The world's largest economies

Biggest economies in 2024 by gross domestic product

Calculated differently: Economic strength per capita

Large countries with many inhabitants naturally also have high sales and a correspondingly a high gross domestic product. A large but not populous country like Canada, with its current population of 41.3 million, has little chance of matching the combined economic output of 340.1 million US-Americans or 1.4 billion Chineses. However, if you compare the economic output per capita, the picture is suddenly completely different. The USA slips from its top position to 12th place. China, with 13,303 USD per inhabitant, only reaches 92nd place. And right at the top are the Principality of Monaco ($ 288,001), Liechtenstein ($ 206,781), and the Bermudas with $ 142,855 per inhabitant. Canada moves from ninth to 26th place.

(Based on all 212 countries evaluated. The table above only shows the most important 75 of them.)

Gross domestic product or gross national product?

The gross domestic product (GDP) is the sum of all revenues generated domestically within a year. The respective person's nationality does not matter. Thus, if a guest worker lives in a country, his or her economic performance is included in the GDP. On the other hand, GDP does not include services provided by nationals abroad.

In the case of gross national product (GNP), on the other hand, all income is deducted against that which has subsequently flowed abroad. The services of guest workers are thus reallocated to the worker's home country. In individual economic sectors, this is quite appropriate. However, if one evaluates the economic performance of a country, the country not only provides the workers, but also land, machines, innovations and sales markets. Last but not least, the income is usually also taxed there. Therefore, one takes the GDP.

* Dependent territories

The following countries are not sovereign states, but dependent territories or areas of other states:

• Hong Kong: special administrative region of China
• Puerto Rico: unincorporated territory of the US
• Taiwan: Semi-presidential republic

Further information on the definition of a country can be found in our article, What is a country?