Recession Special: Top 10 Richest Countries in the World
by Who is the richest and who is suffering less from this recession?
Most people think that the USA is the mighty one is the richest one of them all. But they are very wrong especially since the USA does not even make it to the top 10. So what makes a country rich? Richness is based on three fundamental things which are: Natural Resources, Human Resources and of course a Stable Government. Let us take a look at the list below.
Luxembourg
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($110,032)
Did you ever guess that Luxembourg might be the first on the list? Even though only half a million people live in Luxembourg, this country boasts a high-income economy with low inflation and very low unemployment. Steel is their main natural resource and banking and financial exports are their main economic outputs. Companies like eBay and Skype have their main headquarters in Luxembourg.
Norway
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($83,702)
Have you ever heard of a mixed economy? Norway is a very good example of mixed economy. It features free market activities and government ownerships. Resources include aluminum, petroleum and hydroelectric energy.
Qatar
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($80,211)
Qatar was not always rich from oil. Before oil was discovered, the people in Qatar focused on pearling and fishing. The discovery of oil came around 1940 and it totally transformed this country. This country offers many different social services and all modern amenities found in any modern country.
Iceland
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($63,875)
This might sound contradictory after Iceland announced bankruptcy a few months ago but apart from that Iceland is one of the most productive countries in the world. Unlike Norway, Iceland lacks natural resources. Its economy depends heavily on fishing and exporting which include fish products, aluminum and ferrosilicon.
Ireland
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($62,482)
Not too long ago, the Irish government came up with a plan to lessen inflation and taxes and increasing labor force skills. After the introduction of the Euro in January 1999, Ireland was doing very well until this progress was affected by the global economic crisis.
Denmark
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($59,728)
The third Scandinavian country on the list is Denmark and it is home to many multi-national companies like Lego, Bang & Olufsen, Dell, Microsoft and Nokia. Denmark supports free trade and a recent poll showed that 76% of the population supports globalization.
Switzerland
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($58,412)
Switzerland has one of the most stable and modern capitalist economy in the world. Glencore, Nestle, Novartis and Swatch can all be found in Switzerland. The main industries are health and pharmaceuticals, musical instruments, banking and chemicals.
Sweden
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($49.091)
The fourth and final Scandinavian country on the list. Sweden focuses mainly on exports which features a modern distribution system, excellent communications, timber, hydropower and iron ore. Volvo, Ericsson, Skanska, Electrolux and Nordea are all multi-national companies that are Swedish.
Netherlands
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($48,169)
What comes first in mind when you hear Netherlands? Heineken. And that is right. Heineken together with Unilever are two of the biggest food processing companies in the Netherlands and the world. They also have other resources, such as chemicals, petroleum refining and electrical machinery.
United Kingdom
Gross domestic product per capita 2008 ($48,072)
The UK economy is made up of economies from (in descending order) England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Main resources in the UK are shipbuilding, steel, textiles and coal mining. Multinational companies such as MG Rover, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca are based in the United Kingdom.
Sources:
The list was acquired from the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database
- http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg#Economy
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway#Economy
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar#Economy
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iceland#Economy_and_infrastructure
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_the_Republic_of_Ireland
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark#Economy
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland#Economy
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden#Economy
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands#Economy
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom#Economy
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Post CommentRuby Hawk
On January 16, 2009 at 6:28 pm
That’s very interesting and educational. I learned something new today which is always a good thing.
Sotiris
On January 17, 2009 at 6:53 am
Where is Greece hehe
Ronald Marbles
On January 17, 2009 at 6:54 am
Trust me I wished there was at least one country that was close to my home country (I am from Malta) but unfortunately there are none.
What a joke
On March 9, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Would you believe anything a man says when he tells you that MG-Rover group still exists in the UK – 4 years after closure?
aiden
On March 28, 2009 at 12:08 pm
it’s suppose to go like this:
#Japan(richest in world)
#US
#Canada
#Germany
#UK
Ronald Marbles
On March 28, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Aiden I am sorry to tell you but you are wrong. Common sense tells me that Japan and the US should be the top on this list. But according to my source (see the first link on my source list at the end of the article)it shows that none of those countries are actually at the top.
norwegian
On May 6, 2009 at 7:19 pm
scandinavia only consists of norway, sweded and denmark…
xena32
On June 14, 2009 at 10:45 pm
norway is really rich…the government takes care of its citizen…i am glad that i married a norwegian…now, i am enjoying benefits also from the government…i am working now and pays high tax but i don’t mind because i am taking cared of unlike before in my own country-philippines, i received meager salary,paid 12 percent tax but the services were bad…i had lots of debts before…we even joked that one does live in debts not with own salary…its hard for us- young professionals to own a car or even a house…
luper
On June 22, 2009 at 6:36 pm
yeah its true norway is a rich country unlike philippines our country its hard to live here,find job and business..But still i love my country thats why i dont go to other country to have a job and give my service to the other country…
Juha
On August 13, 2009 at 11:11 am
also Nokia is not Danish! its Finnish!
Kate342
On September 18, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Umm, everyone is so serious on here.
andrewm153351
On September 19, 2009 at 4:21 pm
God whoever made this is retarded. Of course all of these countries will have a PER CAPITA GDP that is higher than the U.S., because they all have 1/10th the population of America. When you have a small population, you have less room for competitive employment, and less overall competition. And last time i checked, the U.S. has more resources than all of those countries COMBINED. The real wealth of a country relies on OVERALL GDP(meaning the total amount that a country makes)
When you look at total GDP, all of these countries don’t come close. We make $14 trillion/year(1st place) and 2nd place makes $6 trillion/year(china)
Do you see the difference???
Now you can say that the wealth is not distributed as evenly over the population, but we are still the RICHEST COUNTRY ON EARTH.
john qusack
On October 8, 2009 at 10:47 pm
i agree andrewm this website is retarded no country will come close to having more money than the united states of america
dick army
On October 8, 2009 at 10:48 pm
your right andrewm
gbfd
On December 26, 2009 at 12:42 pm
oh yes with usa is the richest with all the 100 trillions of dollars they own to chhina
Neeh
On December 26, 2009 at 8:03 pm
LOOOL, where norway? They are realy high in the list. Bad list if u ask me.
Neeh
On December 26, 2009 at 8:04 pm
EDIT: sori didn’t see it. Ignore the last message.
Wabbit
On February 13, 2010 at 9:53 am
You\’re quoting wikipedia as a source?
What type of GDP were you working off? BTW you forgot Liechtenstein which is technically first.
mitch
On September 25, 2011 at 5:29 am
i guess america is the richest country in the world ..
