The ten countries with the highest projected nominal GDP per capita in current U.S. dollars, based on IMF World Economic Outlook data.
Liechtenstein has the highest projected nominal GDP per capita for 2026, about $226,809, followed by Luxembourg ($158,733) and Ireland ($140,186). The ranking uses the IMF's April 2026 World Economic Outlook series NGDPDPC (current US dollars, market exchange rates), sovereign states only.
GDP per capita divides a country's total economic output by its population, giving a rough measure of average income per resident. The leaders are mostly small, wealthy European states, plus Norway's oil economy, Singapore and the United States. This list ranks the top ten by nominal GDP per capita at current prices, in current U.S. dollars, using the International Monetary Fund's April 2026 World Economic Outlook projections. Because the metric uses market exchange rates, currencies that are strong against the dollar tend to rank higher regardless of domestic purchasing power.
Liechtenstein tops the IMF's 2026 nominal GDP-per-capita projections at about $226,809 per resident. The small Alpine principality's economy rests on specialised manufacturing and financial services, and a large share of its workforce commutes in from neighbouring countries, which raises output per resident.
Luxembourg's projected 2026 GDP per capita is about $158,733, driven by a large financial-services sector. Many of its workers live in neighbouring countries, so output is divided by a resident population smaller than the workforce.
Ireland's projected 2026 GDP per capita of about $140,186 is inflated by multinational corporations that book large profits through Irish subsidiaries. Irish authorities publish a modified measure, GNI*, to strip out much of that effect.
Switzerland's projected 2026 GDP per capita is about $126,177, built on pharmaceuticals, precision machinery, watches and financial services, and lifted in dollar terms by a strong Swiss franc.
Iceland's projected 2026 GDP per capita is about $110,048, supported by fisheries, tourism and energy-intensive industries such as aluminium smelting powered by geothermal and hydroelectric energy.
Singapore is the only Asian country in the top ten, with a projected 2026 GDP per capita of about $107,758, driven by its port, trade and role as a financial hub.
Norway's projected 2026 GDP per capita of about $105,877 is underpinned by oil and gas. Its petroleum revenues feed the Government Pension Fund Global, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund.
The United States is by far the largest economy in the top ten, with a projected 2026 GDP per capita of about $94,430.
Denmark's projected 2026 GDP per capita is about $83,445, supported by exports of pharmaceuticals, shipping services and wind-power equipment.
The Netherlands rounds out the top ten with a projected 2026 GDP per capita of about $79,918. Its economy is built on trade through the Port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, along with manufacturing, agriculture and finance.
| # | Name | region |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liechtenstein | Europe & Central Asia |
| 2 | Luxembourg | Europe & Central Asia |
| 3 | Ireland | Europe & Central Asia |
| 4 | Switzerland | Europe & Central Asia |
| 5 | Iceland | Europe & Central Asia |
| 6 | Singapore | East Asia & Pacific |
| 7 | Norway | Europe & Central Asia |
| 8 | United States | North America |
| 9 | Denmark | Europe & Central Asia |
| 10 | Netherlands | Europe & Central Asia |
Countries are ranked by the IMF's NGDPDPC series: gross domestic product per capita at current prices, expressed in current U.S. dollars. Values are IMF staff projections for the 2026 annual label from the April 2026 World Economic Outlook database. Only sovereign UN-member states are included; territories and non-sovereign entities (such as Macao SAR) are excluded, and Monaco, which is not an IMF member, has no IMF figure. Values are rounded to the nearest dollar from unrounded IMF series. The comparison table shows region only: an earlier version also showed population and total-GDP columns that came from older years and did not match the 2026 per-capita figures, so they were removed.
Small countries can achieve very high per-capita GDP when they host large financial sectors, headquarters of multinational companies, or specialized industries, because total GDP is divided by a small population. A single large company can move a small country's average substantially.
Nominal GDP per capita (used here) divides current-price GDP by population and converts to U.S. dollars at market exchange rates. PPP (purchasing-power parity) per capita adjusts for price-level differences between countries. Nominal rankings tend to favor countries with strong currencies, while PPP rankings better reflect actual living standards.
Not necessarily. GDP per capita is an average and can be skewed upward by a small number of very wealthy individuals or corporate profits booked in a country. Countries like Ireland have very high per-capita GDP partly because multinational companies book profits there, even though median household income is much lower.
All figures are from the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook database, April 2026 edition, series NGDPDPC (GDP per capita at current prices in current U.S. dollars). The values are IMF staff projections for the 2026 annual label.
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