Wealth is measured in many ways. Some see it purely as the money you have, while others may look at net worth or your overall quality of life. The same goes when measuring the wealth of countries. Some countries, like Indonesia or China, may dominate the world in the gross domestic product but have unlivable wages and poor living conditions for most.
To help wade through all the numbers and find the 50 wealthiest countries in the world, we combined three metrics of wealth to see what countries deliver the best overall balance of gross domestic product (GDP), average income and Social Progress Index (SPI). Here’s our methodology.
Keep reading to see what countries landed on our 50 wealthiest countries list.
50.
Costa Rica
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GDP Rank: 79
Average Income Rank: 98
Social Progress Index Rank: 33
Average Rank: 70
Starting off our list of the 50 wealthiest nations is the tiny Central American nation of Costa Rica. Sure, its $60.1 billion GDP ranks just No. 79 and its $9,645 average income is No. 98, but it squeezes its way onto the bottom of our top-50 list with the help of a No. 33 ranking in SPI.
Costa Rica’s SPI gets boosts from high rankings in water and sanitation, access to nutrition and basic medical care and personal rights. There are a few flaws in its SPI that pull it down to No. 33, and those include a 36.36 score in access to advanced education, 65.66 score in personal safety and a 65.89 score in inclusiveness.
49.
Croatia
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GDP Rank: 78
Average Income Rank: 94
Social Progress Index Rank: 37
Average Rank: 69.3
Croatia is not a country many will look at when thinking about wealth, and we can’t fault them with its $60.8 billion GDP ranking No. 78 in the world and its $10,314 average salary ranking No. 94. Where Croatia makes up ground is its No. 37 SPI ranking, which helps it land at No. 49 on our list of wealthiest nations.
This SPI ranking gets boosts from high scores in clean water and sanitation, access to basic medical care and access to basic knowledge. Like other European nations, Croatia struggles in inclusiveness (47.84 points) and access to advanced education (49.31), which pull its overall score down a fair amount.
48.
Latvia
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GDP Rank: 102
Average Income Rank: 51
Social Progress Index Rank: 39
Average Rank: 63.7
This European nation’s $34.8 billion GDP in unimpressive, but its No. 39 ranking in SPI pulls it back into the fold. High ratings in access to nutrition and basic medical care, clean water and sanitation, and personal rights boost its SPI ratings, but a 44.34 score in access to advanced education and 51.14 score in inclusiveness drag it down.
47.
Algeria
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GDP Rank: 56
Average Income Rank: 58
Social Progress Index Rank: 75
Average Rank: 62.7
The only African country on our list is No. 47 ranked Algeria. Algeria has no standout numbers, but its No. 56 ranked 180.7 billion GDP and No. 58 ranked $22,064 average income strike a balance that put it in the lower part of our top 50 wealthiest nations list.
Algeria struggles a bit in SPI at No. 75. While it gets OK scores in access to nutrition and basic medical care and access to basic knowledge, its 20.24 score in access to advanced education and 42.58 score in inclusiveness drag it way down.
46.
Turkey
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GDP Rank: 19
Average Income Rank: 93
Social Progress Index Rank: 76
Average Rank: 62.7
Turkey boasts a large GDP of $766.5 billion that puts it No. 19 in the world. This type of production should make it far higher in terms of wealth, but it has severe shortcomings in average income and SPI ranking. With the average Turkish worker pulling in just $10,380, Turkey ranks No. 93 in average income.
Turkey’s SPI doesn’t do it any favors at No. 76. While Turkey gets high marks in access to clean water and sanitation, and access to nutrition and basic medical care, it has huge issues in inclusiveness (24.33 points), access to advanced education (42.28 points), personal rights (43.07 points), personal safety (54.93 points), and personal freedom and choice (63.03 points).
This video is divided many parts. 2nd part is coming soon
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