10 Richest Countries In The World

1. Switzerland $540,010

- Switzerland, Famed for its Swiss Alps, neutral polices and secure banking, Switzerland’s wealth grew after World War 2 when people from other European countries deposited their money in the banks of Switzerland which were considered to be the safest option. Apart from the financial and banking industry, Switzerland’s economy is also bolstered by Swiss companies like Nestle, Logitech, Rolex and Credit Suisse. And who wouldn’t like to find a Toblerone in their stocking this Christmas?

2. Australia $396,745

Australia is rich in natural resources which are being mined and sold for a healthy profit often at the expense of our natural environment. It all started with the gold rush in the 1820s and has been snowballing since then. The Australian dollar is high and tourism remains another mainstay of our economy. As an indicator of our resources, both underground and our pristine natural environment, Australian companies range from mining giants Rio Tinto to surf brands Billabong and Rip Curl.

3. Norway $355,925

- NorwayThe Kingdom of Norway is one a few highly developed countries in Europe that are not part of the European Union. Naturally rich in oil and natural gas, Norway is well known for its high cost of living. But the standard of living is high too with public health care free (above a certain level) and 46 weeks paid parental leave for new parents. Norway is also the second least densely populated country in Europe.

4. France $293,685

France has been a power house with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe, and around the world, for the last 500 years. Financial services, banking and the insurance sector are an important part of France’s economy; the French insurance company AXA is the world’s largest insurance company. France is also famed for it’s fine wine, food, fashion and design. Top French companies include Michelin, Louis Vuitton and L’Oreal. Mais oui.

List continued HERE

I found this list really suprising to be honest, one would expect to see the US on there, apparently not. I guess when it comes down to it, if you remove money from the situation then what you have is resources, and some of the countries on the list are rolling in them. Someone told me today that Brazil have just discovered loads of a very valuable resource used in electronics which could be interesting. It seems to me that paper money will eventually become obsolete, so maybe this list is a good indicator of which countries may hold the most wealth in the future, based on their resources.

Something else that blows me away, and I live in Australia, I guess we really are lucky

According to the 2011 Credit Suisse Global Wealth report published in October 2011, Australia has a median wealth of US$222,000 (AU$217,559). That’s the highest in the world and nearly four times the amount of each US adult.

Apparently the wealth of your average Australian is 55 times greater than the average wealth around the world.

5. Singapore $284,692

The tiny island nation of Singapore has the busiest port in the world and is the fourth largest foreign exchange trading center in the world. Singapore is a world leader in several economic areas including finance, casinos, oil refining and foreign trading. Singapore attracts business because its economy is known as one of the freest, most innovative, most competitive, most business friendly and least corrupt in the world.

6. Sweden $284,146

Sweden is an export-oriented mixed economy with a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external communications, and a skilled labor force. Resources include timber and hydropower while the economy is heavily oriented toward foreign trade. Famous Swedish exports include Björn Borg, Abba and Ikea where I bought a lot of my furniture after moving to Australia. I’d love to visit the Swedish capital of Stockholm and Swedish Lapland which is seen as Europe’s last wilderness and a place where you can glimpse the northern lights and the midnight sun.

7. Belgium $275,524

The Kingdom of Belgium has more going for it than just chocolate. Belgium has a strongly globalized economy and a transportation infrastructure integrated with the rest of Europe. Being smack in the middle of a highly industrialized region has helped make Belgium one of the world’s largest trading nations although it is often viewed as one of the least interesting. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force and high exports. Belgium most famous import is raw diamonds and it’s most famous export (apart from chocolate) is finished diamonds. Well known Belgian companies include Guylian, Godiva and Stella Artois.

8. Italy $259,826

Italy didn’t get rich from exporting pizza. Italy’s wealth comes from its influential and innovative business economic sector, an industrious and competitive agricultural sector which is the world’s largest wine producer, and its creative and high-quality automobile, industrial, appliance and fashion design. Famous Italian companies include Fiat, Pirelli, Versace, Benneton and the coffee companies Illy and Lavazza.

9. United Kingdom $257,881

Like many countries in this list the UK’s wealth was kick started by colonizing other countries and plundering their natural and often human resources. I’m British so I’m allowed to say that kind of thing. With our colonial hey day long over, the economy in the UK remained strong because we kick-started the scientific and industrial revolutions. Today the economy in the UK is based around the automotive, aerospace and pharmaceutical industries. Even in the midst of a recession and with the British Pound plummeting in value, the UK still makes the 10 top richest counties list and you can’t beat UK companies like Rolls Royce, Virgin and Cadburys for global recognition.

10. Japan $248,770

Despite the terrible, tragic tsunami earlier this year Japan is still a rich country. Japan’s labor force consists of about 65.9 million workers and the country has a huge industrial capacity. Japan has some of the biggest producers of motor vehicles, electronics and processed foods. Agriculture and fishing are important industries too. People all over the world love Japanese brands like Nintendo, Toyota, Sony and, my personal favourite, Hello Kitty.

Source

Quite interesting.. Have to admit surprised to see france listed..
But overall its as expected..

Here's another perspective -

Here is a top 10 list of worlds richest countries according to CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia measured by GDP per capita. For those in the dark – GDP or Gross Domestic Product – is the value of all the goods that a country produces. GDP per capita stands for the value an average person produces.

10. Switzerland – $39,800 (GDP per capita)

This cheese making country is considered to be one of the most neutral countries in the world. During World War 2, people from other European countries deposited their money in the banks of Switzerland, knowing that their money would be safer there than in their home countries. Some well known Swiss companies include Nestle, Logitech, Rolex and Credit Suisse.

9. Equatorial Guinea – $44,100

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a country in Central Africa. Most people have never heard of it. This country flew into stardom after 1996 when large oil reserves were found in the nation of only 0,5 million people. While being one of the largest producers of oil in Africa, little has been made to improve the living conditions of the people. Corruption is widespread and ordinary people are mostly living in poverty. The gap between rich and poor is probably the largest in the world.

8. Ireland - $45,600

This member of European Union has been often admired as one of the most modern knowledge economies in the world. Ireland is the largest maker of computer software in the world. A study done by The Economist ranked the Celtic Tiger to have the best quality of life in the world.

7. United States – $46,000

What sets the US apart from most other countries in this list is its size. While most other countries in this list are among the smallest in the world the US has a population of over 300 million and a total land area of 3,79 million square miles (9.83 million sq km). The US is also home to the largest amount of billionaires in the world. It is speculated that as many billionaires live in the US as in the rest of the world.

6. Singapore – $48,900

This tiny country consists of 63 island and some mainland with a total area of only 270 square miles (704 sq km). With Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan it is considered one of the Four Asian Tigers. Singapore has the busiest port in the world and is the 4th largest foreign exchange trading center in the world. Singapore is widely believed to be the most business-friendly economy in the world.



. United Arab Emirates – $55,200
This oil and natural gas rich country has a highly developed economy which makes it one of the most developed in the world. Having more money than they know what to do with, they have built numerous artificial islands and just finished building the worlds highest structure – Burj Khalifa. It is 828 meters tall, being about 2 times as high as the Empire State Building in New York. It is estimated that about 1/4th of the total construction going on in the world is taking place in Dubai – one of the largest cities in United Arab Emirates.

4. Kuwait – $55,300
In Arabic Kuwait translates to “Fortress built near water”. In addition to being on the coast of the Persian Gulf this country has well known neighbors like Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Kuwait has the worlds fifth largest proven oil reserves – about 10% of the worlds total. Being a country without taxes, about 80% of the governments revenue comes from exporting oil. Having the the second-most free economy in the Middle East, Kuwait has one of the fastest growing economies in the region. (Thanks to Alsab3a from Stumbleupon for a little tip!)

3. Norway – $55,600
Norway is one of the few highly developed countries in Europe tthat are not part of the European Union. This oil and natural gas rich country has living costs more than 30% higher than in the United States. In 2006 only Russia and Saudi Arabia exported more oil than Norway.

2. Qatar – $75,900
This Arabic speaking country has less than million people and gained independence from Great Britain only in 1971. Qatar used to be a poor Islamic country but since the discovery of oil and natural gas in the 1940s, it is completely transformed. With no income tax it is one of the least taxed countries in the world, while still offering most of its services to the population for free. (Who needs tax when you have all this oil and gas money coming in).

In 2009 Qatar is also expected to be the fastest growing economy in the world!

1. Luxembourg – $80,800
This tiny country with a total population of less than 500 000 is a true European miracle. By tiny we mean the 8 smallest country in the world. From top to bottom it’s only about 50 miles and at its widest about 30 miles.

Where does the money come from?
Well, there is over 250 banks crammed into the small country! It has the largest banking concentration in the European Union and probably in the world. In addition to being rich the people are smart as well. In elementary school everyone studi

I'd like to see the immigration laws and requirements to get into those countries.

Are they easier or harder then U.S. requirements?

Job skills required are?

How long do visa's last in those countries? Can they become citizens?

US has 300million people. We let anyone and everyone in here....almost.

That data may be correct on face level. Seems a little skewered to me.

reply to post by niceguybob


Just marry someone with a European passport, no dramas....

France, Italy and UK are in there aka the laughing stocks of Europe. What a moronic list.

reply to post by eldard


While I have to agree with the whole moronic lists thing.. But while you might think we (British) are nothing more than a laughing stock.. the same thing can be said down the ages and the same rules apply.. he who gets the last laugh.. laughs most


Thus far.. we've been laughing the most regardless if we're at the top or bottom of such lists

reply to post by niceguybob

Did you have an idea that you can get immigration legal advice for migrating to australia? You may, of course, think that the legal issues are not important when you apply for an Australian visa. But this is definitely not the case, legal issues are very crucial in deciding whether or not you should be allowed a visa to enter into Australian territory. Australia does not want to make it easy for anyone to just sign in a few forms and get in to the country for making a living out of the economic resources that are on offer here. This is why the visa requirement for immigrating into Australia has some of the toughest pre-conditions that are set by any country in the world.

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I am sure country's that are at the top of the list,have these measures in place.

reply to post by sir_slide


it doesn't mean the Countries total wealth, it refers to median wealth:

According to the 2011 Credit Suisse Global Wealth report published in October 2011, Australia has a median wealth of US$222,000 (AU$217,559). That’s the highest in the world and nearly four times the amount of each US adult. BLOG info

Median in this instance means household wealth of people living in a Country:

Wealth of nations: Top 10 countries by average wealth per adult

I'm sorry I am always defending France around here.... I will generally only speak on what I know though and I know France and live there.

I do not understand the surprise about France, nor the common ideas about it being a socialist country, being poor or any of that. I live much better in France than I did in the US. Overall, it seems, from the limited point of view of a citizen, to be richer. I mean, because what people have is not on credit, like everyone I know in the states who have a bunch of possessions but don't own any of them! Is it because they don't believe in letting others know what you have? They believe in hiding it and avoiding jealousy. Everyone I know has wealth they hide at home. leftovers from having war on your land? I don't know. It does make home burglary a problem, I guess. Two people I know had their home broken into and their gold was found and taken. You get more and more creative with hiding it though!

But that is also why the french are not panicking about the mess the other countries are dragging us all down into. Appearences are really not trustworthy.

But maybe I'm ruining their game when I expose that. Choose to wave them off as poor and emptyhanded... at least no one will turn their envy their way!

Originally posted by Bluesma
But that is also why the french are not panicking about the mess the other countries are dragging us all down into. Appearences are really not trustworthy.

Because they are in denial. In a typical Frenchie way. Care to guess who's exposed the most to toxic Greek debt?

reply to post by sir_slide


You mention resources as a qualifier (over money) for the list, If they are talking resources, then they must be factoring in political barriers to recovery of those resources to keep the USA off the upper part of their list. US is rolling in resources, oil, natural gas, trees, fertile land, water, minerals, metal deposits, essentially everything this nation could want sits at their fingertips... except DC is filled with windbags that do everything in their power to block development of those resources. It is no small coincidence that the decline of America's dominance and growth parallels the heightened restrictions on everything from resource development to industrial processing of those resources. But we've got media driven geniuses protesting wall street and the banks to make sure the average American keeps their thought pattern away from recognizing this fact.

Originally posted by eldard

Originally posted by Bluesma
But that is also why the french are not panicking about the mess the other countries are dragging us all down into. Appearences are really not trustworthy.

Because they are in denial. In a typical Frenchie way. Care to guess who's exposed the most to toxic Greek debt?

You may be right. I am not sure yet. I mean everyone here is aware of the current situation, and aware that the euro just may fall apart completely now, and all that. But no one seems particularly worried. I still think it might be related to the gold hoarding habits- even if the euro fails in a day, or the banks all go under, their gold is still valuable anyway. So they seem to project that underlying security on everything else- like the common way they have of thinking the government must have hidden wealth to just "unblock" when they choose, as the citizens themselves all do.

But I also live in a rural area, where people get what they need to live locally, so that, with the savings they have in gold, makes them at less risk of the economies blunders.

reply to post by eldard


I must say it's most unlike you uttering anti-UK rhetoric etc.

It's becoming that frequent, and sadly predictable, that one suspects there maybe more than just an element of jealousy behind your bigotry.

Shouldn't China be in here?

Originally posted by Freeborn
reply to post by eldard

 

I must say it's most unlike you uttering anti-UK rhetoric etc.

It's becoming that frequent, and sadly predictable, that one suspects there maybe more than just an element of jealousy behind your bigotry.

You betcha. I'm extremely jealous of your 50% tax rates and increasing crime wave.

You sure are. Where are you from?
The US? (Good luck with healthcare)
Israel? (Don't get me started.)

Maybe you should spend less money killing people that live in caves (talking about proud...) and more on your society which is as we speak decaying and rotting in its own filth.

reply to post by eldard


If I earned over the £150,000 p.a. on which 50% tax is paid then I wouldn't complain if it was to help those British citizens who were less fortunate than me.

I don't think more crimes are being committed in the UK, certainly that's not my gut feeling from travelling around and talking to people from all over.
I think crimes that people used to fail to report for a multitude of reasons are now being reported and more vigorously recored.

Probably a discussion best left for another thread, as is your obsessive, unreasoned and bigotted dislike of all things British....I should never have mentioned it in this thread - apologies to the OP.

reply to post by Freeborn


And who told y ou I hate the British? Just because I like to make fun of everyone else doesn't mean I hate them. Though I get a kick when they react. The more violent the better. I actually desire a Brit car the most. And when I'm finally able to afford that I'd make sure I have back up funds to deal with pathetic Brit engineering.