Output per Person in 2026: How 190 Economies Compare on GDP per Capita

GDP per capita by country: what the IMF October 2026 data show

GDP per capita divides the value of everything an economy produces in a year by the number of people who live there. It is the standard single measure of average output per person, and the closest thing to a common yardstick for comparing living standards across 190 economies with different currencies, sizes and price levels. This page uses the October 2026 edition of the International Monetary Fund database as its main source because it is the only official dataset that combines actual figures for 2025 with projections for 2026 for almost every economy, on both a market exchange rate basis and a purchasing power parity basis.

Two years appear throughout. The 2026 figures are IMF staff projections, made with data available up to 1 October 2026, and they will change when the year ends and national statistics offices publish their results. The 2025 figures are the latest year of actual national accounts data for most economies; where the IMF lists an earlier year as the latest actual year, the 2025 value is an IMF estimate and is marked as such in the tables. Total output rather than output per person is ranked in our list of the countries with the largest GDP worldwide, and annual growth rates are covered in our report on the world GDP growth rate.

The spread is enormous. Output per person in Liechtenstein is 452 times that of Burundi at market exchange rates, and even after adjusting for the much lower prices in poor countries the gap is 191 times. Half of the 190 economies in the ranking produce less than about 9,700 dollars per person in 2026, while 23 economies produce more than 60,000 dollars. Most of the very rich economies are small: of the 25 highest values, only the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have more than 25 million people. For the populations behind these averages, see our world population figures.

The 25 highest GDP per capita economies in 2026, at market exchange rates

At market exchange rates, the top of the 2026 ranking is led by Liechtenstein (230,417 dollars), Luxembourg (155,733 dollars), Ireland (127,837 dollars) and Switzerland (124,478 dollars). Norway, Singapore and Iceland all exceed 100,000 dollars. The United States is 8th at 95,212 dollars, followed by Denmark (82,714 dollars) and the Netherlands (78,535 dollars). Germany is the highest-ranked large European economy, 17th at 65,699 dollars, and the United Kingdom is 20th at 61,108 dollars.

Small and rich: 20 of the top 25 economies have fewer than 25 million people. The United States, 8th, is the only economy with more than 100 million people in the top 25.

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database, October 2026. 2025 values rounded to the nearest 10 dollars. Change is a BusinessStats calculation. The 2025 basis shows whether the IMF records 2025 as an actual year for that economy.

The order changes noticeably between 2025 and 2026. Norway is projected to rise from 94,360 dollars to 115,188 dollars, an increase of 22.1 percent in dollar terms that moves it from 7th to 5th. Israel gains 18.9 percent and Australia 13.2 percent. Qatar is the only economy in the top 25 projected to fall, from 67,890 dollars to 63,634 dollars. Moves of this size in a single year mostly reflect exchange rates and commodity prices rather than changes in how much each worker produces, which is why rankings built on dollar values can shift even when the underlying economies grow steadily.

Why Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Ireland top the table

The very top of any GDP per capita ranking says as much about how the statistic is built as about living standards. GDP counts output produced inside a territory, but the population count only includes residents. Liechtenstein and Luxembourg both employ large numbers of cross-border commuters who live in neighbouring countries. Their work adds to GDP while they are left out of the denominator, which raises output per resident well above what residents themselves earn.

Ireland is a different case. Many large multinational companies hold intellectual property and book profits in Ireland, which inflates measured GDP. For this reason the Central Statistics Office of Ireland publishes a separate measure, modified gross national income, which strips out these effects. The size of the effect shows up in the data: the World Bank records Irish GDP per capita at 131,592 dollars for 2025, while the IMF records 123,790 dollars, and both values can move by tens of thousands of dollars when a few companies change where they record profits.

Singapore, Switzerland and Hong Kong combine high productivity with roles as financial and trading centres, while Macao depends heavily on its casino and tourism sector, which is why its figures fell sharply during the pandemic and have since recovered to 77,049 dollars for 2026. For a broader comparison of national wealth that also looks at total GDP and assets, see our overview of the richest countries in the world.

Adjusting for prices: the top 25 at purchasing power parity

Purchasing power parity converts national currencies with rates that equalise the cost of a common basket of goods and services, rather than with market exchange rates. The result is expressed in international dollars, which by construction buy as much in each country as a US dollar buys in the United States. On this basis the 2026 ranking is led by Liechtenstein (198,990 international dollars), Singapore (176,930), Luxembourg (156,640), Ireland (149,640) and Macao SAR (141,440).

Prices reshuffle the order: Singapore moves from 6th to 2nd, while Taiwan Province of China, Guyana and Brunei enter the top 11, none of which is in the nominal top 25.

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database, October 2026. Values rounded to the nearest 10 international dollars. Nominal ranks are among the 190 economies with a 2026 figure.

Three groups gain most from the price adjustment. The first is East Asian economies with relatively low domestic prices: Taiwan Province of China rises from 31st on the nominal ranking to 9th at 103,740 international dollars. The second is Gulf and other resource producers with low local costs, including Qatar (103,800), Brunei (98,030), the United Arab Emirates (83,700) and Saudi Arabia, which is 26th at 74,290 international dollars. The third is Guyana, where the oil sector has lifted output per person to 98,910 international dollars in 2026, up from 79,790 in 2025.

Economies with very high prices move the other way. Switzerland drops from 4th to 7th because its PPP value (106,940) is below its nominal value (124,478 dollars), and Iceland falls from 7th to 18th. Australia also has a PPP value slightly below its nominal value. Only 12 of the 190 economies have a PPP figure below their dollar figure, among them Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Iceland, Australia and Israel, meaning that their price levels are above those of the United States.

The gap between nominal and PPP GDP per capita, explained

Nominal GDP per capita answers the question of what a country produces per person when valued at the exchange rate in currency markets. It is the right measure for comparing what an economy can buy from the rest of the world, such as imported machinery, oil or foreign debt service. PPP GDP per capita answers a different question: how much a country produces per person if goods and services are valued at the same prices everywhere. It is the better guide to the volume of goods and services that residents can use, because haircuts, rents, transport and food are far cheaper in low-income countries.

The ratio between the two values is effectively a price-level indicator. A ratio of 1.0 means prices are similar to those in the United States; a ratio above 1.0 means local prices are lower. Among G20 members in 2026 the ratio ranges from 1.0 for the United States and Australia to 4.73 for India, where 2,750 dollars of nominal output per person corresponds to 13,000 international dollars. Indonesia has a ratio of 3.70, Russia 2.64, China 2.07 and Brazil 1.98. In Western Europe the ratio is smaller: 1.12 for the United Kingdom, 1.20 for Germany and 1.34 for France.

Price levels close the gap: the United States produces 34.6 times as much per person as India at market exchange rates, but 7.3 times as much once prices are taken into account.

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database, October 2026. 2026 values are projections. Ranks are among 190 economies with a 2026 figure; exact positions below 100th are not shown because a few economies are missing from the ranking. 2025 nominal and all PPP values rounded to the nearest 10 dollars. India data are on a fiscal year basis (April to March). Ratios are BusinessStats calculations.

Where the largest economies rank: US, China, India, Germany, Japan and the UK

United States: 95,212 dollars, 8th

The United States is the only large economy near the top. Its GDP per capita is projected at 95,212 dollars in 2026, up 5.5 percent from 90,270 dollars in 2025, which puts it 8th in nominal terms and 12th at PPP. Because PPP values are expressed in US prices, the two US figures are identical by construction. Among economies with more than 20 million people, only Australia (75,172 dollars) comes within 25,000 dollars of the United States. The national accounts detail behind the US figure, including the quarterly path of output in 2026, is covered in our report on the GDP of the United States.

China: 15,371 dollars, 77th

China is projected at 15,371 dollars per person in 2026, up 10.0 percent from 13,970 dollars in 2025, and 31,790 international dollars at PPP. That places it 77th in nominal terms, just below Malaysia (15,981 dollars) and Argentina (16,021 dollars) and above Brazil (12,397 dollars). US output per person is 6.2 times that of China at market exchange rates but 3.0 times at PPP. With 1.4 billion people, China combines the second-largest total economy with a per capita level close to the global middle; its population trend is covered in our data on the total population of China.

India: 2,750 dollars, bottom quarter

India is projected at 2,750 dollars per person for the fiscal year 2026/27 and 13,000 international dollars at PPP, up from 2,670 and 11,850 the year before. The IMF presents Indian data on a fiscal year basis running from April to March. India sits in the bottom quarter of the nominal ranking, below Kenya (2,785 dollars) and above Laos (2,331 dollars), and its nominal value is 18 percent of China. Its PPP ratio of 4.73 is the highest in the G20, which reflects how low domestic prices are compared with the United States.

Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom

Germany leads the large European economies at 65,699 dollars in 2026 (17th) and 78,660 international dollars at PPP (22nd), and our report on the GDP of Germany has the national detail. The United Kingdom follows at 61,108 dollars (20th) and 68,480 international dollars. Japan is projected at 35,400 dollars, 44th, down 2.0 percent from 36,120 dollars in 2025 and the only G20 member whose dollar value falls in 2026. At PPP, Japan reaches 59,710 international dollars, so the weakness of the dollar figure mainly reflects the exchange rate of the yen rather than a fall in output. South Korea is projected at 43,512 dollars, overtaking Japan by more than 8,000 dollars in nominal terms, while also ranking higher at PPP (70,250 against 59,710). UK population figures are in our UK population data.

The 10 lowest GDP per capita economies

At the other end of the ranking, 12 economies are projected to produce less than 1,000 dollars per person in 2026, and all of them are in Africa or the Middle East. Burundi has the lowest value at 510 dollars, followed by Yemen (567 dollars), Sudan (597 dollars), South Sudan (642 dollars) and Madagascar (649 dollars). Mozambique, Malawi, Niger, Somalia and the Central African Republic complete the bottom 10.

Under 1.40 dollars a day: output per person of 510 dollars a year in Burundi is the lowest in the IMF database for 2026.

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database, October 2026. 2026 values are projections. Values under 1,000 dollars are rounded to the nearest dollar; PPP values to the nearest 10.

Most of the economies at the bottom are affected by conflict or severe instability, and several have not published recent national accounts. The IMF lists 2019 as the latest actual year for Sudan and 2022 for the Central African Republic, so their recent figures rely heavily on estimates. On a PPP basis the bottom 10 is similar, with Burundi lowest at 1,040 international dollars, followed by Yemen (1,570), South Sudan (1,580), Mozambique (1,720) and Malawi (1,820). Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo enter the PPP bottom 10, while Sudan and Niger leave it.

The figures for the poorest economies are also the most sensitive to the exchange rate used. The World Bank records Burundi at 234 dollars per person for 2025, while the IMF records 469 dollars for the same year, about twice as much. In countries where official and market exchange rates have differed widely, the choice of conversion rate can halve or double the dollar figure, so values below 1,000 dollars should be read as broad orders of magnitude rather than precise comparisons.

How 190 economies are spread across income bands

Grouping the 2026 values into bands shows how uneven the distribution is. 64 economies, a third of the total, produce less than 5,000 dollars per person. 48 are between 5,000 and 14,999 dollars, a group that includes Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia. 31 are between 15,000 and 29,999 dollars, including China, Mexico, Russia and Turkiye. Only 47 economies, a quarter of the total, produce 30,000 dollars or more per person.

A world of low averages: 112 of 190 economies, 59 percent, produce less than 15,000 dollars per person, while 23 produce 60,000 dollars or more.

The counts describe economies, not people. Several of the most populous countries, including India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, are below 6,000 dollars per person, so the share of the world population living in low-output economies is much larger than the count of economies suggests. The global average reported by the World Bank, 14,406 dollars for 2025, is pulled up by a small number of large high-income economies.

How GDP per capita changed from 2015 to 2025 in major economies

Comparing 2015 with 2025, the latest actual year for most economies, shows which large economies gained ground over the decade. In nominal dollars the largest increases among the ten economies below were in Russia (up 91.3 percent, from 9,337 to 17,864 dollars), China (up 71.3 percent, from 8,154 to 13,970 dollars) and India (up 70.2 percent, from 1,569 to 2,670 dollars). US GDP per capita rose 58.3 percent, from 57,007 to 90,267 dollars, more than in any other advanced economy in the group.

Japan stood still in dollars: Japanese GDP per capita was 35,711 dollars in 2015 and 36,119 dollars in 2025, up 1.1 percent, while at PPP it rose 41.7 percent.

Source: IMF World Economic Outlook database, October 2026. Current prices, not adjusted for inflation. Percent changes are BusinessStats calculations.

The two measures tell different stories. In nominal dollars, exchange rates dominate: the yen, the won and the real weakened against the dollar over the decade, so Japan (up 1.1 percent), Brazil (up 20.1 percent) and South Korea (up 20.7 percent) show small gains, and the UK (up 27.5 percent) was held back by a weaker pound. At PPP, which removes exchange rate swings, China (up 127.2 percent) and India (up 127.1 percent) more than doubled, Russia rose 101.0 percent, and every economy in the group gained at least 41 percent.

Neither measure is adjusted for inflation, so part of every increase reflects higher prices: PPP values are in current international dollars, which carry US inflation. The ranking of growth is still informative. Over the decade China and India closed part of the gap with the advanced economies, while Germany (up 45.1 percent in dollars and 46.7 percent at PPP) grew more slowly than the United States on both measures. Price trends that drive these nominal figures are tracked in our report on global inflation.

Cross-check: IMF and World Bank figures for 2025

The World Bank publishes its own GDP per capita series in the World Development Indicators. Its 2025 data were released in July 2026, three months before the IMF October database, and the two sources usually agree within a few percent for large economies. The table compares both for the latest actual year.

Sources: World Bank, World Development Indicators, NY.GDP.PCAP.CD, via the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), updated July 2026; IMF World Economic Outlook database, October 2026 (rounded to the nearest 10 dollars). Differences are BusinessStats calculations.

For nine of the eleven economies the difference is 2.1 percent or less, including India, where the IMF uses fiscal years. The exceptions are Ireland, where the IMF value is 5.9 percent lower, and Burundi, where the IMF value is double that of the World Bank. Differences arise because the two institutions use different data vintages, population estimates and, in a few countries, different exchange rates. When citing a figure, name the source and the edition, and do not mix World Bank and IMF values in one ranking.

The World Bank also publishes a world aggregate, which the IMF database does not provide as GDP per capita in dollars. World GDP per capita was 14,406 dollars in 2025, up 5.0 percent from 13,717 dollars in 2024 and 41.3 percent above the 2015 level of 10,192 dollars. Since 2010 the series has fallen twice: in 2015, a year of sharp dollar appreciation, and in 2020, during the pandemic.

Up 41 percent in ten years: global output per person rose from 10,192 dollars in 2015 to 14,406 dollars in 2025, with the only fall since 2015 coming in 2020.

Against this world average, the United States produces 6.2 times as much per person (World Bank, 2025) and China slightly less than the average at 13,862 dollars. A comparison of exchange rate reserves, which influence how currencies move against the dollar, is available in our data on foreign exchange reserves worldwide, and the emerging economy group is profiled in our report on BRICS countries.

How the figures are produced, and notes on the data

The IMF World Economic Outlook database is compiled twice a year by IMF staff from national statistics, IMF country reports and staff projections. The October 2026 edition covers 197 economies, 42 of them classed as advanced economies. GDP per capita in US dollars (indicator NGDPDPC) is GDP in national currency converted at market exchange rates and divided by population. GDP per capita at PPP (indicator PPPPC) uses PPP conversion factors based on the 2021 International Comparison Program, introduced in the database in October 2024. For projections, the IMF assumes that real effective exchange rates stay at their average level of 31 July to 28 August 2026.

GDP per capita by country in eight numbers

Questions about GDP per capita by country