GDP per Capita (World Bank): an Interactive Data Story from Our World in Data
This dataset gives GDP per person, adjusted for differences in prices between countries and for inflation, from the World Bank World Development Indicators. It is the most widely used measure of average living standards for comparing countries today.
On this page the dataset is downloaded live from Our World in Data, straight into your browser, and turned into an interactive dashboard and a data story told as a newspaper front page. Nothing is uploaded to a server and nothing needs installing.
Interactive dashboard and data story
At a glance
| Indicator | GDP per Capita (World Bank) |
| Unit | int-$ |
| Coverage | yearly values from 1990 to the latest release |
| Highlighted entities | World, United States, China, India, Germany |
| OWID chart id | gdp-per-capita-worldbank |
| Column | ny_gdp_pcap_pp_kd |
| Story format | Newspaper front page |
| Source | Our World in Data, CC BY 4.0 |
Why this dataset is told as a newspaper front page
The data has regional groups, so ridgelines, beeswarms and rankings all apply. That is the cut of an economic analysis, which reads best as a newspaper front page.
A dated masthead, the brief as the lead story beside the hero chart, then articles in columns with pull quotes. Datastripes can tell any dataset in eight formats: scrolling article, slide deck, conversation, newspaper front page, timeline, tap-through stories, quiz and bento grid. In automatic mode it picks one from the shape of the data. Here the format is fixed to the one that fits this indicator best. You can see every format side by side in the data story gallery.
Background
Since 1990 the average income per person in the world has roughly doubled in real terms. Most of the progress came from Asia: China multiplied its GDP per capita many times over, and India and Vietnam also grew much faster than the rich world.
Growth in rich countries has been slower, with marked pauses during the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic. Some countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, saw little growth per person over the whole period.
How the indicator is measured
Values are GDP per capita in constant international dollars at purchasing power parity, based on the International Comparison Program price surveys. PPP corrects for the fact that the same money buys more in a poor country than in a rich one.
What to look for in the data
- China’s GDP per capita grew faster than any other large economy since 1990.
- The 2009 and 2020 recessions are clearly visible as dips across almost every rich country.
- Germany and the US grew at similar rates, with the US keeping a lead in level.
- India crossed the world average only on a growth rate basis; its level is still well below it.
Limits and caveats
- PPP figures are revised whenever new price surveys come out, sometimes substantially.
- GDP measures production, not well-being or how income is distributed.
- Data are missing for some countries in conflict or with weak statistical systems.
Who uses gdp per capita (world bank) data
- Economists and macro analysts
- Investors comparing markets
- Development professionals
- Students of economics
How to analyze this dataset yourself
- Open the data. Download the CSV from the Our World in Data chart and drop it into Datastripes. It loads in your browser, with no upload.
- Filter the entities. The file has one row per country and year. Filter the
entitycolumn to the countries or regions you care about, or usecode(for exampleowid_wrl) to pick out aggregates. - Pick a time window. Sort or filter on the time column to isolate a period, such as the years before and after a policy change.
- Join other indicators. Add a second OWID file, for example GDP or population, and join it on entity and year to look for relations.
- Forecast and simulate. Run a no-code forecast on any series, or build what-if scenarios on top of it.
- Publish a story. Turn your filtered table into a data story in any of the eight formats and embed it on your site with the Datastripes dashboard widget.
Related data stories
- GDP Per Capita (Maddison): newspaper front page
- Life Expectancy: timeline
- CO2 Emissions: timeline
- Global Population: bento grid
- All data stories in the gallery
Frequently asked questions
What is PPP?
Purchasing power parity converts currencies at the rate that makes the same basket of goods cost the same everywhere.
Why does this start in 1990?
The World Bank PPP series starts in 1990. For longer history, see the Maddison GDP per capita page.
Is this the same as average income?
Close, but not quite. GDP includes profits, depreciation and government output, so it is higher than typical household income.
Data: Our World in Data, published under CC BY 4.0, downloaded in your browser when you open this page. Datastripes is not affiliated with Our World in Data. Visualisations are generated automatically and may lag behind the latest OWID release by a few days.