The Economist has published for the second year a new ranking of countries by GDP per capita adjusted for prices and hours worked. GDP per capita adjusted for the cost of life is nothing new. It's usually known as GDP per capita at PPP (purchasing-power parity). What's interesting here is the huge difference in ranking once adjusted for hours actually worked. Countries where people spend long hours at work, like in East Asia, see their rank drop considerably, while countries known for their work-life balance (Scandinavia, Germany, Benelux, France) go up in the ranking. Note that the ranking excludes Ireland because their GDP calculations are skewed due to the large presence of American multinationals having their European HQ there.
Here is the ranking adjusted for prices and hours worked (NB: I only listed the countries with a GDP per capita over $20,000):
What I found most surprising in this ranking is how well Turkey does (just behind Canada!) and how poorly Japan is ranked (43rd, behind Romania, Poland and Guyana!). On the other hand it's true that the Japanese are not efficient workers. They spend far too long in the office, often just waiting for their boss to finish as it's frowned upon to leave work before the boss. Japan also has lots of useless jobs that do not create any value like young women greeting customers in shops or companies, people guiding cars outside of car parks or warning pedestrians about construction on the pavement when a simple sign would do. These are just a few of many examples of unproductive jobs that merely exist for convenience's sake or as a courtesy to customers.
In Europe, Belgium went up the most once adjusted per hours worked. That in itself is not surprising considering how little people work here. It always takes ages to get anything done as people are out of office or away on holidays.
Greece has dropped far in the ranking since the 2008 financial crisis. Greeks now earn about the same per hour as Russians, and less than people from Mauritius and the Seychelles.
Here is the ranking adjusted for prices and hours worked (NB: I only listed the countries with a GDP per capita over $20,000):
- Norway : $119,000
- Luxembourg: $112,000
- Qatar: $101,000
- Belgium: $92,600
- Denmark: $90,800
- Switzerland : $90,000
- Iceland : $86,600
- Austria : $86,300
- Sweden : $85,300
- United States : $83,400
- Netherlands : $83,400
- Germany : $82,800
- Singapore : $81,000
- France : $80,200
- Finland : $75,900
- Britain : $69,300
- UAE : $69,200
- Italy : $68,900
- Macau : $67,600
- Australia : $67,300
- Andorra : $65,900
- Spain : $65,400
- Bahrain : $64,400
- Canada : $63,400
- Turkey : $61,400
- Slovenia : $57,600
- Kuwait : $56,300
- Malta : $56,300
- Hong Kong : $55,300
- Brunei : $55,000
- Saudi Arabia : $54,800
- Lithuania : $54,500
- Portugal : $53,500
- Slovakia : $53,200
- Israel : $53,100
- Czechia : $52,900
- Guyana : $52,600
- Puerto Rico : $51,800
- Latvia : $51,200
- Poland : $51,200
- Romania : $50,500
- New Zealand : $49,800
- Japan : $49,200
- Estonia : $48,900
- Croatia : $47,900
- Cyprus : $47,700
- Hungary : $46,700
- Kazakhstan : $46,500
- South Korea : $45,300
- Seychelles : $45,100
- Oman : $44,000
- Mauritius : $41,000
- Panama : $40,900
- Russia : $39,400
- Greece : $39,300
- Montenegro : $38,300
- Bulgaria : $37,900
- Belarus : $37,300
- Bahamas : $36,400
- St Kitts & Nevis : $34,700
- Argentina : $34,200
- Antigua & Barbuda : $33,000
- Trinidad & Tobago : $32,900
- Chile : $32,500
- Malaysia : $30,900
- Serbia : $30,600
- Gabon : $30,500
- Botswana : $27,500
- Costa Rica : $27,500
- North Macedonia : $27,400
- Georgia : $27,100
- Azerbaijan : $26,700
- Equatorial Guinea : $26,100
- Saint Lucia : $25,600
- Bosnia : $25,500
- South Africa : $25,400
- Armenia : $25,200
- Maldives : $24,600
- Albania : $24,200
- Brazil : $23,400
- Barbados : $22,800
- Mexico : $22,400
- Dominican Republic : $21,600
- St Vincent & the Grenadines : $20,500
What I found most surprising in this ranking is how well Turkey does (just behind Canada!) and how poorly Japan is ranked (43rd, behind Romania, Poland and Guyana!). On the other hand it's true that the Japanese are not efficient workers. They spend far too long in the office, often just waiting for their boss to finish as it's frowned upon to leave work before the boss. Japan also has lots of useless jobs that do not create any value like young women greeting customers in shops or companies, people guiding cars outside of car parks or warning pedestrians about construction on the pavement when a simple sign would do. These are just a few of many examples of unproductive jobs that merely exist for convenience's sake or as a courtesy to customers.
In Europe, Belgium went up the most once adjusted per hours worked. That in itself is not surprising considering how little people work here. It always takes ages to get anything done as people are out of office or away on holidays.
Greece has dropped far in the ranking since the 2008 financial crisis. Greeks now earn about the same per hour as Russians, and less than people from Mauritius and the Seychelles.
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