These are lists of regions and countries by their estimated real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP), the value of all final goods and services produced within a country/region in a given year divided by population size. GDP per capita dollar (international dollar) estimates here are derived from PPP estimates.

Characteristics In the absence of sufficient data for nearly all economies until well into the 19th century, past GDP per capita often cannot be calculated, but only roughly estimated. A key notion in the whole process is that of subsistence, the income level which is necessary for sustaining one's life. Since pre-modern societies, by modern standards, were characterized by a very low degree of urbanization and a large majority of people working in the agricultural sector, economic historians prefer to express income in cereal units. To achieve comparability over space and time, these numbers are then converted into monetary units such as international dollars, a step which leaves a relatively wide margin of interpretation.

World 1–1800 (Maddison Project) The Maddison Project is an international group of scholars who continue and build upon Maddison's work. In their 2020 report they concentrate on the pre-1820 period. Their revised figures show pre-industrial Europe to be richer, but its economic growth to be slower than previously thought. This is consistent with Maddison's view that the income gap to Asia was already large before the Industrial Revolution. The entirety of their GDP per capita estimates can be obtained from their online database.Maddison Project Database, accessed 4 April 2015 The following data selection they present in their published paper:

+ GDP (PPP) per capita in 2011 international dollarsCountry / region 1 1000 1280 1348 1400 1500 1600 1661 1700 17661800 1850 1870 1913 1929 1937 1960 1973 1995 2018 UK1,1511,0581,2291,7171,6971,6911,6102,4122,8793,3434,3325,8298,2128,7729,91113,78019,16827,86138,058 Netherlands1,4051,9172,3324,2703,1733,3774,3594,1843,7794,4226,4549,0688,66012,33320,85130,68047,474Belgium9562,3382,5332,1922,9444,2916,7278,0567,90811,08119,39929,37039,756France9561,3211,8461,7951,6941,6101,6771,6941,7102,5462,9905,5557,5087,15211,79220,44129,41938,516Germany1,8271,2861,4971,5722,2762,9315,8156,4577,46812,28219,07428,86946,178Austria2,6302,9705,5235,8965,03110,39117,90829,62242,988Finland1,1911,3311,2131,5191,8173,3654,3315,4859,93117,66925,76238,897Russia5,55710,4928,58624,669Ukraine7,8495,0249,813Former USSR2,2542,2093,4376,2889,6586,88819,539Former Yugoslavia8781,5512,0021,8683,7787,2266,28616,558Czech Republic10,02614,55030,749Former Czechoslovakia1,7201,8553,3414,8494,5948,14211,22313,18129,601Slovenia7,16515,07917,81729,245Hungary1,7413,3443,9474,0535,81610,13525,623Poland9569441,0389129859749029851,5752,7723,3743,0525,1258,5129,40827,455 Italy1,4072,6733,0872,7032,4042,6732,6042,6342,4042,6112,8264,0574,8894,8799,43016,95028,66634,364 Spain8861,5011,6081,3761,3941,4651,3761,5011,7061,8093,0674,1732,6545,03711,63821,52231,497Portugal9561,2581,4901,5722,0211,4591,4701,5541,9922,5662,8014,71211,25819,26227,036Greece1,2751,6071,9381,8763,7334,4145,01512,20217,14823,451Turkey8977687437681,1651,4731,5542,0663,0415,0509,96319,270 Egypt1,1161,0681,1641,0841,1951,6741,5802,0635,00111,957 Iraq1,1161,3079561,2754,3605,9821,99712,836Jordan1,1161,1161,5943,7143,8066,76011,506Iran1,1169561,2753,4378,7067,09417,011Indonesia7248101,3611,7021,6941,6132,3755,49511,852 South Asia1,2641,1621,0339471,0731,1601,078 India1,2001,3602,3566,806China1,2251,4041,2071,2171,3301,5439919268589459851,0031,0341,0571,5134,00013,102South Korea8201,1711,4962,0061,5483,82219,08937,928 Japan1,0108411,0611,0731,3171,4361,5802,4313,6654,0753,06218,22631,88738,674United States2,5453,6324,80310,10811,95411,29518,05726,60239,39155,335Canada2,1202,7027,0888,0747,13013,95222,05831,33144,869Mexico7991,1811,4761,4041,3051,0541,0462,0042,4242,4824,7237,5979,94516,494Haiti1,8091,6781,3791,729Cuba5798882,1202,5072,0422,9943,4862,8618,326Brazil8671,0841,0461,4651,6103,3986,0868,95214,034Venezuela1,0731,8841,7691,7502,9423,88512,11615,54014,44810,710Chile8531,3521,8684,8365,6795,0836,7817,91113,71622,105Argentina1,4841,9942,3406,0526,9616,5756,57512,69113,08618,556South Africa2,7152,0711,5291,0421,2861,8353,2493,2494,8476,6556,40612,166Australia3,1485,2178,2208,3899,15914,01320,52730,69049,831

1–2008 (Maddison) The following estimates are taken exclusively from the 2007 monograph Contours of the World Economy, 1–2030 AD by the British economist Angus Maddison.Maddison 2007, p. 382, table A.7.

+ GDP (PPP) per capita in 1990 international dollars Country / region 1 1000 1500 1600 1700 1820 1870 1913 1950 1973 1989 2008 Austria 425 425 707 837 993 1,218 1,863 3,465 3,706 11,235 16,360 24,131 Belgium 450 425 875 976 1,144 1,319 2,692 4,220 5,462 12,170 16,744 23,655 Denmark 400 400 738 875 1,039 1,274 2,003 3,912 6,943 13,945 18,261 24,621 Finland 400 400 453 538 638 781 1,140 2,111 4,253 11,085 16,946 24,344 France 473 425 727 841 910 1,135 1,876 3,485 5,271 13,114 17,300 22,223 Germany 408 410 688 791 910 1,077 1,839 3,648 3,881 11,966 16,558 20,801 Italy 809 450 1,100 1,100 1,100 1,117 1,499 2,564 3,502 10,634 15,969 19,909 Netherlands 425 425 761 1,381 2,130 1,838 2,757 4,049 5,996 13,082 16,695 24,695 Norway 400 400 610 664 723 801 1,360 2,447 5,430 11,323 18,157 28,500 Sweden 400 400 695 824 977 1,198 1,662 3,096 6,739 13,493 17,710 24,409 Switzerland 425 410 632 750 890 1,090 2,102 4,266 9,064 18,204 20,935 25,104 United Kingdom 400 400 714 974 1,250 1,706 3,190 4,921 6,939 12,025 16,414 23,742 12 country average 599 425 798 907 1,032 1,243 2,087 3,688 5,018 12,157 16,751 22,246 Portugal 450 425 606 740 819 923 975 1,250 2,086 7,063 10,372 14,436 Spain 498 450 661 853 853 1,008 1,207 2,056 2,189 7,661 11,582 19,706 Other 539 400 472 525 584 711 1,027 1,840 2,538 7,614 10,822 19,701 West European average 576 427 771 889 997 1,202 1,960 3,457 4,578 11,417 15,800 21,672 Eastern Europe 412 400 496 548 606 683 937 1,695 2,111 4,988 5,905 8,569 Former USSR 400 400 499 552 610 688 943 1,488 2,841 6,059 7,112 7,904 United States 400 400 400 400 527 1,257 2,445 5,301 9,561 16,689 23,059 31,178 Other Western offshoots 400 400 400 400 408 761 2,244 4,752 7,425 13,399 16,724 23,073 Average Western offshoots 400 400 400 400 476 1,202 2,419 5,233 9,268 16,179 22,255 30,152 Mexico 400 400 425 454 568 759 674 1,732 2,365 4,853 5,899 7,979 Other Latin America 400 400 410 431 502 661 677 1,438 2,531 4,435 4,203 5,750 Latin American average 400 400 416 438 527 691 676 1,493 2,503 4,513 5,131 6,973 Japan 400 425 500 520 570 669 737 1,387 1,921 11,434 17,943 22,816 China 450 450 600 600 600 600 530 552 448 838 1,834 6,725 India 450 450 550 550 550 533 533 673 619 853 1,270 2,975 Other East Asia 425 425 554 564 561 568 594 842 771 1,485 2,528 4,696 West Asia 522 621 590 591 591 607 742 1,042 1,776 4,854 4,590 6,947 Asian average (excl. Japan) 457 466 572 576 572 577 548 658 639 1,225 2,683 5,611 Africa 472 425 414 422 421 420 500 637 890 1,410 1,444 1,780 World 467 450 566 596 616 667 873 1,526 2,113 4,091 5,130 7,614 Country / region 1 1000 1500 1600 1700 1820 1870 1913 1950 1973 1989 2008

A From 1 AD to 1913 AD, India includes modern Pakistan and Bangladesh. From 1950 onwards, India refers only to the modern Republic of India.

Maddison's assumptions have been criticized and admired by academics and journalists. Bryan Haig has characterized Maddison's figures for 19th century Australia as "inaccurate and irrelevant",Haig, Bryan. 2005. "Review of The World Economy: Historical Statistics by Angus Maddison," Economic Reports, volume 81. John Caldwell's assessed Maddison's arguments as having a "dangerous circularity",Caldwell, John C. (Sept. 2002), "Reviewed Work(s): The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective by Angus Maddison", Population and Development Review, Vol. 28, No. 3., pp. 559-561. and W. W. Rostow said, "this excessive macroeconomic bias also causes him (Maddison) to mis-date, in my view, the beginning of what he calls the capitalist era at 1820 rather than, say, the mid-1780s."Rostow, W. W. "Reviewed Work(s): Phases of Capitalist Development. by Angus Maddison," The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 45, No. 4. (Dec., 1985), pp. 1026-1028.

A number of economic historians have criticized Maddison's estimates for Asia. For example, W. J. MacPherson has described Maddison's work on India and Pakistan of using "dubious comparative data."MacPherson, W. J. "Reviewed Work(s): Class Structure and Economic Growth. India and Pakistan since the Moghuls by Angus Maddison." The Economic Journal, Vol. 82, No. 328. (Dec., 1972), pp. 1470-1472. Paul Bairoch has criticized Maddison's work for underestimating the per-capita incomes of non-European regions, particularly in Asia, before the 19th century; according to Bairoch, per-capita income in Asia (especially China and India) was higher than in Europe prior to the 19th century. Others such as Andre Gunder Frank, Robert A. Denemark, Kenneth Pomeranz and Amiya Kumar Bagchi have criticized Maddison for grossly underestimating per-capita income and GDP growth rates in Asia (again, mainly China and India) for the three centuries up to 1820, and for refusing to take into account contemporary research demonstrating significantly higher per-capita income and growth rates in Asia. According to Frank and Denemark, his per-capita income figures for Asia up to 1820 are not credible, go "against what we know from sources" and may need to be adjusted by a factor of two. Maddison's estimates have also been critically reviewed and revised by the Italian economists Giovanni FedericoFederico 2002, pp. 111–120 and Elio Lo Cascio/Paolo Malanima (see below).Lo Cascio, Malanima Dec. 2009, pp. 391–420

However, economist and journalist Evan Davis has praised Maddison's research by saying that it a "fantastic publication" and "based on the detailed scholarship of the world expert on historical economic data Angus Maddison." He added, "One shouldn't read the book in the belief the statistics are accurate to 12 decimal places."

1750–1990 (Bairoch) In his 1995 book Economics and World History, economic historian Paul Bairoch gave the following estimates in terms of 1960 US dollars, for GNP per capita from 1750 to 1990, comparing what are today the Third World (part of Asia, Africa, Latin America) and the First World (Western Europe, Northern America, Japan, Singapore and South Korea).

+ GNP (PPP) per capita in US dollars Year 1960 dollars 1990 dollars Third World First World Third World First World 1750 188 182 1800 188 198 1830 183 237 1860 174 324 1900 175 540 1913 192 662 1928 194 782 1938 202 856 1950 214 1,180 1970 340 2,540 1980 390 2,920 1990 430 3,490

According to Bairoch, in the mid-18th century, "the average standard of living in Europe was a little bit lower than that of the rest of the world."Chris Jochnick, Fraser A. Preston (2006), Sovereign Debt at the Crossroads: Challenges and Proposals for Resolving the Third World Debt Crisis, pages 86-87, Oxford University Press He noted variations within both groups in 1750, citing the Asian civilizations of China and India as being the wealthiest among the Third World group, and Russia and Eastern/Southeastern Europe as being the poorest among the First World group. He estimated that, in 1750, the average per-capita income of the East (Asia and Africa) was roughly equal to that of Western Europe, and that China's per-capita income was on-par with the leading European economies. He estimated that it was after 1800 that Western European per-capita income pulled ahead of the East. China was still ahead in 1800; his GNP per capita estimates for 1800, in terms of 1960 dollars, are $228 for China ($ in 1990 dollars) and $213 for Western Europe ($ in 1990 dollars). But China fell behind not long after, falling to $204 ($ in 1990 dollars) by 1860.

China