10. Brazil. $1,067,962 million (£0.53trillion).
The only southern hemisphere country to appear in this list. Rich in mining and agriculture. Exports a lot of shoes, cars and corned beef.
9. Spain. $1,223,988 million (£0.61trillion).
Has the second largest tourism industry in the world – go to Benidorm and watch it – and has thriving agriculture.
8. Canada. $1,251,463million (£0.63trillion).
Rich in oil and trees, Canada is the world’s largest producer of zinc and uranium. Also, has plenty of diamonds.
7. Italy. $1,844,749million (£0.92trillion).
Is divided between a rich north, and poorer agrarian south. Has a large base of small to medium-sized companies, concentrating on high end performance – think Ferrari.
6. France. $2,230,721million (£1.11trillion).
A very productive country, with some 2.5 million registered companies. But will declining prospects for France’s youth see it slip down this list in years to come?
5. United Kingdom. $2,345,015million (£1.17trillion).
Phew! The UK has beaten the French. Alongside New York and Tokyo, London is a major hub for international business. Which comes as welcome news since its manufacturing industry has gone down the very tubes it once made.
4. China. $2,668,071million (£1.33trillion).
Due to its large labour force, and a stunning lack of regulations around how they work, China has forged ahead in terms of manufacture. There are three films and one TV series entitled: ‘Made in China’.
3. Germany. $2,906,681million (£1.45trillion).
Rats! The UK has lost to Germany, which has a large export market for cars, chemicals and machinery. High rates of unemployment contradict Germany’s placing on this list.
2. Japan. $4,340,133million (£2.17trillion).
Prides itself on banking, and a manufacturing industry famous for its high workmanship and technological advance. There is one film entitled: ‘Made in Japan’.
1. United States. $13,201,819million (£6.6trillion).
No surprises for predicting the leader of this top 10. An abundance of natural resources and a lack of unions means the country is well-placed to stay at the top. However, the US government is in debt to some $4.5trillion – much of which it owes to Japan and China.
i only need 0.01% to live my life of this figures from any country.
A per capita wealth list would be greatly appreciated too.
russia need to be in the the 8th place if this is 2006-2008 buy 2012 UN anounce that russia will become in the 5th place
its very great
Germany’ s “high” unemployment is falling quickly to 16 years lows. While the Western German rate of 6 % has already overtaken the USA and Ireland, it will soon also be better than that of the UK as well.
However, it is obvious that does not support or contradict GDP figures in any way.
Will the recession change all of this.
I presently live in Australia and the government here implies that Australia is better off than most other countries in the world?
In fact they say they are the 4th richest country.
Is this true.
America is in so much debt, if china and japan called in on those debts American would plumit from power, fall into utter chaos, and the rest of the world would feel the crunch as well..
On paper America is a very rich country, in reality its extremly poor money wise, as it just prints money out, with out using its gold reserves to back it up;.
so in essence your monopoly money is probably worth just as much as the USD
Australia is indeed a rich country now, it seels ( i think it is coal or something like that ) to China , making vast amounts of cash ( lets hope its not in USD )
But can Australias relativly small population keep up with how much China needs ( i know you have the resources for sure ) 15 million Australias selling a product to 2 billion has got to be a strain.
Also i would say Switzerland is now in the top three…as it has always had a vast amount of gold ( from the first and second world wars ) so it is a rich country very rich in fact
i bet PHILIPPINES will one day be there.
How is Germany which is by far the biggest exporter of goods in the world not also the richest country given it’s relatively small population with respect to how much goods it produces …
What criteria is this list based on …
Martin
I need a loan. Anyone …anyone….
A country with no poverty problem should be listed in this title. Wish that each leader in every country in this world would think and include of such vision in their terms. What a wonderful nation it would be knowing that the people are living in satisfaction with a leader carrying a good-vision.
Josephine
The United States has slipped in terms of technology and innovation. Along with the UK, it has shouldered the the burden of protecting the world and keeping the ballance of peace – by spending far too much money on millitary. However, it has lots of resources including oil and water.
China, like Australia, has a lack of resources particularly water and oil but is extremely productive. It’s lack of water and oil will be it’s unding but it will undoubtedly continue to be one of the largest economies but NOT the largest.
Australia has raw resources (but no oil or water) It’s population is ‘small’ (and can’t grow due to lack of water) poorly educated, unproductive and anything but at the cutting edge of innovation.
Combine Italy, Germany and Spain as part of a united Europe – like china they will need to source oil, probably from Brazil. The European Union (once it has consolidated) WILL be an economic giant as it was during Roman times.
The Ballance of economic power will be in 1) a United Europe, 2) USA, 3) China 4)Russia – due to it’s natural resources and large population