Business

These are the wealthiest countries in the world

The September 17 and 18 curves are seen on the board at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Sydney September 18, 2008. Australian shares extended their losses to 4 percent in afternoon trade on Thursday, as investors continued to dump financial stocks on concerns about who could be the next victim of the global credit crisis. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz (AUSTRALIA) - RTR220CR

Some of the smallest countries in the world continue to dominate the list of the world's richest countries Image: REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

Barbara Tasch

Some of the smallest countries in the world continue to dominate the list of the world's richest countries, an analysis by Global Finance Magazine shows.

The ranking was published in February 2017 and based on data from the International Monetary Fund.

The magazine ranked the world's countries according to their gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita.

The PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of the countries to compare living standards among the different nations.

The small countries that dominate the top ten all have small populations compared to countries that lead the world purely in terms of GDP — such as the United States, China, or Germany.

Most of these small nations heavily depend on immigrant workers who often do not reside in the country they are working in or are not granted resident status, and are therefore not counted in the GDP per capita calculations.

15 of the 30 richest countries in the world are in Europe, while big some big economies such as the US, Japan, and Canada also made the cut.

The GDP per capita listed represents the amount of wealth produced in 2016 and is expressed in international dollars.

30. Japan — GDP per capita: $38,893 (£31,732)

29. Finland — GDP per capita: $41,812 (£34,114)

28. France — GDP per capita: $42,384 (£34,581)

27. United Kingdom — GDP per capita: $42,513 (£34,686)

26. Oman — GDP per capita: $43,737 (£35,685)

25. Belgium — GDP per capita: $44,881 (£36,618)

24. Canada — GDP per capita: $46,239 (£37,726)

23. Denmark — GDP per capita: $46,602 (£38,022)

22. Taiwan — GDP per capita: $47,790 (£38,991)

21. Austria — GDP per capita: $47,856 (£39,045)

20. Iceland — GDP per capita: $48,070 (£39,220)

19. Germany — GDP per capita: $48,189 (£39,317)

18. Australia — GDP per capita: $48,806 (£39,820)

17. Sweden — GDP per capita: $49,678 (£40,532)

16. Bahrain — GDP per capita: $50,302 (£41,041)

15. The Netherlands — GDP per capita: $50,846 (£41,485)

14. Saudi Arabia — GDP per capita: $54,078 (£44,122)

13. United States — GDP per capita: $57,293 (£46,745)

12. Hong Kong — GDP per capita: $58,094 (£47,375)

11. Switzerland — GDP per capita: $59,375 (£48,420)

10. San Marino — GDP per capita: $64,443 (£52,553)

9. United Arab Emirates — GDP per capita: $67,696 (£55,206)

8. Norway — GDP per capita: $69,296 (£56,510)

7. Ireland — GDP per capita: $69,374 (£56,574)

6. Kuwait — GDP per capita: $71,263 (£58,114)

5. Brunei — GDP per capita: $79,710 (£65,003)

4. Singapore — GDP per capita: $87,082 (£71,015)

3. Macao — GDP per capita: $96,147 (£78,407)

2. Luxembourg — GDP per capita: $101,936 (£83,128)

1. Qatar — GDP per capita: $129,726 (£105,791)

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