In its latest report on relative levels of wealth and poverty released on Dec. 21 titled “Richest Countries in the World 2023,” Global Finance listed both Singapore and Norway in the top ten out of 193 countries.
The top ten goes as following:
- Ireland
- Luxembourg
- Singapore
- Qatar
- Macau
- UAE
- Switzerland
- Norway
- The U.S
- San Marino
If it confuses you that Ireland and Luxembourg take the first places, you might want to take this into account:
How does it make sense?
“If we simply consider a nation’s gross domestic product—the sum of all goods and services produced by a country during one year—then we would have to conclude that the richest nations are exactly the ones with the largest GDP: United States, China, Japan, Germany,” Global Finance writes.
“But how could the economies, for example, of Singapore or Luxembourg ever match that of such powerhouses when they are no more than small dots on the world map?”
Therefore, Global Finances tries not just to measure in per capita GDP, but is also adjusting it for purchasing power parity (PPP) to take in account of inflation rates and the price of goods and services in local places. Because they believe income inequality should also be considered before declaring a country rich only based on the GDP.
Global Finance gathered the data used in the report from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook, April 2023.
