The Richest Countries in the World 2022

August 10, 2022

Last Updated date: August 10, 2022

luxembourg city — Adolphe Bridge, Luxembourg city. Photo: Collected

As it does every year, Global Finance has released its list of the 10 richest countries in the world. We might have expected to see some of the “most powerful” countries on the list, but in reality, the top is dominated by small countries with strong financial sectors and other things that bring in a lot of money.

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Here is where we can ask ourselves what makes a country “rich”. Global Finance answers the question: “Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value of all goods and services produced in a country. However, dividing this value by the number of full-time residents is a better way to compare how rich or poor the population of one country is to that of another.” In the case of this year’s list, they say, the link between wealth and a small area is that the economies of these small countries are bigger than their populations.

When inflation is taken into account, the study looks at purchasing power parity (PPP). But this doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone in the countries at the top of the list has a lot of money. It’s also possible that a lot of the money belongs to the wealthy elites and that some people are struggling to keep their finances stable.

In fact, the study shows that many of the countries on the list mostly in Europe and Asia are tax havens. This means that their wealth comes from other countries, but the implications and legal practices end up making their GDP go up.

For example, Luxembourg is at the top of the list. It is known as a tax haven, and accounts can be opened in its banks from outside the country. Even so, it is a popular tourist destination because of its castles and high quality of life for its citizens. It was also one of the countries that weren’t as badly affected by the Covid pandemic.

Singapore is also a tax haven because capital gains and dividends are not taxed there. This is one reason why Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook, moved his money there and is now the second richest man in the world. The city is growing a lot and is becoming a major financial hub.

The rest of the list has countries with similar situations: there are financial opportunities that allow entrepreneurs and multinational companies to take advantage of how they see taxes and end up making investments. Most of the time, this helps local business owners more than regular people.

Here is a list of the 10 richest countries in the world 2022:

Luxembourg

GDP-PPP per capita: $140,694

Singapore

GDP-PPP per capita: $131,580

Ireland

GDP-PPP per capita: $124,596

Qatar

GDP-PPP per capita: $112,789

Macao SAR

GDP-PPP per capita: $85,611

Switzerland

GDP-PPP per capita: $84,658

United Arab Emirates

GDP-PPP per capita: $78,255

Norway

GDP-PPP per capita: $77,808

United States

GDP-PPP per capita: $76,027

Brunei Darussalam

GDP-PPP per capita: $74,953

The table of the World’s Richest Countries 2022 below:

World’s Richest Countries 2022

Rank	Country	GDP-PPP per capita ($)
1	Luxembourg	140,694
2	Singapore	131,580
3	Ireland	124,596
4	Qatar	112,789
5	Macao SAR	85,611
6	Switzerland	84,658
7	United Arab Emirates	78,255
8	Norway	77,808
9	United States	76,027
10	Brunei Darussalam	74,953
11	Hong Kong SAR	70,448
12	San Marino	70,139
13	Denmark	69,273
14	Taiwan Province of China	68,730
15	Netherlands	68,572
16	Austria	64,571
17	Iceland	64,621
18	Andorra	63,600
19	Germany	63,271
20	Sweden	62926
21	Australia	61,941
22	Belgium	61,587
23	Finland	58,010
24	Canada	57,812
25	Bahrain	57,424
26	France	56,036
27	Saudi Arabia	55,368
28	United Kingdom	55,301
29	Malta	54,647
30	South Korea	53,051
31	Kuwait	50,919
32	New Zealand	50,411
33	Italy	50,216
34	Israel	50,204
35	Japan	48,814
36	Slovenia	48,534
37	Cyprus	48,443
38	Czech Republic	47527
39	Lithuania	46,479
40	Spain	46,413
41	Estonia	44,778
42	Puerto Rico	42,759
43	Poland	41,685
44	Hungary	40,944
45	Portugal	40,805
46	The Bahamas	40,274
47	Aruba	39,508
48	Slovak Republic	38,620
49	Guyana	38,258
50	Turkey	37,488
51	Latvia	37,330
52	Romania	36,622
53	Croatia	36,201
54	Panama	36,085
55	Greece	35,596
56	Oman	35,286
57	Seychelles	35,272
58	Malaysia	32,901
59	Kazakhstan	30,502
60	Russia	30,013
61	Trinidad and Tobago	29,884
62	Maldives	29,133
63	Bulgaria	29,593
64	Chile	28,526
65	St. Kitts and Nevis	27,608
66	Uruguay	26,663
67	Argentina	25,882
68	Mauritius	25,043
69	Montenegro	24,878
70	Costa Rica	24,490
71	Dominican Republic	23,983
72	Serbia	23,904
73	Mexico	22,216
74	Antigua and Barbuda	21,890
75	Belarus	21,686
76	China	21,364
77	Thailand	21,057
78	North Macedonia	19,726
79	Botswana	19,287
80	Equatorial Guinea	19,036
81	Turkmenistan	18,857
82	Georgia	18,594
83	Libya	18,345
84	Iran	18,332
85	Grenada	18,293
86	Colombia	18,225
87	Gabon	17,848
88	Bosnia and Herzegovina	17,471
89	Barbados	17,408
90	Albania	17,383
91	Suriname	17,300
92	Brazil	17,208
93	Azerbaijan	17,153
94	Moldova	16,719
95	St. Lucia	16,509
96	Armenia	15,818
97	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	15,505
98	Sri Lanka	15,387
99	South Africa	15,361
100	Peru	15,035
101	Egypt	14,928
102	Indonesia	14,535
103	Dominica	14,491
104	Paraguay	14,430
105	Kosovo	13,964
106	Palau	13,652
107	Fiji	13,598
108	Mongolia	13,350
109	Algeria	13,002
110	Bhutan	12,967
111	Vietnam	12,881
112	Ecuador	12,664
113	Tunisia	12,300
114	Iraq	12,141
115	Jordan	11,861
116	Jamaica	11,802
117	Nauru	10,750
118	El Salvador	10,581
119	Namibia	10,448
120	Eswatini	10,411
121	Philippines	10,237
122	Guatemala	9,911
123	Bolivia	9,856
124	Uzbekstian	9,243
125	Lao P.D.R.	9,184
126	Morocco	9,041
127	India	8,358
128	Cabo Verde	7,740
129	Angola	7,360
130	Belize	7,147
131	Nicaragua	7,071
132	Mauritania	6,920
133	Tonga	6,783
134	Ghana	6,754
135	Honduras	6,740
136	Djibouti	6,667
137	Bangladesh	6,633
138	Pakistan	6,470
139	Côte d’Ivoire	6,345
140	West Bank and Gaza	6,243
141	Kenya	6,061
142	Venezuela	5,949
143	Samoa	5,935
144	Nigeria	5,853
145	Tuvalu	5,798
146	Kyrgyz Republic	5,562
147	Cambodia	5,493
148	Myanmar	4,776
149	São Tomé and Príncipe	4,681
150	Tajikistan	4,630
151	Nepal	4,578
152	Republic of Congo	4,578
153	Sudan	4,442
154	Cameroon	4,398
155	Papau New Guinea	4,299
156	Marshall Islands	4,192
157	Benin	4,137
158	Senegal	4,093
159	Zambia	3,776
160	Micronesia	3,650
161	Ethiopia	3,407
162	Tanzania	3,358
163	Comoros	3,555
164	Timor-Leste	3,339
165	Haiti	3,189
166	Lesotho	3,034
167	Guinea	3,029
168	Uganada	2,961
169	Vanuatu	2,851
170	Rwanda	2,808
171	Guinea-Bissau	2,784
172	Burkina Faso	2,663
173	The Gambia	2,646
174	Togo	2,599
175	Mali	2,575
176	Zimbabwe	2,523
177	Solomon Islands	2,385
178	Kiribati	2,148
179	Eritrea	2,101
180	Yemen	2,078
181	Sierra Leone	1,958
182	Liberia	1,779
183	Madagascar	1,778
184	Chad	1,705
185	Malawi	1,603
186	Mozambique	1,439
187	Niger	1,322
188	Somalia	1,316
189	Democratic Republic of the Congo	1,102
190	Central African Republic	928
191	South Sudan	953
192	Burundi	856
—	Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine	N.A.