Countries by PPP conversion factor, GDP (LCU per international $)
Iran ranks first among 202 countries with a PPP conversion factor of 118,268.07 LCU per international dollar, meaning far more Iranian rials are needed to match one international dollar of purchasing power than any other currency. At the opposite end, Bahrain ranks 202nd with a factor of just 0.17. The range between these two endpoints — spanning more than 71 million percent — reflects the vast differences in price levels and currency values across economies.
Ranking 2024
Analysis
The PPP conversion factor measures how many units of a country's local currency are required to purchase the same quantity of goods and services that one international dollar buys. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator PA.NUS.PPP), it is both a currency conversion factor and a spatial price deflator: PPPs convert different currencies to a common currency and, in the process of conversion, equalize their purchasing power by eliminating the differences in price levels between countries, thereby allowing volume or output comparisons of GDP and its expenditure components. The unit is LCU (local currency units) per international dollar, and a higher value indicates that more local currency units are needed per international dollar — meaning prices in local currency terms are high relative to the international benchmark. This ranking covers 202 countries using 2024 data, with 189 of 202 countries (93.6%) reporting in the latest year and 201 of 202 (99.5%) having data from within the last seven years. All data points are classified as official quality. Eight extreme outliers were identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold.
Iran tops the ranking at 118,268.07, a value so far above second-ranked Lebanon (23,736.79) that it constitutes an extreme statistical outlier by any measure. Somalia ranks third at 11,049.72, followed by Vietnam at 6,956.93 (rank 4) and Indonesia at 4,747.91 (rank 5). These high-ranking countries share currencies that represent large nominal values relative to the goods they purchase domestically. Korea, which uses the won, ranks 18th at 809.27, and Japan ranks 51st at 94.46 — both reflecting currencies with high nominal face values even though both economies are considered high-income. Hungary (rank 45, 175.58) and Iceland (rank 48, 141.76) appear in the upper tier as high-income European countries whose currencies carry high nominal values per international dollar.
The United States anchors the ranking at exactly 1.00 (rank 148), serving as the reference point for the international dollar. Countries ranking just above it — such as Canada at 1.15 (rank 144) and Australia at 1.37 (rank 141) — have currencies close to parity with the international dollar benchmark. Below the U.S., eurozone members cluster tightly: Germany ranks 172nd at 0.70, France at 173rd (0.68), Spain at 182nd (0.56), and Portugal at 184th (0.52). Gulf states occupy the bottom of the ranking: Kuwait ranks 200th at 0.19, Oman 201st at 0.19, and Bahrain 202nd at 0.17. These countries have currencies with very high purchasing power relative to the international dollar, meaning fewer local currency units are needed per international dollar. Singapore ranks 163rd at 0.80, and Luxembourg ranks 162nd at 0.82, both reflecting strong currency purchasing power despite being small, high-income economies.
PPP conversion factors can be distorted by price data quality, the frequency of price surveys, and the methods used to construct the underlying price indices. Countries with high inflation or currency instability — such as those near the top of this ranking — may see their PPP factors change sharply from year to year; the average year-over-year change across this dataset is 8.4%. For countries with limited statistical infrastructure, the underlying price data may be less comprehensive or timely, which affects the precision of their PPP estimates. The factor represents a cross-sectional snapshot and does not directly capture changes in real living standards or economic output. Countries that use another nation's currency or a pegged currency — such as several small island economies ranked near the middle — may show PPP factors that reflect monetary arrangements as much as domestic price levels. Additionally, 13 of 202 countries lack data for the most recent year, meaning their values may be estimated or interpolated.
Methodology
Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code PA.NUS.PPP, for the reference year 2024. The metric is defined as follows: the purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factor is a currency conversion factor and a spatial price deflator. PPPs convert different currencies to a common currency and, in the process of conversion, equalize their purchasing power by eliminating the differences in price levels between countries, thereby allowing volume or output comparisons of gross domestic product (GDP) and its expenditure components. Values represent LCU (local currency units) per international dollar; higher values indicate more local currency units per international dollar. The dataset covers 202 countries. Of these, 189 of 202 (93.6%) report data in the latest year, and 201 of 202 (99.5%) have data from within the last seven years. All 202 data points (100%) are classified as official quality. Eight extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold; the full range runs from 0.17 (Bahrain) to 118,268.07 (Iran), a spread of over 71 million percent. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 8.4%, indicating moderate volatility. The United States is the reference country with a value of exactly 1.00.