GDP Per Capita

Raw GDP numbers mislead without context. China's GDP is enormous, but divided among 1.4 billion people, the per-person figure tells a different story. GDP per capita reveals average economic output per citizen.

Luxembourg consistently tops the rankings, largely because its financial sector generates massive output with a small population. Even so, an average can hide deep gaps between rich and poor.

Economists increasingly use purchasing power parity to compare countries fairly. A dollar buys far more in Mumbai than in Manhattan, so raw exchange-rate comparisons distort the picture of real living standards.