Belgium 324,299
31 Bangladesh 303,655
32 Egypt 302,803
33 Malaysia 289,606
34 Sweden 267,427
35 Austria 267,053
36 Switzerland 241,265
37 Greece 236,311
38 Algeria 232,692
39 Vietnam 231,644
— Hong Kong SAR (PRC) 226,766
40 Portugal 203,947
41 Czech Republic 198,976
42 Norway 193,660
43 Denmark 187,721
44 Chile 186,733
45 Romania 183,162
46 Nigeria 173,704
47 Republic of Ireland 164,190
48 Peru 164,110
49 Hungary 162,289
50 Finland 161,099
51 Israel 154,174
52 Venezuela 153,331
53 Morocco 138,006
54 Singapore 124,001
55 Kazakhstan 123,992
56 United Arab Emirates 111,027
57 New Zealand 101,582
58 Iraq 89,800*
59 Slovakia 87,129
60 Sudan 85,461
61 Sri Lanka 85,155
62 Tunisia 83,353
63 Myanmar 78,564
64 Syria 72,174
65 Bulgaria 71,381
66 Belarus 70,524
67 Libya 65,647
68 Afghanistan 63,857
69 Dominican Republic 63,594
70 Ethiopia 62,744
71 Ecuador 56,779
72 Guatemala 56,736
73 Croatia 55,638
74 Ghana 54,330
75 Lithuania 49,106
76 Uganda 48,620
77 Uzbekistan 48,137
78 Kuwait 44,675
79 Costa Rica 44,579
80 Angola 43,599
81 Serbia and Montenegro 43,462
82 Slovenia 43,260
83 Cameroon 40,744
84 Democratic Republic of the Congo 40,585
85 Nepal 39,815
86 Oman 39,559
87 Turkmenistan 39,458
88 Azerbaijan 37,841
89 Kenya 37,065
90 Cuba 33,920*
91 Uruguay 32,885
92 El Salvador 31,171
93 North Korea 30,880*
94 Luxembourg 30,674
95 Cambodia 30,579
96 Latvia 30,227
97 Paraguay 29,014
98 Côte d'Ivoire 28,460
99 Zimbabwe 28,304
100 Tanzania 27,006
101 Jordan 26,741
102 Mozambique 25,974
103 Bolivia 25,892
104 Equatorial Guinea 25,439
105 Lebanon 23,638
106 Qatar 23,584
107 Bosnia and Herzegovina 22,840
108 Panama 22,706
109 Estonia 22,239
110 Honduras 20,549
111 Senegal 20,482
112 Yemen 19,324
113 Guinea 18,945
114 Albania 18,933
115 Trinidad and Tobago 17,966
116 Botswana 17,207
117 Burkina Faso 16,916
118 Cyprus 16,745
119 Madagascar 16,323
120 Mauritius 16,054
121 Nicaragua 16,052
122 Republic of Macedonia 15,996
123 Bahrain 15,796
124 Georgia 15,522
125 Chad 14,756
126 Papua New Guinea 14,343
127 Namibia 14,198
128 Haiti 14,118
129 Mali 13,532
130 Armenia 13,432
131 Rwanda 12,620
132 Jamaica 12,141
133 Laos 12,101
134 Niger 11,260
135 Kyrgyzstan 10,626
136 Zambia 10,568
137 Iceland 10,548
138 Gabon 9,514
— Macau SAR (PRC) 9,100*
139 Brunei 9,009
140 Togo 8,945
141 Tajikistan 8,711
142 Benin 8,534
143 Moldova 8,157
144 Malta 7,909
145 Malawi 7,507
146 Mauritania 6,876
147 Bahamas 6,085
148 Swaziland 5,646
149 Burundi 5,642
150 Fiji 5,368
151 Mongolia 5,230
152 Lesotho 5,113
153 Sierra Leone 4,910
154 Central African Republic 4,773
155 Barbados 4,735
156 Republic of the Congo 4,621
157 Somalia 4,597*
158 Eritrea 4,250
— Netherlands Antilles 4,175
159 Guyana 3,541
160 The Gambia 3,017
161 Cape Verde 2,992
162 Bhutan 2,913
163 Liberia 2,903*
164 Suriname 2,812
165 Maldives 2,557
166 Belize 2,046
167 Andorra 1,900*
168 Djibouti 1,686
169 Guinea-Bissau 1,182
170 Samoa 1,172
171 Comoros 1,114
172 Seychelles 1,017
173 Saint Lucia 985
174 San Marino 940*
175 Solomon Islands 925
176 Grenada 883
177 Monaco 870*
178 Antigua and Barbuda 835
179 Liechtenstein 825*
180 Tonga 785
181 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 751
182 Vanuatu 741
183 Saint Kitts and Nevis 626
184 Dominica 448
185 East Timor 370*
186 Federated States of Micronesia 277*
187 São Tomé and Príncipe 268
188 Kiribati 243
189 Palau 174*
190 Marshall Islands 115*
191 Nauru 60*
192 Tuvalu 12.2*

List of countries by GDP (nominal)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is a list of the world's economies sorted by their Gross domestic product (GDP) at market or government official exchange rates. The data here is an estimation for the year 2005 produced by the International Monetary Fund in April 2005.
Rank Country 2005 GDP (nominal)
millions of US dollars
— World 44,168,157
— European Union 13,926,873
1 United States 12,438,873
2 Japan 4,799,061
3 Germany 2,906,658
4 United Kingdom 2,295,039
5 France 2,216,273
6 People's Republic of China (Mainland) 1,843,117
7 Italy 1,836,407
8 Spain 1,120,312
9 Canada 1,098,446
10 Russia 755,437
11 India 749,443
12 Brazil 732,078
13 South Korea 720,772
14 Mexico 714,530
15 Australia 692,436
16 Netherlands 629,391
17 Belgium 387,840
18 Switzerland 384,642
19 Sweden 383,816
20 Taiwan (Republic of China) 345,105
21 Turkey 340,263
22 Austria 318,343
23 Poland 312,257
24 Afghanistan 295,206[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29#fn_Afghanistan)
25 Norway 285,604
26 Saudi Arabia 284,895
27 Indonesia 284,072
28 Denmark 265,934
29 Greece 230,684
30 South Africa 226,486
31 Republic of Ireland 206,467
32 Finland 204,385
33 Iran 195,200
34 Portugal 185,091
35 Thailand 174,545
36 Hong Kong, SAR, PRC 172,932
37 Argentina 172,123
38 Malaysia 127,942
39 Czech Republic 125,709
40 Israel 122,987
41 Venezuela 122,301
42 Singapore 116,326
43 Colombia 108,731
44 New Zealand 107,670
45 Hungary 107,144
46 United Arab Emirates 103,006
47 Chile 101,526
48 Algeria 97,459
49 Philippines 92,586
50 Egypt 91,688
51 Nigeria 91,574
52 Pakistan 90,282
53 Ukraine 82,693
54 Romania 79,848
55 Peru 72,888
56 Bangladesh 61,944
57 Kuwait 61,469
58 Morocco 54,597
59 Kazakhstan 51,876
60 Slovakia 50,323
61 Vietnam 47,111
62 Luxembourg 35,620
63 Slovenia 35,106
64 Croatia 35,103
65 Libya 32,962
66 Tunisia 31,970
67 Ecuador 31,927
68 Qatar 31,550
69 Belarus 27,061
70 Guatemala 26,978
71 Serbia and Montenegro 26,243
72 Bulgaria 25,959
73 Syria 25,694
74 Sudan 25,379
75 Oman 25,038
76 Angola 23,894
77 Lithuania 23,702
78 Sri Lanka 22,351
79 Dominican Republic 21,476
80 Lebanon 20,699
81 Costa Rica 19,558
82 Cyprus 17,144
83 Côte d'Ivoire 17,084
84 Kenya 16,900
85 El Salvador 16,602
86 Cameroon 15,742
87 Iceland 15,388
88 Latvia 15,387
89 Yemen 15,204
90 Panama 14,531
91 Turkmenistan 13,846
92 Trinidad and Tobago 13,558
93 Uruguay 13,116
94 Estonia 12,310
95 Zimbabwe 12,261
96 Tanzania 12,123
97 Jordan 11,928
98 Bahrain 11,781
99 Uzbekistan 11,002
100 Azerbaijan 10,751
101 Ghana 10,340
102 Bolivia 9,738
103 Bosnia and Herzegovina 9,521
104 Botswana 9,424
105 Jamaica 9,199
106 Ethiopia 9,005
107 Senegal 8,936
108 Albania 8,908
109 Myanmar 8,867
110 Uganda 8,257
111 Gabon 8,230
112 Honduras 7,864
113 Paraguay 7,281
114 Democratic Republic of the Congo 6,980
115 Nepal 6,680
116 Mozambique 6,676
117 Zambia 6,222
118 Mauritius 6,202
119 Bahamas 5,804
120 Burkina Faso 5,722
121 Brunei 5,721
122 Mali 5,537
123 Malta 5,532
124 Chad 5,388
125 Republic of the Congo 5,237
126 Namibia 5,032
127 Republic of Macedonia 4,962
128 Madagascar 4,941
129 Benin 4,773
130 Nicaragua 4,740
131 Georgia 4,737
132 Cambodia 4,583
133 Equatorial Guinea 4,489
134 Haiti 4,465
135 Armenia 4,213
136 Papua New Guinea 3,924
137 Guinea 3,647
138 Niger 3,363
139 Netherlands Antilles 3,063
140 Barbados 2,964
141 Moldova 2,897
142 Fiji 2,808
143 Laos 2,665
144 Swaziland 2,505
145 Tajikistan 2,338
146 Togo 2,318
147 Kyrgyz Republic 2,290
148 Rwanda 2,076
149 Malawi 2,067
150 Lesotho 1,660
151 Mauritania 1,578
152 Central African Republic 1,523
153 Mongolia 1,400
154 Cape Verde 1,180
155 Suriname 1,144
156 Sierra Leone 1,133
157 Belize 1,104
158 Antigua and Barbuda 834
159 Maldives 828
160 Burundi 791
161 Guyana 782
162 Bhutan 769
163 Saint Lucia 731
164 Eritrea 730
165 Djibouti 709
166 Seychelles 629
167 Gambia, The 461
168 Grenada 451
169 Saint Kitts and Nevis 421
170 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 418
171 Comoros 402
172 Samoa 334
173 East Timor 332
174 Vanuatu 328
175 Guinea-Bissau 316
176 Solomon Islands 274
177 Dominica 270
178 Tonga 227
179 Kiribati 72
180 São Tomé and Príncipe 69

List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is a list of countries of the world sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita, the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, divided by the average population for the same year. GDP dollar estimates here are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations.

The table below includes all 191 United Nations member states, the European Union, Hong Kong SAR (PRC), Macau SAR (PRC), Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) and Taiwan (Republic of China).
Rank Country 2005 GDP (PPP) per capita
US dollars
— World 9,239
1 Luxembourg 66,821
2 Norway 41,941
3 United States 41,557
4 Republic of Ireland 40,003
5 Iceland 35,686
6 Denmark 34,718
7 San Marino 34,600*
8 Canada 34,444
9 Switzerland 33,168
10 Austria 32,962
— Hong Kong SAR (PRC) 32,292
11 Belgium 31,549
12 Japan 31,384
13 Australia 31,020
14 Finland 30,818
15 Netherlands 30,363
16 United Kingdom 30,309
17 Germany 30,150
18 Qatar 29,607
19 Sweden 29,537
20 Italy 29,414
21 France 29,203
22 Singapore 28,228
23 Taiwan (Republic of China) 27,122
24 Monaco 27,000*
— European Union 26,900*
25 Andorra 26,800*
26 Liechtenstein 25,000*
27 Brunei 24,826
28 New Zealand 24,805
29 Spain 24,803
— Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) 23,770
30 United Arab Emirates 23,723
31 Equatorial Guinea 23,154
32 Israel 22,944
33 South Korea 22,543
34 Slovenia 21,695
35 Greece 21,529
36 Cyprus 20,669
37 Malta 20,015
38 Portugal 19,949
39 Bahrain 19,748
40 Czech Republic 19,475
— Macau SAR (PRC) 19,400*
41 Bahamas 19,139
42 Barbados 17,170
43 Hungary 16,627
44 Estonia 16,461
45 Oman 16,300
46 Kuwait 16,297
47 Slovakia 16,110
48 Saint Kitts and Nevis 15,050
49 Lithuania 14,198
50 Trinidad and Tobago 13,958
51 Poland 13,275
52 Argentina 13,153
53 Saudi Arabia 13,123
54 Mauritius 13,029
55 Latvia 12,886
56 Croatia 12,364
57 Seychelles 12,135
58 Antigua and Barbuda 11,604
59 Chile 11,537
60 Libya 11,354
61 Russia 11,209
62 Malaysia 11,160
63 South Africa 11,035
64 Botswana 10,866
65 Costa Rica 10,316
66 Mexico 10,090
67 Uruguay 9,619
68 Bulgaria 9,205
69 Palau 9,000*
70 Brazil 8,745
71 Grenada 8,608
72 Thailand 8,542
73 Romania 8,258
74 Kazakhstan 8,252
75 Tunisia 8,223
76 Belarus 8,186
77 Iran 8,065
78 Turkey 7,958
79 Turkmenistan 7,854
80 Republic of Macedonia 7,749
81 Tonga 7,706
82 Maldives 7,640
83 Belize 7,635
84 Panama 7,327
85 Colombia 7,303
86 Ukraine 7,182
87 Algeria 7,095
88 Dominican Republic 7,055
89 Gabon 6,977
90 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6,679
91 Namibia 6,658
92 Samoa 6,390
93 Cape Verde 6,287
94 Fiji 6,282
95 Dominica 6,250
96 Lebanon 6,205
97 People's Republic of China (Mainland) 6,193
98 Suriname 6,025
99 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,827
100 Venezuela 5,801
101 Peru 5,594
102 Saint Lucia 5,516
103 Albania 5,323
104 Serbia and Montenegro 5,204
105 Swaziland 5,181
106 Nauru 5,000*
107 Philippines 4,770
108 Guyana 4,685
109 Paraguay 4,663
110 Jordan 4,615
111 El Salvador 4,525
112 Azerbaijan 4,500
113 Jamaica 4,471
114 Morocco 4,444
115 Egypt 4,282
116 Sri Lanka 4,145
117 Guatemala 4,136
118 Armenia 4,048
119 Ecuador 4,010
120 Syria 3,871
121 Indonesia 3,853
122 Iraq 3,500*
123 Vanuatu 3,397
124 Bhutan 3,330
125 India 3,262
126 Bolivia 3,049
127 Georgia 3,038
128 Cuba 3,000*
129 Angola 2,829
130 Honduras 2,793
131 Vietnam 2,782
132 Nicaragua 2,779
133 Ghana 2,601
134 Kiribati 2,591
135 Pakistan 2,567
136 Sudan 2,417
137 Papua New Guinea 2,414
138 Zimbabwe 2,413
139 Mauritania 2,307
140 Cameroon 2,284
141 Moldova 2,262
142 Lesotho 2,163
143 Cambodia 2,116
144 Kyrgyzstan 2,061
145 Laos 2,049
146 Mongolia 2,046
147 Federated States of Micronesia 2,000*
148 The Gambia 1,999
149 Bangladesh 1,998
150 Guinea 1,986
151 Djibouti 1,957
152 Solomon Islands 1,922
153 Senegal 1,914
154 Uzbekistan 1,834
155 Uganda 1,817
156 Chad 1,744
157 Comoros 1,717
158 São Tomé and Príncipe 1,638
159 Haiti 1,614
160 Marshall Islands 1,600*
161 Togo 1,600
162 Côte d'Ivoire 1,475
163 Nepal 1,471
164 Rwanda 1,431
165 Myanmar 1,417
166 North Korea 1,400*
167 Republic of the Congo 1,379
168 Tajikistan 1,373
169 Mozambique 1,335
170 Burkina Faso 1,326
171 Nigeria 1,188
172 Central African Republic 1,163
173 Benin 1,147
174 Kenya 1,125
175 Tuvalu 1,100*
176 Mali 1,084
177 Eritrea 917
178 Zambia 911
179 Madagascar 911
180 Sierra Leone 901
181 Liberia 900*
182 Niger 896
183 Ethiopia 859
184 Guinea-Bissau 856
185 Afghanistan 800*
186 Burundi 753
187 Yemen 745
188 Tanzania 720
189 Democratic Republic of the Congo 675
190 Somalia 600*
191 Malawi 596
192 East Timor 400*

List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from List of countries by GDP (Nominal) per capita)

This is a list of countries of the world sorted by their Gross Domestic Product (nominal) per capita, the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, divided by the average population for the same year. GDP dollar numbers are derived from foreign exchange rates of the country's currency.
Rank Country 2005 GDP (nominal) per capita
US dollars
— World 6,851
1 Luxembourg 77,595
2 Norway 61,852
3 Switzerland 52,879
4 Iceland 52,063
5 Republic of Ireland 50,303
6 Denmark 49,182
7 Sweden 42,392
8 United States 41,917
9 Qatar 39,607
10 Austria 39,292
11 Finland 39,098
12 Netherlands 38,320
13 United Kingdom 38,098
14 Belgium 37,730
15 Japan 37,566
16 France 35,727
17 Germany 35,075
18 Canada 34,028
19 Australia 33,629
20 Italy 31,874
21 Spain 27,074
22 Singapore 26,481
23 New Zealand 26,291
24 Hong Kong 24,626
25 Kuwait 22,424
26 United Arab Emirates 22,009
27 Cyprus 21,161
28 Greece 21,017
29 Israel 18,303
30 Bahamas 18,256
31 Portugal 18,105
32 Slovenia 17,606
33 Netherlands Antilles 17,435
34 Brunei 15,764
35 Taiwan (Republic of China) 14,860
36 South Korea 14,784
37 Bahrain 14,728
38 Malta 14,001
39 Czech Republic 12,304
40 Antigua and Barbuda 11,592
41 Saudi Arabia 11,085
42 Hungary 10,978
43 Barbados 10,747
44 Trinidad and Tobago 10,533
45 Oman 10,316
46 Saint Kitts and Nevis 10,130
47 Slovakia 9,305
48 Estonia 9,112
49 Poland 8,082
50 Croatia 7,801
51 Seychelles 7,504
52 Lithuania 6,853
53 Mexico 6,771
54 Latvia 6,559
55 Chile 6,272
56 Gabon 6,035
57 Botswana 5,951
58 Libya 5,701
59 Lebanon 5,434
60 Russia 5,341
61 Mauritius 5,033
62 Malaysia 4,930
63 Turkey 4,744
64 South Africa 4,698
65 Panama 4,689
66 Venezuela 4,627
67 Costa Rica 4,526
68 Grenada 4,394
69 Argentina 4,380
70 Brazil 4,124
71 Belize 4,120
72 Saint Lucia 4,095
73 Equatorial Guinea 4,086
74 Uruguay 3,837
75 Dominica 3,772
76 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3,719
77 Romania 3,600
78 Kazakhstan 3,453
79 Jamaica 3,388
80 Bulgaria 3,347
81 Fiji 3,287
82 Tunisia 3,154
83 Serbia and Montenegro 3,142
84 Belarus 3,141
85 Algeria 2,971
86 Iran 2,810
87 Turkmenistan 2,756
88 Thailand 2,665
89 Albania 2,504
90 Peru 2,484
91 Cape Verde 2,479
92 Maldives 2,472
93 Suriname 2,452
94 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,429
95 El Salvador 2,410
96 Republic of Macedonia 2,404
97 Dominican Republic 2,383
98 Namibia 2,360
99 Colombia 2,358
100 Swaziland 2,298
101 Ecuador 2,255
102 Tonga 2,226
103 Jordan 2,058
104 Guatemala 1,966
105 Samoa 1,821
106 Morocco 1,758
107 Ukraine 1,748
108 Republic of the Congo 1,563
109 Angola 1,550
110 Vanuatu 1,504
111 People's Republic of China (Mainland) 1,411
112 Syria 1,378
113 Egypt 1,297
114 Azerbaijan 1,279
115 Armenia 1,270
116 Indonesia 1,267
117 Paraguay 1,170
118 Bolivia 1,147
119 Sri Lanka 1,088
120 Philippines 1,079
121 Honduras 1,069
122 Zimbabwe 1,045
123 Guyana 1,035
124 Georgia 927
125 Côte d'Ivoire 886
126 Cameroon 882
127 Bhutan 879
128 Senegal 835
129 Djibouti 824
130 Nicaragua 821
131 Moldova 803
132 Kiribati 768
133 Sudan 718
134 Lesotho 702
135 India 678
136 Papua New Guinea 660
137 Benin 642
138 Chad 637
139 Nigeria 626
140 Comoros 620
141 Pakistan 591
142 Yemen 586
143 Solomon Islands 570
144 Vietnam 566
145 Mongolia 547
146 Zambia 537
147 Mauritania 529
148 Kenya 513
149 Haiti 511
150 Ghana 495
151 Laos 451
152 Burkina Faso 449
153 Kyrgyzstan 444
154 Mali 444
155 São Tomé and Príncipe 419
156 Uzbekistan 419
157 Togo 414
158 Bangladesh 408
159 Guinea 382
160 Central African Republic 371
161 Tajikistan 369
162 East Timor 353
163 Mozambique 343
164 Tanzania 323
165 Cambodia 317
166 Uganda 309
167 The Gambia 305
168 Madagascar 276
169 Niger 268
170 Nepal 247
171 Rwanda 235
172 Guinea-Bissau 229
173 Afghanistan 228[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29_per_capita#fn_Afghanistan)
174 Sierra Leone 208
175 Malawi 164
176 Myanmar 160
177 Eritrea 157
178 Ethiopia 123
179 Democratic Republic of the Congo 116
180 Burundi 106

The table below includes all 191 United Nations member states, the European Union, Hong Kong SAR (PRC), Macau SAR (PRC), Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) and Taiwan (Republic of China).
Rank Country 2005 GDP (PPP) per capita
US dollars
— World 9,239
1 Luxembourg 66,821
2 Norway 41,941
3 United States 41,557
4 Republic of Ireland 40,003
5 Iceland 35,686
6 Denmark 34,718
7 San Marino 34,600*
8 Canada 34,444
9 Switzerland 33,168
10 Austria 32,962
— Hong Kong SAR (PRC) 32,292
11 Belgium 31,549
12 Japan 31,384
13 Australia 31,020
14 Finland 30,818
15 Netherlands 30,363
16 United Kingdom 30,309
17 Germany 30,150
18 Qatar 29,607
19 Sweden 29,537
20 Italy 29,414
21 France 29,203
22 Singapore 28,228
23 Taiwan (Republic of China) 27,122
24 Monaco 27,000*
— European Union 26,900*
25 Andorra 26,800*
26 Liechtenstein 25,000*
27 Brunei 24,826
28 New Zealand 24,805
29 Spain 24,803
— Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) 23,770
30 United Arab Emirates 23,723
31 Equatorial Guinea 23,154
32 Israel 22,944
33 South Korea 22,543
34 Slovenia 21,695
35 Greece 21,529
36 Cyprus 20,669
37 Malta 20,015
38 Portugal 19,949
39 Bahrain 19,748
40 Czech Republic 19,475
— Macau SAR (PRC) 19,400*
41 Bahamas 19,139
42 Barbados 17,170
43 Hungary 16,627
44 Estonia 16,461
45 Oman 16,300
46 Kuwait 16,297
47 Slovakia 16,110
48 Saint Kitts and Nevis 15,050
49 Lithuania 14,198
50 Trinidad and Tobago 13,958
51 Poland 13,275
52 Argentina 13,153
53 Saudi Arabia 13,123
54 Mauritius 13,029
55 Latvia 12,886
56 Croatia 12,364
57 Seychelles 12,135
58 Antigua and Barbuda 11,604
59 Chile 11,537
60 Libya 11,354
61 Russia 11,209
62 Malaysia 11,160
63 South Africa 11,035
64 Botswana 10,866
65 Costa Rica 10,316
66 Mexico 10,090
67 Uruguay 9,619
68 Bulgaria 9,205
69 Palau 9,000*
70 Brazil 8,745
71 Grenada 8,608
72 Thailand 8,542
73 Romania 8,258
74 Kazakhstan 8,252
75 Tunisia 8,223
76 Belarus 8,186
77 Iran 8,065
78 Turkey 7,958
79 Turkmenistan 7,854
80 Republic of Macedonia 7,749
81 Tonga 7,706
82 Maldives 7,640
83 Belize 7,635
84 Panama 7,327
85 Colombia 7,303
86 Ukraine 7,182
87 Algeria 7,095
88 Dominican Republic 7,055
89 Gabon 6,977
90 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6,679
91 Namibia 6,658
92 Samoa 6,390
93 Cape Verde 6,287
94 Fiji 6,282
95 Dominica 6,250
96 Lebanon 6,205
97 People's Republic of China (Mainland) 6,193
98 Suriname 6,025
99 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5,827
100 Venezuela 5,801
101 Peru 5,594
102 Saint Lucia 5,516
103 Albania 5,323
104 Serbia and Montenegro 5,204
105 Swaziland 5,181
106 Nauru 5,000*
107 Philippines 4,770
108 Guyana 4,685
109 Paraguay 4,663
110 Jordan 4,615
111 El Salvador 4,525
112 Azerbaijan 4,500
113 Jamaica 4,471
114 Morocco 4,444
115 Egypt 4,282
116 Sri Lanka 4,145
117 Guatemala 4,136
118 Armenia 4,048
119 Ecuador 4,010
120 Syria 3,871
121 Indonesia 3,853
122 Iraq 3,500*
123 Vanuatu 3,397
124 Bhutan 3,330
125 India 3,262
126 Bolivia 3,049
127 Georgia 3,038
128 Cuba 3,000*
129 Angola 2,829
130 Honduras 2,793
131 Vietnam 2,782
132 Nicaragua 2,779
133 Ghana 2,601
134 Kiribati 2,591
135 Pakistan 2,567
136 Sudan 2,417
137 Papua New Guinea 2,414
138 Zimbabwe 2,413
139 Mauritania 2,307
140 Cameroon 2,284
141 Moldova 2,262
142 Lesotho 2,163
143 Cambodia 2,116
144 Kyrgyzstan 2,061
145 Laos 2,049
146 Mongolia 2,046
147 Federated States of Micronesia 2,000*
148 The Gambia 1,999
149 Bangladesh 1,998
150 Guinea 1,986
151 Djibouti 1,957
152 Solomon Islands 1,922
153 Senegal 1,914
154 Uzbekistan 1,834
155 Uganda 1,817
156 Chad 1,744
157 Comoros 1,717
158 São Tomé and Príncipe 1,638
159 Haiti 1,614
160 Marshall Islands 1,600*
161 Togo 1,600
162 Côte d'Ivoire 1,475
163 Nepal 1,471
164 Rwanda 1,431
165 Myanmar 1,417
166 North Korea 1,400*
167 Republic of the Congo 1,379
168 Tajikistan 1,373
169 Mozambique 1,335
170 Burkina Faso 1,326
171 Nigeria 1,188
172 Central African Republic 1,163
173 Benin 1,147
174 Kenya 1,125
175 Tuvalu 1,100*
176 Mali 1,084
177 Eritrea 917
178 Zambia 911
179 Madagascar 911
180 Sierra Leone 901
181 Liberia 900*
182 Niger 896
183 Ethiopia 859
184 Guinea-Bissau 856
185 Afghanistan 800*
186 Burundi 753
187 Yemen 745
188 Tanzania 720
189 Democratic Republic of the Congo 675
190 Somalia 600*
191 Malawi 596
192 East Timor 400*

List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from List of countries by GDP (Nominal) per capita)

This is a list of countries of the world sorted by their Gross Domestic Product (nominal) per capita, the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, divided by the average population for the same year. GDP dollar numbers are derived from foreign exchange rates of the country's currency.
Rank Country 2005 GDP (nominal) per capita
US dollars
— World 6,851
1 Luxembourg 77,595
2 Norway 61,852
3 Switzerland 52,879
4 Iceland 52,063
5 Republic of Ireland 50,303
6 Denmark 49,182
7 Sweden 42,392
8 United States 41,917
9 Qatar 39,607
10 Austria 39,292
11 Finland 39,098
12 Netherlands 38,320
13 United Kingdom 38,098
14 Belgium 37,730
15 Japan 37,566
16 France 35,727
17 Germany 35,075
18 Canada 34,028
19 Australia 33,629
20 Italy 31,874
21 Spain 27,074
22 Singapore 26,481
23 New Zealand 26,291
24 Hong Kong 24,626
25 Kuwait 22,424
26 United Arab Emirates 22,009
27 Cyprus 21,161
28 Greece 21,017
29 Israel 18,303
30 Bahamas 18,256
31 Portugal 18,105
32 Slovenia 17,606
33 Netherlands Antilles 17,435
34 Brunei 15,764
35 Taiwan (Republic of China) 14,860
36 South Korea 14,784
37 Bahrain 14,728
38 Malta 14,001
39 Czech Republic 12,304
40 Antigua and Barbuda 11,592
41 Saudi Arabia 11,085
42 Hungary 10,978
43 Barbados 10,747
44 Trinidad and Tobago 10,533
45 Oman 10,316
46 Saint Kitts and Nevis 10,130
47 Slovakia 9,305
48 Estonia 9,112
49 Poland 8,082
50 Croatia 7,801
51 Seychelles 7,504
52 Lithuania 6,853
53 Mexico 6,771
54 Latvia 6,559
55 Chile 6,272
56 Gabon 6,035
57 Botswana 5,951
58 Libya 5,701
59 Lebanon 5,434
60 Russia 5,341
61 Mauritius 5,033
62 Malaysia 4,930
63 Turkey 4,744
64 South Africa 4,698
65 Panama 4,689
66 Venezuela 4,627
67 Costa Rica 4,526
68 Grenada 4,394
69 Argentina 4,380
70 Brazil 4,124
71 Belize 4,120
72 Saint Lucia 4,095
73 Equatorial Guinea 4,086
74 Uruguay 3,837
75 Dominica 3,772
76 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 3,719
77 Romania 3,600
78 Kazakhstan 3,453
79 Jamaica 3,388
80 Bulgaria 3,347
81 Fiji 3,287
82 Tunisia 3,154
83 Serbia and Montenegro 3,142
84 Belarus 3,141
85 Algeria 2,971
86 Iran 2,810
87 Turkmenistan 2,756
88 Thailand 2,665
89 Albania 2,504
90 Peru 2,484
91 Cape Verde 2,479
92 Maldives 2,472
93 Suriname 2,452
94 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2,429
95 El Salvador 2,410
96 Republic of Macedonia 2,404
97 Dominican Republic 2,383
98 Namibia 2,360
99 Colombia 2,358
100 Swaziland 2,298
101 Ecuador 2,255
102 Tonga 2,226
103 Jordan 2,058
104 Guatemala 1,966
105 Samoa 1,821
106 Morocco 1,758
107 Ukraine 1,748
108 Republic of the Congo 1,563
109 Angola 1,550
110 Vanuatu 1,504
111 People's Republic of China (Mainland) 1,411
112 Syria 1,378
113 Egypt 1,297
114 Azerbaijan 1,279
115 Armenia 1,270
116 Indonesia 1,267
117 Paraguay 1,170
118 Bolivia 1,147
119 Sri Lanka 1,088
120 Philippines 1,079
121 Honduras 1,069
122 Zimbabwe 1,045
123 Guyana 1,035
124 Georgia 927
125 Côte d'Ivoire 886
126 Cameroon 882
127 Bhutan 879
128 Senegal 835
129 Djibouti 824
130 Nicaragua 821
131 Moldova 803
132 Kiribati 768
133 Sudan 718
134 Lesotho 702
135 India 678
136 Papua New Guinea 660
137 Benin 642
138 Chad 637
139 Nigeria 626
140 Comoros 620
141 Pakistan 591
142 Yemen 586
143 Solomon Islands 570
144 Vietnam 566
145 Mongolia 547
146 Zambia 537
147 Mauritania 529
148 Kenya 513
149 Haiti 511
150 Ghana 495
151 Laos 451
152 Burkina Faso 449
153 Kyrgyzstan 444
154 Mali 444
155 São Tomé and Príncipe 419
156 Uzbekistan 419
157 Togo 414
158 Bangladesh 408
159 Guinea 382
160 Central African Republic 371
161 Tajikistan 369
162 East Timor 353
163 Mozambique 343
164 Tanzania 323
165 Cambodia 317
166 Uganda 309
167 The Gambia 305
168 Madagascar 276
169 Niger 268
170 Nepal 247
171 Rwanda 235
172 Guinea-Bissau 229
173 Afghanistan 228[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29_per_capita#fn_Afghanistan)
174 Sierra Leone 208
175 Malawi 164
176 Myanmar 160
177 Eritrea 157
178 Ethiopia 123
179 Democratic Republic of the Congo 116
180 Burundi 106

I've been to a number of countries in that list and, based on the ones I've been to, I'd say the second list is a much more fair reflection of the state of the world in terms of quality of life. PPP appears at first glance to indicate that people in the US are far more productive than people in the UK, but when you look closer at the statistics you see that it's simply the few at the top who distort the picture. There is much less disparity in the UK. I find it funny when people refer to the US as a rich nation when, in my experience, I and my entire family are better off than most Americans I know. I would not consider us to be wealthy.

The US is unique in one regard...healthcare.
Yes the people make more but its not uncommon for a family of 4 to pay up to $1000/mth on healthcare premiums. Prescription costs are unbeleivable, that way so many come up to Canada to get their prescriptions filled.
The #2 reason for personal bankruptcy in the US is due to unpaid medical bills.
In the US there are 45 million with absolutly no health care, another 110 mill are considered seriously under insured.
There are many car plants in Canada and more being built. Why? Because in the US it costs the carmakers more money to provide healthcare for their workers than it does to purchase the steel to make the car.
The gap between the rich and poor in the US is quite gaping and getting much larger especially with the seniors who are finding themselves with no healthcare and astronomically high drug costs.

meh, i belive australia has surpassed canada now in economy, per capita

surpassing gdp per capita by a little diffrence, doesn't make any diffrence. because austrailia's pop is much much smaller than Canada so it should surpass canada in gdp per...
but! i don't think aussies supassed canada already..

US$ 33,170.0
US$34,060.0 (at PPP) Canada http://eb.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=gl_market_glance&country_id=1490000149

US$ 33,250.0
US$30,950.0 (at PPP

Austrailia
http://eb.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=gl_market_glance&country_id=1550000155

in terms of PPP, Canada is still higher than Australia.. but in terms of GDP per nomial, it is slightly smaller than australia.. whatever.. it doesn't make any diffrence though..

Some countries data ( I think this source is the most reliable source i ever seen.. it's just my personal opinion though.. souces from EIU - Economist intelligence unit- ) http://eb.eiu.com/
Of course some data can be wrong.. but most of them are fine..


United Kingdom:
Nomial: US$ 39,020.0
PPP : US$31,520.0

GDP: US$2,342.0bn
US$1,891.8bn (at PPP)


U.S.A
Nomial: US$ 41,860.0
PPP: US$41,860.0

GDP:US$12,379.2bn
US$12,379.2bn (at PPP)


Canada:
Nomial: US$ 33,170.0
PPP: US$34,060.0 (at PPP)

GDP:
US$1,068.6bn
US$1,097.3bn (at PPP)


Germany:
Nomial: US$ 36,590.0
PPP: US$27,990.0 (at PPP)

GDP: US$3,024.0bn
US$2,313.9bn (at PPP)

China:
Nomial: US$ 1,330.0
US$6,400.0 (at PPP)

GDP:US$1,743.3bn
US$8,369.8bn (at PPP)

S.Korea
Nomial: US$ 16,270.0
US$22,620.0 (at PPP)

GDP: US$789.0bn
US$1,096.9bn (at PPP)

Japan
Nomial: US$ 38,570.0
US$29,870.0 (at PPP)

GDP: US$4,914.2bn
US$3,806.2bn (at PPP)


Brazil:
Nomial: US$ 3,970.0
US$8,930.0 (at PPP)

GDP:US$721.1bn
US$1,619.4bn (at PPP)

How rich the nation is has nothing to do with how rich the people are. I live in finland which is behind the us on those lists, but the people here are living under far better conditions that is the us...

^That is just your opinion. Many would say otherwise...especially if they make over $50,000/year.

Usually, the richer the nation, the wealthier the people, and that is the case if you look at the GNI (Gross National Income) statistic in which the US is ahead of Finland.

For those complaining about the statistics, keep in mind that GDP/capita is simply the GDP divided by the population. It is not income, although the higher the GDP per capita usually means a higher income if you were to make a scatter plot. Also, the method of calculating GDP/capita is almost always (and should always be) PPP. PPP exchange rates are used in international comparisons of standard of living. A country's GDP is originally tallied in its local currency, so any comparison between two countries requires converting currency. Comparisons using real exchange rates are considered unrealistic, since they do not reflect price differences between the countries. Therefor anyone wishing to believe that nominal GDP/capita reflects reality needs to realize that it doesn't. This also makes me wonder why such a great publication like the Economist uses nominal and not PPP, when they know its the wrong way for calculating quality of life. Some speculate its just to make the UK "look better" given the 30% overvaluation of the Pound.

[QUOTE=cello1974][QUOTE=willo] Made by THE ECONOMIST


that's just a preview, but it's a serious survey of expected figures. the datas will be near those figures so as i see, there's nothing wrong about taking it as a reference

The fact that your figure greatly undervalues China (like saying its GDP was $1.78 trillion-what a joke!), while greatly overvaluing Europe and Japan, just shows what a joke the specific page is. These statistics that you posted are based on the assumption that the dollar would be at $1.35 compared to the Euro, while the US GDP growth would be 3.1% for 2005 (it will be higher than that). Obvioulsy, it isn't good to predict these kinds of things, as they already got it wrong. Furthermore, I am shocked they are using the market exchange rate for its GDP per capita assesment, when everyone knows that its not a tool used to measuring standard of living, nor for that matter reality, becuase money changes every day without there being a change in the quality of life.

^That and the dollar has steadily been getting stronger against the major currencies so far this year. Last time I checked, it was $1.27 for 1 EUR. The trend downward should continue as long as the FED keeps raising interest rates, the opposite of which was the biggest reason the dollar fell the past three years: The money supply of US dollars was practically obscene.

$1.25 now.

The reason the feds keep having to raise rates is that international investors, for the first time, are truly worried about the US ability to absorb so much new debt.
The US deficits are out of control. The US economy has done well in the last year not because the basic economic foundations are strong but rather they bought thier way out of recession by giving tax cuts that they didn't have the money for. Its a one time injection but already its starting to fad.
Bad fiscal policy by Bush.
Canada has run 8 consequtive balanced budgets and will probably never run a deficit again as it would be political suicide. Our net debt is declining. In 1997 our debt was equal to 78% of gdp..only surpassed by Italy in the G7.
It has plunged due to strong economic growth and not only balanced budgets but also paying off the debt. Our national debt is now down to just 41% of gdp and by 2012 it will be just 25%.
Canada owes less now than it did in 1992 and our tax rates are lower to boot.

The US is in a real quandry thanks to the Republicans and its going to take a lot to get it out. The US also is now facing a huge social security and medicare bill as the boomers retire. Canada increased those fees in 1998 but now the system is on solid footing.
Americans are so offended by paying taxes and constantly want them lowered but then can't figure out why their public and health services are at the botton of the OECD level.
The US has lowered taxes so much that they don't have enough money to pay the bills and are in real trouble in social security for seniors.
The US's day of reckoning is upon them.

The reason the feds keep having to raise rates is that international investors, for the first time, are truly worried about the US ability to absorb so much new debt.
The US deficits are out of control. The US economy has done well in the last year not because the basic economic foundations are strong but rather they bought thier way out of recession by giving tax cuts that they didn't have the money for. Its a one time injection but already its starting to fad.
Bad fiscal policy by Bush.
Canada has run 8 consequtive balanced budgets and will probably never run a deficit again as it would be political suicide. Our net debt is declining. In 1997 our debt was equal to 78% of gdp..only surpassed by Italy in the G7.
It has plunged due to strong economic growth and not only balanced budgets but also paying off the debt. Our national debt is now down to just 41% of gdp and by 2012 it will be just 25%.
Canada owes less now than it did in 1992 and our tax rates are lower to boot.

The US is in a real quandry thanks to the Republicans and its going to take a lot to get it out. The US also is now facing a huge social security and medicare bill as the boomers retire. Canada increased those fees in 1998 but now the system is on solid footing.
Americans are so offended by paying taxes and constantly want them lowered but then can't figure out why their public and health services are at the botton of the OECD level.
The US has lowered taxes so much that they don't have enough money to pay the bills and are in real trouble in social security for seniors.
The US's day of reckoning is upon them.

I will be the first to disagree with what I consider reckless fiscal policy on the part of a GOP controlled Congress, but do realize that most European economies are running debts that are of similar or higher percentages than that of the US, nevermind Japan, which is in debt by 150% of its GDP, and Japan is considered a leading creditor nation. Also, the external debt of the US is running under different circumstances than a lot of other economies. This article from the NY Times two months ago sums it up pretty well:


THE WAY WE LIVE NOW
Our Currency, Your Problem
By NIALL FERGUSON

Published: March 13, 2005

Every congressman knows that the United States currently runs large ''twin deficits'' on its budget and current accounts. Deficit 1, as we well know, is just the difference between federal tax revenues and expenditures. Deficit 2 is generally less well understood: it's the difference between all that Americans earn from foreigners (mainly from exports, services and investments abroad) and all that they pay out to foreigners (for imports, services and loans). When a government runs a deficit, it can tap public savings by selling bonds. But when the economy as a whole is running a deficit -- when American households are saving next to nothing of their disposable income -- there is no option but to borrow abroad.

There was a time when foreign investors were ready and willing to finance the U.S. current account deficit by buying large pieces of corporate America. But that's not the case today. Perhaps the most amazing economic fact of our time is that between 70 and 80 percent of the American economy's vast and continuing borrowing requirement is being met by foreign (mainly Asian) central banks.

Let's translate that into political terms. In effect, the Bush administration's combination of tax cuts for the Republican ''base'' and a Global War on Terror is being financed with a multibillion dollar overdraft facility at the People's Bank of China. Without East Asia, your mortgage might well be costing you more. The toys you buy for your kids certainly would.

Why are the Chinese monetary authorities so willing to underwrite American profligacy? Not out of altruism. The principal reason is that if they don't keep on buying dollars and dollar-based securities as fast as the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury can print them, the dollar could slide substantially against the Chinese renminbi, much as it has declined against the euro over the past three years. Knowing the importance of the U.S. market to their export industries, the Chinese authorities dread such a dollar slide. The effect would be to raise the price, and hence reduce the appeal, of Chinese goods to American consumers -- and that includes everything from my snowproof hiking boots to the modem on my desk. A fall in exports would almost certainly translate into job losses in China at a time when millions of migrants from the countryside are pouring into the country's manufacturing sector.

So when Treasury Secretary John Snow insists that the United States has a ''strong dollar'' policy, what he really means is that the People's Republic of China has a ''weak renminbi'' policy. Sure, this is bad news if you happen to be an American toy manufacturer. But there are three good reasons that the administration is tacitly delighted by the Asian central banks' support. Not only is it keeping the lid on the price of American imports from Asia (a potential source of inflationary pressure). It is also propping up the price of U.S. Treasury bonds; this in turns depresses the yield on those bonds, allowing the federal government to borrow at historically very low rates of interest. Reason No. 3 is that low long-term interest rates keep the Bush recovery jogging along.

Sadly, according to a growing number of eminent economists, this arrangement simply cannot last. The dollar pessimists argue that the Asian central banks are already dangerously overexposed both to the dollar and the U.S. bond market. Sooner or later, they have to get out -- at which point the dollar could plunge relative to Asian currencies by as much as a third or two-fifths, and U.S. interest rates could leap upward. (When the South Korean central bank recently appeared to indicate that it was shifting out of dollars, there was indeed a brief run on the U.S. currency -- until the Koreans hastily issued a denial.)

Are the pessimists right? The U.S. current account deficit is now within sight of 6 percent of G.D.P., and net external debt stands at around 30 percent. The precipitous economic history of Latin America shows that an external-debt burden in excess of 20 percent of G.D.P. is potentially dangerous.

Yet there is one key difference between the United States and the countries south of the Rio Grande. Latin American economies have trouble with their foreign debts because those debts are denominated in foreign currency. The United States' external liabilities, by contrast, are almost entirely denominated in its own currency.

It therefore makes more sense to compare the United States with other members of that exclusive club of countries that have produced -- and hence been able to borrow -- in international currencies. The most obvious analogy that springs to mind is the United Kingdom 60 years ago.

During the Second World War, Britain financed its wartime deficits partly by borrowing substantial amounts of sterling from the colonies and dominions within her empire. And yet by the mid-1950's, these very substantial debts had largely disappeared. Unfortunately, this was partly because the value of sterling itself fell significantly. Moreover, sterling's decline and fall did not reduce the U.K.'s chronic trade deficit, least of all with respect to manufacturing. On the contrary, British industry declined in tandem with the pound's status as a global currency. And, needless to say, the decline of sterling coincided with Britain's decline as an empire.

From an American perspective, all this might seem to suggest worrying parallels. Could our own obligations to foreigners presage not just devaluation but also industrial and imperial decline?

Possibly. Yet there are some pretty important differences between 2005 and 1945. The United States is not in nearly as bad an economic mess as postwar Britain, which also owed large sums in dollars to the United States. The American empire is also in much better shape than the British empire was back in 1945.

Even the gloomiest pessimists accept that a steep dollar depreciation would inflict more suffering on China and other Asian economies than on the United States. John Snow's counterpart in the Nixon administration once told his European counterparts that ''the dollar is our currency, but your problem.'' Snow could say the same to Asians today. If the dollar fell by a third against the renminbi, according to Nouriel Roubini, an economist at New York University, the People's Bank of China could suffer a capital loss equivalent to 10 percent of China's gross domestic product. For that reason alone, the P.B.O.C. has every reason to carry on printing renminbi in order to buy dollars.

Though neither side wants to admit it, today's Sino-American economic relationship has an imperial character. Empires, remember, traditionally collect ''tributes'' from subject peoples. That is how their costs -- in terms of blood and treasure -- can best be justified to the populace back in the imperial capital. Today's ''tribute'' is effectively paid to the American empire by China and other East Asian economies in the form of underpriced exports and low-interest, high-risk loans.

How long can the Chinese go on financing America's twin deficits? The answer may be a lot longer than the dollar pessimists expect. After all, this form of tribute is much less humiliating than those exacted by the last Anglophone empire, which occupied China's best ports and took over the country's customs system (partly in order to flood the country with Indian opium). There was no obvious upside to that arrangement for the Chinese; the growth rate of per capita G.D.P. was probably negative in that era, compared with 8 or 9 percent a year since 1990.

Meanwhile, the United States may be discovering what the British found in their imperial heyday. If you are a truly powerful empire, you can borrow a lot of money at surprisingly reasonable rates. Today's deficits are in fact dwarfed in relative terms by the amounts the British borrowed to finance their Global War on (French) Terror between 1793 and 1815. Yet British long-term rates in that era averaged just 4.77 percent, and the pound's exchange rate was restored to its prewar level within a few years of peace.

It is only when your power wanes -- as the British learned after 1945 -- that owing a fortune in your own currency becomes a real problem. As opposed, that is, to someone else's problem.

--------------------

Owing a lot of money in your own currency is a bit different than owing a lot in the currency of other nations, and the vast majority of US debt is to East Asian economies... debt we will repay back in time as they develop.

The fact that the US is under such debt and still manages to have a currency that's fallen only 30% in the last 3 years and is back up about 10% so far this year speaks volumes about the nature of the beast. The foundations of the US economy can handle so much debt because they are strong. Their possession of US treasury bonds means we have a future advantage in being able to pay back our debts to them in high-tech and heavy-industry exports that they do not have the capacity to produce, things such as airplanes, steel, etc. In fact, we're already beginning to do that, which is one reason for April's big decline in the US trade deficit. Now whether that will continue throughout the year is anyone's guess... we'll have to wait and see. But I'd bet on the gamble paying off.

There is also a crapload of US dollars in reserve overseas... another reason for the relatively weak dollar at the moment. Of something like $700 billion of currency circulating around right now, $500 billion of it is overseas.

The reason the feds keep having to raise rates is that international investors, for the first time, are truly worried about the US ability to absorb so much new debt.
The US deficits are out of control. The US economy has done well in the last year not because the basic economic foundations are strong but rather they bought thier way out of recession by giving tax cuts that they didn't have the money for. Its a one time injection but already its starting to fad.
Bad fiscal policy by Bush.
Canada has run 8 consequtive balanced budgets and will probably never run a deficit again as it would be political suicide. Our net debt is declining. In 1997 our debt was equal to 78% of gdp..only surpassed by Italy in the G7.
It has plunged due to strong economic growth and not only balanced budgets but also paying off the debt. Our national debt is now down to just 41% of gdp and by 2012 it will be just 25%.
Canada owes less now than it did in 1992 and our tax rates are lower to boot.

The US is in a real quandry thanks to the Republicans and its going to take a lot to get it out. The US also is now facing a huge social security and medicare bill as the boomers retire. Canada increased those fees in 1998 but now the system is on solid footing.
Americans are so offended by paying taxes and constantly want them lowered but then can't figure out why their public and health services are at the botton of the OECD level.
The US has lowered taxes so much that they don't have enough money to pay the bills and are in real trouble in social security for seniors.
The US's day of reckoning is upon them.

Actually, tax revenues have increased since tax cuts have been implemented. The budget deficit is a result of a lot more spending as a result of Bush's ambitious spending, which included huge boosts for the military, education, business programs, R&D, security, and even things like public healthcare (a big surprise to many). I am glad he passed the tax cuts, because otherwise we would be have been in a recession much longer. Sure we now have a deficit, but as a % of our economy, its no worse than many other countries, including rich ones.