Per capita income
The
per capita income for a group of people may be defined as their
total personal income, divided by the total population. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year.
Per capita
income is often used as a measure of the wealth of the population of a nation, particularly in comparison to other nations. It is usually expressed in terms of a commonly-used international currency such as the
Euro or
United States dollar, and is useful because it is widely known and produces a straightforward statistic for comparison.
Particularly when comparing countries with substantially different levels of wealth, however, it has several weaknesses as a measurement.
* Economic activity that does not result in monetary income, such as services provided within the family, or for barter, are usually not counted. The importance of these services will vary widely between different economies, both between countries and among different groups within a country.
See: Informal economy* Per capita income gives no indication of the distribution of that income within the country, so a small wealthy class can increase the measured per-capita income far above that of the majority of the population.
See: Income inequality metrics* Differing currency
exchange rates between countries mean that a given amount of money (for example, one US dollar) has differing values in different places.
See: Purchasing powerData on Per capita income based on a country's
total personal income is very difficult to find.
Much more commonly used due to its availability is the
Gross domestic product (GDP).
Total personal income is lower than the Gross domestic income.
A list of the top ten countries, and the lowest-ranking country, by GDP per capita (in terms of
Purchasing Power Parity, or PPP):
| 1. | Luxembourg | 69,800 | | 2. | Norway | 42,364 |
| 3. | United States | 41,399 |
| 4. | Ireland | 40,610 |
| 5. | Iceland | 35,586 |
| 6. | Denmark | 34,737 |
| 7. | Canada | 34,273 |
| 8. | Austria | 33,615 |
| 9. | Hong Kong, SAR | 33,411 |
| 10. | Switzerland | 32,571 |
| 192. | East Timor | 400 |
''Sources:
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database, April 2006 [
1]
A
complete list of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita*
List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita - GDP at market or government official exchange rates per inhabitant
*
List of countries by GDP (nominal) - GDP with currencies converted at market exchange rates
*
List of countries by GDP (PPP) - GDP calculated at
purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rates
*
Lending*
Personal per capita income*
Purchasing power parity* http://web.worldbank.org/servlets/ECR?contentMDK=20421402&sitePK=239419
* http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2005/02/data/index.htm
