What is common between Qatar, Luxembourg and Singapore? The answer is they are amongst the smallest of countries and yet are amongst three the richest in the world.
This was revealed in an analysis by the Global Finance Magazine.
The magazine ranked 174 countries from the richest to the poorest based on data from the International Monetary Fund. The GDP per capita data was utilized for the calculation of prosperity of the countries.
The living standards between the different countries were also compared based on the analysis of the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) index which is based on parameters like the cost of living and the inflation rates in particular countries.
The period of calculation was from 2009 to 2013. The analysis found out that Qatar, located of the Middle East and on the east coast of Saudi Arabia was the richest of the countries in the world.
On the other end of the list the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa was found out to be the poorest among the countries considered within the period concerned.
The second richest country in the world is Luxembourg with a an average GDP per capita of $79,593,91. The country surrounded by developed economies like France, Germany and Belgium has a large ratio of people working in those countries. This is one of the factors that the country has been adjudged to the second richest country in the world. The compounded salaries of the working people of the country hike up the GDP per capita, one of the factors of which is the combined salaries of citizens of a country, while such salaried persons reside outside the country and hence the GDP per capita is hiked up when calculated.
There is another method of calculating the wealth of a country signified by the total GDP of the country. But determination of how rich the average resident of a country is, is the most accepted method of calculation of how rich a country is. For this calculation the total GDP of a country is divided by the number of people residing in the country.
The PPP or the purchasing power parity is the more useful when comparing the general living standards available for residents of a country. This basis of calculation uses the factors that actually impact living conditions like the cost of living and the inflation rates rather than simply considering the exchange rates.
Africa tops the list when analysing the poorest countries of the world. According to the analysis of the Global Finance Magazine, 19 of the poorest 23 countries are located in Africa.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, the poorest country in the world, in terms of the GDP per capita has an average of $394.25 per citizen a year. Compared to this, the GDP per capita of Quatar is an average of $105,091.42 a year.
Zimbabwe, Burundi and Liberia follow the Democratic Republic of Congo in this list where the GDP per capita are $589.25, $648.58 and $716.04 a year on the average respectively.
(source: http://www.businessinsider.in & https://www.gfmag.com)