The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a list of the world's 10 richest countries, based on gross domestic product (GDP), per capita income, and purchasing power of the people.
Luxembourg, a small European country, tops the list. The country, which has an area of just 2,586 square kilometers, has a per capita income of $140,312.
Luxembourg is followed by the following on the IMF list:
Ireland—Per capita income $117,988
Switzerland—Per capita income $110,251
Norway — Per capita income $102,465
Singapore - Per capita income $91,733
Iceland — Per capita income $87,875
Qatar - Per capita income $84,906
United States - Per capita income $83,066
Denmark — Per capita income $72,940
Macau SAR— Per capita income $70,135
The main indicator for measuring a country's economic development is gross domestic product, or GDP. This is basically a comprehensive account of the annual production of goods and services in a country. Dividing this account by the total population of the country gives the country's per capita income.
However, in this IMF list, importance is given to the average purchasing power of the people in addition to per capita income.
The IMF's list of the top richest countries comes in two forms - annual and quarterly. The list that the IMF released on Wednesday is quarterly.
