Data for 1954

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1954

Name: Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1954
Creator: Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC)
License: https://doi.org/10.34894/INZBF2

1954, as GGDC’s 2023 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Historical GDP per capita follows each country's output per person back to 1820, in 2011 international dollars, from the Maddison Project Database. It joins economic historians' reconstructions of old national accounts onto modern statistics, so that incomes two centuries apart can be set on one scale.

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1954 covers 149 countries. Kuwait is highest, at 52,920; Botswana is lowest, at 521. The middle country reads 2,291. Against 1953, 147 values changed (120 up, 27 down), the same countries are covered.

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Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison) · Data for 1954

HighestKuwait

52,920

LowestBotswana

521

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

149countries
1measure
1954the year it describes
145distinct values13 decimals, as published
Sep 29, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1954, as published. GGDC ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

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Showing 25 of 149 countries · select a heading to sort

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1954: every country, as published by Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC).
derived
1	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	52,920
2	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	51,490
3	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	31,695
4	United States`USA`Northern America	16,512
5	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	13,936
6	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	13,238
7	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	13,171
8	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	12,419
9	Canada`CAN`Northern America	12,272
10	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	12,145
11	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	11,799
12	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	11,749
13	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	11,010
14	Venezuela`VEN`South America	10,020
15	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	9,923
16	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	9,610
17	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	9,446
18	France`FRA`Western Europe	9,428
19	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	8,364
20	Uruguay`URY`South America	8,273
21	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	7,973
22	Argentina`ARG`South America	7,938
23	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	7,261
24	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	7,092
25	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	6,668
26	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	6,239
27	Chile`CHL`South America	6,237
28	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	6,048
29	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	5,504
30	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	5,378
31	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	4,642
32	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	4,623
33	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	4,543
34	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	4,404
35	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	4,328
36	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	4,322
37	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	4,254
38	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	4,124
39	Peru`PER`South America	4,117
40	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	4,116
41	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	4,109
42	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	4,095
43	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	4,081
44	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	3,947
45	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	3,926
46	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	3,883
47	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3,851
48	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	3,814
=49	Colombia`COL`South America	3,759
=49	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	3,759
51	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	3,743
52	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	3,649
53	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	3,427
54	Ecuador`ECU`South America	3,352
55	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	3,335
56	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	3,287
57	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	3,228
58	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	3,202
59	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	3,194
60	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	3,193
61	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	3,178
62	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	2,992
63	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	2,962
64	Bolivia`BOL`South America	2,868
65	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	2,848
66	Panama`PAN`Central America	2,681
67	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	2,611
68	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	2,609
69	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	2,536
70	Brazil`BRA`South America	2,531
71	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	2,464
72	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	2,385
73	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	2,375
74	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	2,353
75	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	2,291
76	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	2,289
77	Paraguay`PRY`South America	2,255
78	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	2,236
79	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	2,146
80	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	2,099
81	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	2,085
82	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	2,066
83	Honduras`HND`Central America	1,997
84	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	1,991
85	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	1,924
86	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1,884
87	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	1,847
88	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	1,844
89	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	1,833
90	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	1,825
91	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	1,822
92	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	1,801
93	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	1,785
94	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	1,769
95	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	1,720
96	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	1,645
97	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	1,581
98	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	1,517
99	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1,505
100	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	1,492
=101	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	1,431
=101	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	1,431
=103	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	1,417
=103	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	1,417
105	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	1,382
106	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	1,373
107	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	1,364
108	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	1,325
109	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	1,245
=110	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	1,231
=110	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	1,231
112	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	1,175
113	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	1,173
114	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	1,167
115	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	1,148
116	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	1,127
117	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	1,098
118	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1,095
119	India`IND`Southern Asia	1,071
120	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1,068
121	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1,063
122	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	1,049
123	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	1,033
124	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1,030
125	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	1,023
126	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1,014
127	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	928
128	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	901
129	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	888
130	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	886
131	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	872
132	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	864
133	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	838
134	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	778
135	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	764
136	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	756
137	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	735
138	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	730
139	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	708
140	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	668
141	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	665
142	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	662
143	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	658
144	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	652
145	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	650
146	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	590
147	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	587
148	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	566
149	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	521

02In 1954

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Kuwait52,920
2Qatar51,490
3United Arab Emirates31,695
4United States16,512
5New Zealand13,936

Lowest

149Botswana521
148Malawi566
147Guinea587
146Comoros590
145Ethiopia650

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 2,291. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031953 → 1954

Since 1953

+0 / −0countries joined / left
147values changed, of 149 in both
120 · 27rose · fell
2unchanged

Rose most

Kuwait49,989 → 52,920+2,931
United Arab Emirates29,358 → 31,695+2,337
Qatar49,284 → 51,490+2,206
New Zealand12,522 → 13,936+1,414
Israel4,638 → 5,378+740

Fell most

Canada12,726 → 12,272−454
United States16,917 → 16,512−405
Chile6,582 → 6,237−345
Honduras2,184 → 1,997−187
Türkiye2,745 → 2,609−136

04Caveats

Read before you use

Using the series

One year of the 2023 release
Every year in this series comes from GGDC’s 2023 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 1954.
145 distinct values among 149
Values are stored exactly as published, to 13 decimals. 2 countries share 3,759. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 149 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

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.csv
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149 rows · 4.2 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download historical-gdp-per-capita-1954-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
GGDC’s own file, on its own site.
421302

What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC) (1954). Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1954 [data set], describing 1954. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/historical-gdp-per-capita/1954

06112 held

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149 countries
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