The leading 20 economies showcased by the top 100 richest countries generated roughly three-quarters (75.6 percent) of the world’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The latter equaled US$144.791 trillion at October 2021.
The latest global total for economic wealth increased by 61.2 percent since 2010 when the Great Recession was deepening. From 2020 to 2021, the world’s overall GDP increased by 9.6 percent.
GDP measures the total economic activity in a specific country, including both products and services, regardless if the actual profits technically belong to a firm’s parent country which happens to be in another country. Significant as a measure for a nation’s prosperity, GDP aspires to quantify the total productivity for each nation’s economy.
GDP is also known as a coincident economic indicator according to The Economist, given that it benchmarks the reference point for the overall state-of-the-economy cycle.
The figures in this report were calculated using a Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis as of October 2021, according to the International Monetary Fund’s calculations. PPP adjusts for country-specific prices paid for goods and services.
Our sortable table entitled World’s 100 Wealthiest Economies by GDP Rank is presented further down in this study. This analysis, however, starts by focusing in on the top 20 GDP leaders.
Top 20 Richest Countries by GDP Scores
The following 20 economies generated the highest amount of economic wealth in terms of GDP on a Purchasing Power Parity basis.
- China: US$27.072 trillion (up 11.9% from 2020)
- United States: $22.94 trillion (up 9.8%)
- India: $10.181 trillion (up 13.4%)
- Japan: $5.634 trillion (up 6%)
- Germany: $4.843 trillion (up 6.8%)
- Russia: $4.447 trillion (up 8.5%)
- Indonesia: $3.53 trillion (up 6.9%)
- Brazil: $3.438 trillion (up 9%)
- France: $3.322 trillion (up 10.1%)
- United Kingdom: $3.276 trillion (up 10.6%)
- Turkey: $2.874 trillion (up 12.9%)
- Italy: $2.697 trillion (up 9.6%)
- Mexico: $2,685 trillion (up 10.1%)
- South Korea: $2.503 trillion (up 8%)
- Canada: $2.027 trillion (up 9.5%)
- Spain: $1.984 trillion (up 9.5%)
- Saudi Arabia: $1.734 trillion (up 6.5%)
- Taiwan: $1.443 trillion (up 9.7%)
- Australia: $1.427 trillion (up 7.3%)
- Poland: $1.412 trillion (up 8.9%)
Among the top 20 richest economies, 6 countries increased their GDP scores from 2020 to 2021 namely India (up 13.4%), Turkey (up 12.9%), China (up 11.9%), United Kingdom (up 10.6%), France (up 10.1%) and Mexico (also up 10.1%).
The mildest year-over-year growth for the 20 GDP economies belong to Japan (up 6%), Saudi Arabia (up 6.5%), Germany (up 6.8%), Indonesia (up 6.9%), Australia (up 7.3%) and South Korea (up 8%).
World’s 100 Wealthiest Economies by GDP Rank
Use the table below to search by country name, 2021 GDP amount and percentage changes since 2020 or starting from 2010 when the Great Recession was in progress. You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icons at the top of each column.
| Rank | Economy | GDP PPP (US$) | from 2010 | 2020-1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $27,071,959,000,000 | +120.4% | +11.9% |
| 2. | United States | $22,939,580,000,000 | +52.4% | +9.8% |
| 3. | India | $10,181,166,000,000 | +97.3% | +13.4% |
| 4. | Japan | $5,633,505,000,000 | +24.2% | +6% |
| 5. | Germany | $4,843,389,000,000 | +50.4% | +6.8% |
| 6. | Russia | $4,447,477,000,000 | +46.3% | +8.5% |
| 7. | Indonesia | $3,530,329,000,000 | +71.6% | +6.9% |
| 8. | Brazil | $3,437,609,000,000 | +22.8% | +9% |
| 9. | France | $3,322,310,000,000 | +41.7% | +10.1% |
| 10. | United Kingdom | $3,276,143,000,000 | +44% | +10.6% |
| 11. | Turkey | $2,873,841,000,000 | +124.3% | +12.9% |
| 12. | Italy | $2,697,137,000,000 | +27.6% | +9.6% |
| 13. | Mexico | $2,685,253,000,000 | +48.7% | +10.1% |
| 14. | South Korea | $2,503,395,000,000 | +63% | +8% |
| 15. | Canada | $2,027,371,000,000 | +49.2% | +9.5% |
| 16. | Spain | $1,984,013,000,000 | +34.9% | +9.5% |
| 17. | Saudi Arabia | $1,734,234,000,000 | +22.7% | +6.5% |
| 18. | Taiwan | $1,443,411,000,000 | +62.3% | +9.7% |
| 19. | Australia | $1,427,264,000,000 | +54.4% | +7.3% |
| 20. | Poland | $1,412,297,000,000 | +73.8% | +8.9% |
| 21. | Egypt | $1,381,057,000,000 | +66.6% | +7.1% |
| 22. | Thailand | $1,331,054,000,000 | +50.1% | +4.6% |
| 23. | Iran | $1,189,149,000,000 | -7.3% | +6.2% |
| 24. | Pakistan | $1,157,480,000,000 | +67.2% | +7.7% |
| 25. | Vietnam | $1,141,300,000,000 | +142.2% | +7.5% |
| 26. | Nigeria | $1,136,795,000,000 | +50.5% | +6.3% |
| 27. | Netherlands | $1,079,164,000,000 | +43.8% | +7.5% |
| 28. | Argentina | $1,049,401,000,000 | +42.4% | +11.4% |
| 29. | Philippines | $983,118,000,000 | +85.9% | +6.9% |
| 30. | Malaysia | $969,039,000,000 | +65.1% | +7.2% |
| 31. | Bangladesh | $953,385,000,000 | +146.2% | +9.5% |
| 32. | South Africa | $861,929,000,000 | +30.3% | +8.8% |
| 33. | Colombia | $812,799,000,000 | +67.5% | +11.5% |
| 34. | UAE | $699,444,000,000 | +26.1% | +5.9% |
| 35. | Switzerland | $677,269,000,000 | +53.6% | +7.4% |
| 36. | Romania | $653,903,000,000 | +88.7% | +10.9% |
| 37. | Belgium | $645,401,000,000 | +48.2% | +9.4% |
| 38. | Singapore | $615,293,000,000 | +60.9% | +9.9% |
| 39. | Sweden | $609,478,000,000 | +52.3% | +7.8% |
| 40. | Ukraine | $584,126,000,000 | +54.4% | +7.2% |
| 41. | Ireland | $561,456,000,000 | +180.5% | +17.1% |
| 42. | Kazakhstan | $536,336,000,000 | +70.9% | +7% |
| 43. | Algeria | $532,567,000,000 | +13% | +7.1% |
| 44. | Austria | $531,413,000,000 | +49.7% | +7.7% |
| 45. | Chile | $522,790,000,000 | +61.6% | +15% |
| 46. | Hong Kong | $488,654,000,000 | +41.4% | +10.3% |
| 47. | Czech Republic | $469,067,000,000 | +60.1% | +7.5% |
| 48. | Peru | $453,652,000,000 | +61.6% | +14% |
| 49. | Iraq | $428,859,000,000 | +13.4% | +7.4% |
| 50. | Israel | $421,807,000,000 | +91% | +10.9% |
| 51. | Norway | $378,418,000,000 | +26.9% | +6.7% |
| 52. | Portugal | $376,090,000,000 | +33.5% | +8.2% |
| 53. | Denmark | $370,299,000,000 | +54.9% | +7.5% |
| 54. | Hungary | $359,901,000,000 | +63.3% | +11.5% |
| 55. | Greece | $339,668,000,000 | +9.3% | +10.3% |
| 56. | Sri Lanka | $311,244,000,000 | +87.4% | +7.4% |
| 57. | Morocco | $302,765,000,000 | +45.7% | +9.5% |
| 58. | Ethiopia | $298,574,000,000 | +231.9% | +5.7% |
| 59. | Finland | $293,590,000,000 | +39.4% | +6.7% |
| 60. | Uzbekistan | $291,160,000,000 | +86.4% | +10% |
| 61. | Qatar | $273,903,000,000 | +9.7% | +5.6% |
| 62. | Kenya | $269,286,000,000 | +145.7% | +9.4% |
| 63. | Myanmar | $237,039,000,000 | +55.8% | -15% |
| 64. | New Zealand | $234,992,000,000 | +72% | +8.8% |
| 65. | Dominican Republic | $220,748,000,000 | +99.5% | +13.5% |
| 66. | Angola | $217,970,000,000 | +41.6% | +2.9% |
| 67. | Kuwait | $211,275,000,000 | -4.5% | +4.6% |
| 68. | Ecuador | $204,713,000,000 | +50% | +6.5% |
| 69. | Belarus | $200,712,000,000 | +37.7% | +5.7% |
| 70. | Slovak Republic | $194,081,000,000 | +44.7% | +8.2% |
| 71. | Ghana | $193,627,000,000 | +92.9% | +8.5% |
| 72. | Sudan | $189,867,000,000 | +10.5% | +4.5% |
| 73. | Tanzania | $182,876,000,000 | +105.5% | +7.8% |
| 74. | Bulgaria | $177,697,000,000 | +61.3% | +8.3% |
| 75. | Guatemala | $163,128,000,000 | +71.2% | +9.3% |
| 76. | Ivory Coast | $158,306,000,000 | +117.5% | +9.8% |
| 77. | Azerbaijan | $155,866,000,000 | +15.3% | +6.7% |
| 78. | Oman | $147,787,000,000 | +9.4% | +6.2% |
| 79. | Serbia | $146,552,000,000 | +53.4% | +10.4% |
| 80. | Venezuela | $142,416,000,000 | -70.1% | -1.6% |
| 81. | Syria | $136,359,000,000 | 0% | 0% |
| 82. | Panama | $133,979,000,000 | +142.7% | +16% |
| 83. | Tunisia | $128,841,000,000 | +19.3% | +6.7% |
| 84. | Croatia | $124,779,000,000 | +42.7% | +10.1% |
| 85. | Nepal | $123,175,000,000 | +110.2% | +5.5% |
| 86. | Lithuania | $117,634,000,000 | +83.7% | +8.4% |
| 87. | Puerto Rico | $116,023,000,000 | +0.8% | +3% |
| 88. | Uganda | $115,883,000,000 | +57.2% | +8.5% |
| 89. | Costa Rica | $111,892,000,000 | +90% | +7.6% |
| 90. | Jordan | $111,681,000,000 | +62.6% | +5.7% |
| 91. | Dem. Rep. Congo | $111,090,000,000 | +171.4% | +8.6% |
| 92. | Cameroon | $105,081,000,000 | +92.6% | +7.4% |
| 93. | Bolivia | $105,026,000,000 | +102.3% | +8.7% |
| 94. | Paraguay | $100,913,000,000 | +61.5% | +8.3% |
| 95. | Lebanon | $100,903,500,000 | +36.1% | +27.9% |
| 96. | Turkmenistan | $92,126,000,000 | +18.5% | +8.3% |
| 97. | Slovenia | $90,909,000,000 | +57.6% | +10.2% |
| 98. | Libya | $90,513,000,000 | -53.4% | +131.2% |
| 99. | Uruguay | $84,568,000,000 | +37.8% | +6.8% |
| 100. | Luxembourg | $80,751,000,000 | +77.2% | +9.3% |
GDP Cycles: Boom Versus Bust
According to The Economist, two consecutive quarters of falling GDP technically marks a recession. Other economists define a recession as a year-over-year fall in GDP.
Based on an annual drop in GDP, 2 out of the 100 richest countries experienced a recessionary period from 2020 to 2021. The recession-hit economies in the latest annual period are Myanmar (GDP down -15% year over year) and Venezuela (down -1.6%).
Let’s think beyond the cold economic theory box. There is another type of recession known as a “growth recession” even though GDP is expanding. This is when a nation’s annual GDP growth fails to attain its long-term productive potential. For example, financial analysts point to Japan’s yearly GDP persistently dropping below 3 percent prior to 2020.
GDP Exclusions
Note that GDP does not include every possible transaction that an individual economy generates.
Listed below are examples of items specifically excluded from GDP.
- Transfer payments including government-provided social security and pensions;
- Barter transactions such as exchanging a power drill for a case of beer;
- Second-hand or used products notably automobiles produced in a prior year; and
- Unfinished intermediate goods such as a piece of metal sold before its final sale as a finished component of a dishwasher.
See also Top 100 Poorest Countries by GDP, Latest Richest Countries Ranked by GDP per Capita, Exchange Rates for Top 25 Richest Countries and Central Bank Interest Rates
Research Reference Materials:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Comparison: GDP (Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 13, 2021
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases. Accessed on October 13, 2021
Investopedia, What Is Purchasing Power Parity?. Accessed on October 13, 2021
The Economist, Guide to Economic Indicators: Making Sense of Economics (7th Edition). Accessed on October 13, 2021
Trading Economics, Economic Indicators by Category. Accessed on October 13, 2021
World Bank, GDP, PPP (current international $). Accessed on October 13, 2021
