Richest Countries in the World

As more and more wealth is induced in the world, most of it gets concentrated with the richest men and the richest government in the world. It is very surprising to know that some of the smallest countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Luxembourg are among the top 10 richest nations in the world. It is because these countries, despite being the tiniest, have developed a sophisticated and well-organized financial as well as beneficiary taxation system that attracts a lot of international investors, professional talents and tourism in their country. Some of the other 10 richest countries have abundant natural resources like hydrocarbons and lucrative resources that bring them a lot of international investments. Some of the countries are Brunei and Qatar. The total gross domestic product of all the countries around the globe for which the data are available sums up to $116.7 trillion among which as much as $93 trillion is concentrated among the top 25 richest countries of the world.

It is very difficult to relatively measure the wealth that each country possesses because of the increasing inequality between the growing and concentrating incomes of the rich versus the other communities and the countries. The most effective scale that has been developed to calculate the wealth a country possesses is taking into consideration the gross domestic product (GDP) that actually measures the monetary values of total goods and services produced within the country and dividing it by the total residence of the country. This actually determines the economical status of an individual citizen of the country as compared to others. Thus for the small countries that are among the ten richest countries are justified with their high economics as compared with their very small population. According to the GDP, it has been estimated that the per capita purchasing capacity of the 10 poorest countries is less than $1200 whereas for the 10 richest countries is $80,000. 

Economical tools to indicate top 10 richest nations in the world

The two most important tools to determine the inflow and the concentration of wealth in a particular country are Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is considered as the conventional method to calculate the wealth of the country. But a more accurate tool to measure the economics of the country is Gross national income (GNI). Now, GDP is the monetary measurement of all the goods and services that are established in a particular country at a specific period of time. Though it does not indicate the inflation rate of the country or the difference in the cost of living.  Thus GDP is the ideal economical tool to measure the size of the economy. GDP is a combined value of all the country or a region or a group of many countries like that of the European Union. Thus GDP can simply be explained as the total value added that is created within the country the gross value added can be expressed as the total goods and services that are produced within the country minus the value of the goods and the services that were required to create them. Therefore such goods and services are also termed intermediate goods in economics. Another important point that should always be taken into account while comparing the GDP of one country with another is that it does not indicate the positive social or environmental growth of the country along with its economic growth. Thus simple GDP or nominal GDP can only showcase differentiation among the economic values of the nations at the international market but in order to understand the standard of living of a nation the base of the GDP per capita at the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is a more precise and accurate measuring tool.

Though GDP is helpful in estimating the total size of the economy of the country or a region’s economy but does not estimate the total wealth generated within that country. Thus for a more accurate estimation of the wealth generated in the country and standard of living of the residence of that country is determined by Gross National Income (GNI). GNI is cumulative of all the economic activities that take place inside the country in addition to the wealth generated by the economic firms that are owned by the country and are operating within the country. The Gross National Income is also inclusive of the gross domestic products produced by the nation as well as the income inflow from the foreign countries in the form of foreign investments. According to the per capita, GNI set by calculating with the World Bank Atlas Method, the countries that fall up to $1045 as per capita GNI falls in the lower-middle-income country, the countries that fall between $1045 to $4095 as per capita GNI falls in the higher-middle-income country and the countries that fall between $4096 to $12695 as per capita GNI falls in the higher-income country category as per the fiscal year 2020. 

Thus by comparing the per capita GNI report of 200 countries that was provided by the world bank, it has been concluded that among all the 200 nations that are studied, 25 countries fall under the top richest countries as per the GNI measurement. Out of those top 25 richest countries this particular article deals in the top 10 richest countries in the world.       

List of top 10 richest countries in the world

The list of the 10 richest countries in the world according to the GDP-PPP report is as follows:

But, The list of the 10 richest countries in the world according to the GDP per capita report is as follows:

Describing top 10 richest countries

1. Luxembourg: It is a European nation that shares its boundary with Belgium and falls on the western part of the European continent. The total population of Luxembourg is about 625,000. It has a high-income economy with a stable economic market. Most of the money that is induced in the country is put for better medical services, Educational centres and better housing. Thus the standard of living of the people of the country is considered highest among other European countries.

2. Singapore: Singapore falls in southern Asia and is an island-city state also known as the Republic of Singapore. It is the second biggest foreign investor in India. Singapore has the maximum number of billionaires in the world. A restauranter named Zang Young has a net worth of $23 billion followed by a paint company that stands second with a net worth of $21.7 billion that was founded by Cheng Liang is 93 years old now. The third place is taken by the co-founder of Facebook named Eduardo Saverin with a net worth of $17 billion. 

3. Ireland: It is the third-largest island of the European continent and the second-largest among the European Isles. This country has been witnessing the highest growth rate among all other European countries. In the year 2019, when the Eurozone was declared to have an overall growth of 1.9%, this country alone had a growth rate of 5.9% and since then it is also marked as the highest growing nation in the world. 

4. Qatar: Qatar is a small country among the middle eastern nationals and Doha is the capital of Qatar. The economy of the entire country depends upon its export of crude oil and is considered the richest country in respect to per capita GDP. 

5. Switzerland: Many of the world’s biggest inventions starting from swiss watches to swiss knives to chocolates, immersion blenders, velcro, LSD and many more are presented to the world by Switzerland. It has a population of 8.6 million and has its maximum wealth generated from its banks and insurance companies. Other than that the second largest contributor to their per capita GDP is its massive tourism framework. This country has the highest densities for millionaires as among 100,000 residents approximately 9428 are billionaires that make it 11.8% billionaires considering the adult population of the country. 

6. Norway: Norway is a European country with a population of more than 5 million people and is considered among the top 10 richest countries based on both the GDP per capita as well as GDP-PPP scale. Post the year the 1960s, when a large offshore reserve of oil was discovered throughout the country it became one of the largest petroleum exporters in the world. With the steep rise in the price of petroleum over the years, its economy also fueled but its economy witnessed a drop of 2.5% in GNI in the year 2020.

7. United States: Only on the basis of GDP-PPP or Gross National Income the United States is considered one of the top 10 richest countries in the world but according to GDP, it does not make it to the list of top 10 richest countries in the world.

8.  Brunei: Brunei has a population of 40,000 and has been on the list of the top 10 richest countries in the world because of the production of natural gas and crude oil that makes about 90% of their total GDP. 

9. Hong Kong: Hong Kong is the tiniest island having a total territory including its boundaries is about 1104 sq. kilometres and has a population of 7 million. It is considered as the extended administrative territory of China that has become the centre of the top financial centre of India. A low taxation system, no capital gain, no inheritance levies, no tax on import-export goods and full ownership of the business of the foreigners who do not hold the citizenship of Hong Kong has made it one of the richest investment centres in Asia.

10. Denmark:  Like the United States, only on the basis of GDP-PPP or Gross National Income Denmark is considered as one of the top 10 richest countries in the world but according to GDP, it does not make it to the list of top 10 richest countries in the world.