Singapore is the third richest country in the world, according to the list prepared by Fortune. The list is based on the latest GDP per capita data by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Singapore has been ranked third in the world with a per capita income of USD90,530 per annum. Fortune noted that Singapore remains one of the world’s richest countries and saw its real GDP grow by 2.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017.
“The city-state with a population of 5.6 million has been continuously growing since last year as the global electronics trades has rebounded. On a broader scale, IMF notes that Singapore’s economic growth has been limited mainly to its expert-oriented fields,” said Fortune.
The list is based on the IMF’s October 2017 data, which is itself related to purchasing power parity — comparing exchange rates of countries in relation to the cost of goods.
However, the list has been topped by the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. It is the richest country in the world with a total GDP of approximately USD124,930 per person. This would be due to a lower estimated population of 2.27 million (compared to Singapore’s 5.6 million), and the continued sale of oil, Qatar’s major revenue source.
Fortune observes Qatar has grown despite facing lower prices for hydrocarbon, a major revenue source for Qatar, which is used for fuel. Qatar’s GDP growth is expected to continue through 2017.
However, the second position in the list has been taken by tiny Luxembourg, a country of nearly 600,000 with a strong workforce and a 2016 growth exceeding the European Union’s overall growth.
Other countries that have fuel and oil propelling their economies also inevitably made it to the top tier of the list, with the likes of Brunei (USD76,740), Kuwait (USD69,670), and United Arab Emirates (USD68,250) making it to the fourth, seventh and eighth spots, respectively.