Countries by GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$)

Ranking 2024

Values shown in per capita.

Analysis

GNI per capita, Atlas method, measures the average income available to residents of a country. The World Bank defines it as follows: gross national income is the total income earned by all residents within an economic territory during an accounting period. It is equal to gross domestic product plus earned income receivable from abroad minus earned income payable abroad. This figure is converted to U.S. dollars using the World Bank Atlas method, and divided by the midyear population. GNI, calculated in national currency, is usually converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rates, though the Atlas method applies a smoothed three-year conversion factor to reduce the effect of exchange rate fluctuations. The dataset covers 204 countries for the reference year 2024, with 190 of those countries (93.1%) reporting data from 2024 itself. An additional 12 report within the past seven years, giving 202 out of 204 (99.0%) recent coverage. All 204 datapoints are classified as official data. The indicator code is NY.GNP.PCAP.CD, sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators.

The top of the ranking is dominated by small, high-income territories and wealthy European nations. Bermuda (rank 1) records $145,150, well above second-placed Norway at $98,170. Switzerland ranks 3rd at $95,220, Luxembourg 4th at $84,650, and the United States 5th at $83,490. Iceland (rank 6, $82,200), Ireland (rank 7, $80,650), and the Isle of Man (rank 8, $78,440) follow closely. Qatar (rank 9, $77,290) and the Cayman Islands (rank 10, $75,720) round out the top ten. Singapore ranks 11th at $74,750. Among G7 nations, Germany ranks 20th at $55,090 and Japan ranks 39th at $36,000, reflecting the influence of population size and currency movements on per-capita figures under the Atlas method.

The middle of the ranking shows considerable variation. China ranks 76th at $13,660, while Brazil ranks 91st at $9,930 and South Africa 115th at $6,110. A notable pattern appears among small island states: Nauru ranks 64th at $20,400 and Tuvalu 95th at $8,770, placing them above much larger economies. Two tied pairs appear in the data: Micronesia and Namibia both rank 133rd at $4,240, and Honduras and Uzbekistan both rank 147th at $3,020. At the lower end, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the majority of countries ranked below 160th. Congo, Dem. Rep. ranks 197th at $670, Malawi 199th at $570, Mozambique 200th at $550, Central African Republic and Madagascar both rank 201st at $510, and Afghanistan ranks 203rd at $370, just above Burundi at $260.

Several limitations apply to this metric. The Atlas method smooths exchange rate volatility using a three-year average conversion factor, which means recent sharp currency depreciations or appreciations may not be fully reflected in a single year's figure. The data does not account for income distribution within a country, so a high GNI per capita does not indicate that income is broadly shared. Small territories such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the Isle of Man may have GNI figures that are sensitive to the income of a small number of high-earning residents or registered entities. The viability check identified 37 extreme outliers at the three-standard-deviation threshold, indicating that the upper tail of the distribution is particularly stretched. Countries with significant informal economies or unreliable national accounts may report GNI with lower accuracy. Two countries in the dataset have data older than 2024 but within the seven-year recency window, and the source note definition used here was truncated, which may omit additional methodological detail.

Methodology

This ranking uses the World Bank World Development Indicators indicator NY.GNP.PCAP.CD, GNI per capita, Atlas method, current US dollars, for the reference year 2024. The source definition states: gross national income is the total income earned by all residents within an economic territory during an accounting period. It is equal to gross domestic product plus earned income receivable from abroad minus earned income payable abroad. This figure is converted to U.S. dollars using the World Bank Atlas method, and divided by the midyear population. GNI, calculated in national currency, is usually converted to U.S. dollars at official exchange rates. The dataset covers 204 countries. Of these, 190 (93.1%) have data specifically from 2024, and 202 of 204 (99.0%) have data from within the past seven years. All 204 datapoints are classified as official quality. The viability check identified 37 extreme outliers using a three-standard-deviation threshold, reflecting the wide dispersion of values, which range from $260 (Burundi) to $145,150 (Bermuda), a spread of 55,726.9%. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 6.7%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. Higher values indicate higher GNI per capita and are treated as better in this ranking.

Sources

• World Bank