10. Kuwait: Kuwait is an oil-rich arab country located southeast of Iraq and north of Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf. In 1716 the town of Kuwait (currently Kuwait City) was inhabited by fishermen and used as a fishing community.
In 1937 large oil deposits were discovered by the Kuwait Oil Company at the time owned by US and British businessmen but in 1975 the country of Kuwait took ownership of the conglomerate.
9. Switzerland: Switzerland is a neutral country located in central western Europe. In 2013 Credit Suisse ranked Switzerland the richest country in the world per capita. It has the worlds 19th largest economy by nominal GDP.
8. UAE: United Arab Emirates is a country located in the Persian Gulf south of Qatar and east of Saudi Arabia. The Emirates is a coalition of 7 semi-independent states. According to the CIA library the UAE is 7th in natural oil reserves as well as 7th in crude oil reserves.
7. USA: The United States of America is a country located north of Mexico and south of Canada in North America. According to the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) the US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world.
6. Brunei Darussalam: Located in southeast Asia on the island of Borneo, it is completely surrounded by the country of Malaysia. In 1888 Brunei became a British protectorate and for nearly 100 years was considered a British state until January of 1984 when the country regained its independence.
Throughout the 1990′s and 2000′s Brunei experienced amazing economic growth mostly through its oil and gas deposits. The small nation currently exports 141,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Brunei’s GDP per capita is $54,800 ranking it #12 according to the CIA World Factbook.
5. Hong Kong: Hong Kong is an island province of China located off the southeast coast of China. After over 150 years of British rule the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong to China 1997.
Hong Kong is a major international financial center. Every large financial institution in the world has offices in Hong Kong including Royal Bank of Canada, Goldman Sachs, and Citbank to name a few.
Hong Kong has no tariffs on imported goods, and it levies excise duties on only four commodities (hard alcohol, tobacco, hydrocarbon oil, and methyl alcohol.). GDP – per capita $52,700 ranking it 15th in the world.
4 Norway: The country has tremendous amounts of natural resources including petroleum, a rich fishing supply, forests, and mining. According to to the IRS World Factbook the per capita GDP is $55,400 which ranks 9th in the world. Crude oil production is 902 million barrels per day. Natural gas production is also high for a country of just over 5,000,000 people. The country exports 107.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas daily.
3. Singapore: The rich country of Singapore is #3 on our list of wealthiest countries. It is an independent island/country in the Malay Peninsula.
Singapore is very much a free market economy; according to heritage.org it is the 2nd in the 2014 ‘Index of Economic Freedom’.
The IRS Factbook reports Singapores GDP per capita is $62,400 ranking it 7th in the world.
2. Luxembourg: The very small high income country of Luxembourg ranks #2 on our list. With a population of just over 524,000 people its GDP per capita is $77,900 ranking it #6 in the world. According to the IRS World Factbook growth in the financial sector accounts for 36% of GDP.
1. Qatar: The Wealthiest country on Earth is Qatar. Its a small country population of 278,000 Qatar citizens and and 1,500,000 people temporarily living in the country for various reasons. Qatar is located in the Qatar Peninsula on the northeast side of Saudi Arabia.
Large oil and gas production have made Qatar the world’s highest per-capita income country according to the CIA World Factbook. Per capita GDP is an astonishing $102,100. EconomyWatch.com states that 85% of Qatar’s exports revenues comes from oil and gas and the U.S. Energy Information Administration report shows daily oil production at 1.579 million barrels per day.
Qatar is the host of the 2022 World Cup (soccer), Bloomberg reports the nation plans to spend more than $200 billion on infrastructure including 8 stadiums and hundreds of miles on light rail and transport.
Source: http://wealthwrapup.com/the-wealthiest-countries-in-the-world/10/
