The Highest Incomes in the World

Gross National Income helps determine the average wealth of a country and of its general population.

Norway's rich natural resources and fiscal responsibility allows it to have an incredibly high level of Gross National Income per capita.

The Gross National Income (GNI) is the sum of the value added by all the goods and services produced within a determined country, including foreign investment, to which are added any product taxes (excluding subsidies), and the value earned by the nation through overseas ventures. GNI per capita represents the total GNI divided by all mid-year residents of the country, and is generally represented in US dollars. The conversion between the local currency and the US dollars is made by using the Exchange Rate methods of the World Bank Atlas.

GNI’s Significance

The wealth and health status among a population are very important because the economic conditions of any individual can become limited by the monies available to them personally and the infrastructure that surround them. Further, happier, healthier people constitute happier, healthier households, communities, and countries, which often leads to greater work capabilities, which will further enhance the GNI, forming a positive feedback loop. Within these socio-economic contexts, we have listed the countries with the largest GNIs per capita, and shown how it generally leads to increased welfare of such countries’ peoples.

Norway's Natural Resources

According to the Data World Bank, Norway, with its GNI per capita of 103 thousand USD, has the largest GNI per capita in the world. Norway has a prosperous economy, well-developed in both state and private sectors. Further, the country is rich in natural resources and the government controls many key areas of the natural resources economy, such as the petroleum sector. Even though the country opted to not join the European Union, it still maintain good trade relations with its neighbors as a member of the European Economic Area. The country spends 9% of its GDP for health, ensures that all of the population has access to one of the greatest healthcare systems in the world. Like many other countries, Norway faces the health challenges resulting from affluence and modern lifestyles, wherein many people have desk jobs and thus are required to perform less physically demanding work. Besides trends of decreasing physical activity, the wealthy economy allows people to have easier access to nutritiously poor, calorically dense foods, alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drugs. Regardless, overall Norway has one of the strongest welfare and health system around the world.

Employment in Qatar

Qatar, according to the Data World Bank, is the second country with largest GNI per capita, of 92 thousand US dollars. Qatar is a wealthy country, characterized by strong petroleum and natural gas sectors, and increasingly significant manufacturing and financial services sectors. The economic policies of the country are focused on making the country’s natural gas reserves as sustainable as possible while also increasing domestic and overseas investments in non-energy sectors. The country is among the top ranks in the world in terms of having one of the lowest rates of unemployment. With a wealthy country and wealthy population, Qatar’s health system has also undergone significant improvements, mainly as the result of government investments. As with Norway, Qatar boasts nationwide health system coverage, fostering a long life expectancy among the residents. Indeed, good public health is among one of the primary goals of the government. The main health concerns of Qatar are diseases of modern lifestyles, such as obesity and diabetes, but birth defects are frequent occurrences here as well.

Synopsis of GNI Research

Following Norway and Qatar is Macau, with around 76 thousand USD in GNI per capita, Luxembourg with a GNI of 76 thousand per capita, and Australia with a per capita GNI of 65 thousand. As is evidenced by our list, high GNIs are characteristically accompanied by well-developed economies and high quality of life. The cases of Norway and Qatar in particular show us that there is clearly a strong connection between GNI per capita and the wealth and health of a country’s population.

• View information as a:
• List
• Chart

Rank	Country	Gross National Income per capita (US Dollars)
1	Norway	$103,630
2	Qatar	$92,200
3	Macau	$76,270
4	Luxembourg	$75,990
5	Australia	$64,540
6	Sweden	$61,610
7	Denmark	$61,310
8	United States	$55,200
9	Singapore	$55,150
10	Netherlands	$51,890
11	Canada	$51,630
12	Austria	$49,670
13	Kuwait	$49,300
14	Finland	$48,420
15	Germany	$47,640
16	Belgium	$47,260
17	Ireland	$46,550
18	United Arab Emirates	$44,600
19	United Kingdom	$43,430
20	France	$42,960
21	Japan	$42,000
22	Hong Kong	$40,320
23	Israel	$35,320
24	Italy	$34,270
25	Spain	$29,440