With the former being the World's Largest Economy and latter with Headquarters of I.M.F. and World Bank.The list of the top ten richest countries in the world is based on 2011-2012 reports from IMF,which uses the GDP per capital of each country,adjusted for cost of living and purchasing power.Gross Domestic Product(GDP)is the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year.In the rankings of the world's top ten richest countries in 2011,Qatar came in first,knocking Luxembourg from its top position.Qatar is an oil rich country with other moneymaking naturalresources,like natural gas.Despite being the richest country,much of Qatar's population is very poor and the wealth disparity in the country's extreme.Once bolstered by the iron and steel industry,Luxembourg's economy is working to maintain its momentum by providing international banking and financial services.Luxembourg,whose population enjoys a high standard of living,is also a favourite destination among European countries for political activities,thanks for its central location not far from EU headquarters. Luxembourg situated in northwestern Europe,is also one of the smallest countries of the world.lnternational financial services,tourism,petroleum and natural gas exports,electronic goods,manufacturing,aiding movement of goods(as in case of Singapore) and a flourishing service sector are the keystones behind the economy success of these countries.
Rank
Countries
GDP/Capital($)
1
Qatar
88,222
2
Luxembourg
81,466
3
Singapore
56,694
4
Norway
51,959
5
Brunei
48,333
6
U.A.E
47,439
7
U.S.A
46,860
8
Hongkong
45,944

9
Switzerland
41,950
10
Netherlands
40,973
LAST UPDATED IN AUGUST 30,2012.

Wait,am expecting to see Nigeria,but i realise am far from imagination

Itoroetti :
Wait,am expecting to see Nigeria,but i realise am far from imagination

see nigeria on this list? That can only happen if japan become the capital of niger republic...

Per Capita GDP represents the gross productivity per person in a country.

The USA is still a behemoth. With 300 million people and a per capita GDP of almost $47,000. . . thats crazy!!

The other countries like Qatar and Luxembourg have less people than a Local Government Area in Lagos.
Qatar gets all its money from oil while Luxembourg is for secret banking.

The rest of the countries on the list except Netherlands have less people than Lagos.

Singapore is a city state. Hong Kong is a city!

My point is USA is just the bastion of productivity which equals wealth and prosperity!!

About Nigeria not being on the list, it is not so much the failure of Government as it is the failure of the people.

We as a people haven't being able to create innovative products that the globe needs. We are coming up slowing in the arts and entertainment area. If we produce optimally,the world would buy our goods and services and we would get richer for it whether or not we have bad government!!

There's a difference between having the largest economy and being the richest. If Ogba in Lagis is made a country and has money to cater for it's citizenry, it will also make the list and probably ahead of the US. The richest countries are usually small countries who don't go through the kind of wahala that big countries go through. They may not have a lot of money like the Americas of this world, but the little they have is more than enough to cater for their small population.

afam4eva: There's a difference between having the largest economy and being the richest. If Ogba in Lagis is made a country and has money to cater for it's citizenry, it will also make the list and probably ahead of the US. The richest countries are usually small countries who don't go through the kind of wahala that big countries go through. They may not have a lot of money like the Americas of this world, but the little they have is more than enough to cater for their small population.

imagine if lagos island, eti osa, ajah and lekki locals governments were a country, it will definitely make the top five list.
or if bayelsa kepts all its oil revenue for her less than 2 million people.

careytommy:
imagine if lagos island, eti osa, ajah and lekki locals governments were a country, it will definitely make the top five list.
or if bayelsa kepts all its oil revenue for her less than 2 million people.

You're right. If Bayelsa was left to use it's resources for it's development, there will be no poor man in Bayelsa. The problem is that the resources of a few states are being used to sustain the entire country.

About Nigeria not being on the list, it is not so much the failure of Government as it is the failure of the people.

We as a people haven't being able to create innovative products that the globe needs. We are coming up slowing in the arts and entertainment area. If we produce optimally,the world would buy our goods and services and we would get richer for it whether or not we have bad government!!

If we have more entrepreneurs that think like Dangote, instead of our numerous importer types, then we would be getting closer to prosperity.
To put things in better perspective lets take a country like Switzerland. Population- 8 Million.

Switzerland's productivity is visible in the kind of companies that populate the land.
Food- Nestle- Revenues for 2011- 80 Billion Dollars-
Pharmaceuticals- Roche- $34 Billion Novartis- $37 Billion
Finance- UBS- $107 Billion Credit Suisse- $89 Billion
And the list goes on and on. Lets not forget Swatch($6 Billion) the world's largest watch maker and Rolex($5 Billion)the world's largest luxury watch maker.

Switzerland(8 Million People) has 15 Fortune500 companies as against Austria(8.4 Million People) which has just 1. Both countries have some of the best governments in the world, but Switzerland has more entrepreneurial citizens and as a result a better productive output than Austria.

Wealth of a nation is not so much a function of who is in government as it is a function of the nature of the citizens.
If Nigeria much be prosperous, we must embrace entrepreneurship, not that import export type, but the type that seeks to create value out of the most infinitesimal of things.

PapaBrowne: About Nigeria not being on the list, it is not so much the failure of Government as it is the failure of the people.

We as a people haven't being able to create innovative products that the globe needs. We are coming up slowing in the arts and entertainment area. If we produce optimally,the world would buy our goods and services and we would get richer for it whether or not we have bad government!!

If we have more entrepreneurs that think like Dangote, instead of our numerous importer types, then we would be getting closer to prosperity.
To put things in better perspective lets take a country like Switzerland. Population- 8 Million.

Switzerland's productivity is visible in the kind of companies that populate the land.
Food- Nestle- Revenues for 2011- 80 Billion Dollars-
Pharmaceuticals- Roche- $34 Billion Novartis- $37 Billion
Finance- UBS- $107 Billion Credit Suisse- $89 Billion
And the list goes on and on. Lets not forget Swatch($6 Billion) the world's largest watch maker and Rolex($5 Billion)the world's largest luxury watch maker.

Switzerland(8 Million People) has 15 Fortune500 companies as against Austria(8.4 Million People) which has just 1. Both countries have some of the best governments in the world, but Switzerland has more entrepreneurial citizens and as a result a better productive output than Austria.

Wealth of a nation is not so much a function of who is in government as it is a function of the nature of the citizens.
If Nigeria much be prosperous, we must embrace entrepreneurship, not that import export type, but the type that seeks to create value out of the most infinitesimal of things.

But don't you think the government is responsible for making it's citizens to behave in a certain way. if the policies of the government does not encourage productivity then people will look the other way. I don't want to believe that the Swiss were specially made by God to be more productive than the Austrians. Something must have been a catalyst for this quality.

PapaBrowne: About Nigeria not being on the list, it is not so much the failure of Government as it is the failure of the people.

We as a people haven't being able to create innovative products that the globe needs. We are coming up slowing in the arts and entertainment area. If we produce optimally,the world would buy our goods and services and we would get richer for it whether or not we have bad government!!

If we have more entrepreneurs that think like Dangote, instead of our numerous importer types, then we would be getting closer to prosperity.
To put things in better perspective lets take a country like Switzerland. Population- 8 Million.

Switzerland's productivity is visible in the kind of companies that populate the land.
Food- Nestle- Revenues for 2011- 80 Billion Dollars-
Pharmaceuticals- Roche- $34 Billion Novartis- $37 Billion
Finance- UBS- $107 Billion Credit Suisse- $89 Billion
And the list goes on and on. Lets not forget Swatch($6 Billion) the world's largest watch maker and Rolex($5 Billion)the world's largest luxury watch maker.

Switzerland(8 Million People) has 15 Fortune500 companies as against Austria(8.4 Million People) which has just 1. Both countries have some of the best governments in the world, but Switzerland has more entrepreneurial citizens and as a result a better productive output than Austria.

Wealth of a nation is not so much a function of who is in government as it is a function of the nature of the citizens.
If Nigeria much be prosperous, we must embrace entrepreneurship, not that import export type, but the type that seeks to create value out of the most infinitesimal of things.

Nor mind d yeye 9ja people! Instead of them to be innovative, Dem go dey use their tashere money dey import range rover and bombardier jet. Mumu people nor no say all their crass flexing Na heavy hammering for all these other countries!

@Afam

Despite being the richest
country,much of Qatar's population is
very poor and the wealth disparity in
the country is extreme.

notice this from the first post. this kind of scenario is highly probable if bayelsa gets to keep all her oil revenue but it will definitely propell them to a rich country status (per capita wise).

afam4eva:
But don't you think the government is responsible for making it's citizens to behave in a certain way. if the policies of the government does not encourage productivity then people will look the other way. I don't want to believe that the Swiss were specially made by God to be more productive than the Austrians. Something must have been a catalyst for this quality.

I agree with you that the Government is responsible for making its citizens behave in certain ways, but it can only do so in line with the capacity of the people. Culture on the other hand is the strongest determining factor in the prosperity of a nation. Infact, culture actually determines whether a people would suffer bad governance or not. It is not by coincidence that Nigeria has never had good governancce. Our culture is largely responsible.

One good example I'd give to buttress my point is the Entertainment industry. Nigerian citizens, without the slightest support from government have pushed themselves to the forefront of the industry in Africa and are beginning to take it out to the rest of the world.(Dbanj, Psquare, Asa,Nneka) South Africa on the other hand, with its very strong and well laid out government support has not made as much impact even on the African continent. Can't remember the last time I saw a successful South African artist.

The thinking of a nation's entrepreneurs is the key to prosperity or otherwise of a nation. If our picture of business is production and value creation as against trading and rent seeking or If we solve problems by creating solutions instead importing solutions, then we would be better off for it.

It wasn't failure in government policy that made us ignore farming. It was our impatience with the rigours of farming versus the ease of importation and oil income.

The truth is the government has failed woefully because the people have failed woefully and the people have failed woefully because our culture is one that encourages wealth acquisition as against wealth creation.

basher:

Nor mind d yeye 9ja people! Instead of them to be innovative, Dem go dey use their tashere money dey import range rover and bombardier jet. Mumu people nor no say all their crass flexing Na heavy hammering for all these other countries!

Thank you. We spent $6.5 Billion buying private jets in the last five years. That would have helped us start 6500 $1 Million dollar companies. Thats 180 new companies per state. 1 million dollars can start a really big company.
Sadly our culture is an egotistical one so we rather get the jets!

PapaBrowne:

Thank you. We spent $6.5 Billion buying private jets in the last five years. That would have helped us start 6500 $1 Million dollar companies. Thats 180 new companies per state. 1 million dollars can start a really big company.
Sadly our culture is an egotistical one so we rather get the jets!

papy...thanks for your insight,the pictures you and Afam painted here is quite frightening.

Nigeria billionaires are waisting alot of money and opportunities in which they should've help the economy of this great country in anyway possible but as you have already posited that our culture didnot ecourages "wealth creation" instead everybody is on his/her own.
When are we as a country going to get it right?

Nice thread.

Incisive analysis @PapaBrowne.
Question is; what aspect of our culture is largely responsible for the retarded growth?