By almost any measurement you can come up with, people today are much richer than those living a century or more ago. In first-world countries, people who would be considered lower class by today’s standards have more luxuries than kings of the Middle Ages. That has a lot to do with technological advancement, however, than people being richer.
So, which countries are the richest in the world? The answer to that simple question will depend largely on how you define rich. So, here are five of the most common measurements used when evaluating the true wealth of a country.
Lowest Poverty Rate
While it is fun to dream about being a billionaire, or even a millionaire, most people are far more likely to experience poverty than they are to become part of the richest class in a country. So, measuring a country’s richness by how well the poor are cared for is perhaps the best option.
There are many different ways that this could be measured, but according to Insider Monkey, which is a finance website, this honor goes to Slovenia. Slovenia does a great job of taking care of its poor, and for that reason, it can be seen as one of the richest countries in the world.
Total Household Wealth
Another common way to measure a country’s wealth is to simply take the net value of the assets and subtract its liabilities. This will give you a true answer on the monetary value in the country, which makes it easy to compare.
According to the 2023 UBS Global Wealth Report, the richest country in the world by this measurement is the United States of America. It is no surprise since the US has the largest economy. What may be surprising, however, is how far ahead the US is in this ranking.
The US has a total wealth of nearly $140 trillion. In second place is China, with just $84 trillion.
Average Wealth Per Capita
This method of measuring looks at the average wealth. This is a great way to see how a typical person in the country can live. According to Statista, the country with the highest average wealth per capita is Switzerland.
Those in Switzerland have an average wealth of $685,000 per person. For comparison, the average wealth in the USA is $551,000. No matter which of these countries you live in, you’re doing quite well.
Median Wealth Per Capita
Measuring wealth by average is good, but that includes the many billionaires (we’ll get to them specifically next), which can drive the average up significantly. If you want to know the wealth of regular people in a country, look at the median wealth per capita. When ranked this way, according to the Global Wealth Report, the leader is Belgium, with $250,000 in wealth.
Most Billionaires
The chances of becoming a billionaire are quite slim, but if you want to live in the place with most of them, you will want to be in either the USA or China, depending on what statistics you use. The US boasts 813 individuals with at least $1 billion, and China has 814.
Of course, there are other ways that this could be measured as well. Plus, the size and population of a country will also impact its rankings. It is unlikely for a small country to have the most billionaires, for example. In the end, everyone is working hard to provide for themselves and their loved ones no matter what country they are in.
Turns out there are way more billionaires than I thought.
If you enjoyed that story, check out what happened when a guy gave ChatGPT $100 to make as money as possible, and it turned out exactly how you would expect.