Data for 1970

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1970

Name: Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1970
Creator: Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC)
License: https://doi.org/10.34894/INZBF2

1970, 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), 1970 covers 150 countries. Qatar is highest, at 51,921; Malawi is lowest, at 713. The middle country reads 3,967. Against 1969, 149 values changed (121 up, 28 down), 1 country joined.

Download CSV Cite this year

Share this page

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison) · Data for 1970

HighestQatar

51,921

LowestMalawi

713

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

150countries
1measure
1970the year it describes
149distinct 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), 1970, as published. GGDC ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 150 countries · select a heading to sort

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1970: every country, as published by Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC).
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	51,921
2	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	48,927
3	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	39,135
4	United States`USA`Northern America	23,958
5	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	23,479
6	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	20,763
7	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	20,269
8	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	20,221
9	Canada`CAN`Northern America	19,207
10	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	19,166
11	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	19,075
12	France`FRA`Western Europe	18,187
13	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	17,835
14	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	17,277
15	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	17,162
16	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	16,914
17	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	15,983
18	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	15,537
19	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	15,492
20	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	15,484
21	Venezuela`VEN`South America	15,289
22	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	15,266
23	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	14,830
24	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	13,141
25	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	12,913
26	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	12,803
27	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	12,153
28	Argentina`ARG`South America	11,639
29	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	10,197
30	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	10,117
31	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	9,900
32	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	9,881
33	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	9,503
34	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	9,250
35	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	9,234
36	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	8,751
37	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	8,748
38	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	8,724
39	Chile`CHL`South America	8,195
40	Uruguay`URY`South America	8,030
41	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	8,015
42	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	7,608
43	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	7,084
44	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	7,058
45	Mexico`MEX`Central America	6,873
46	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	6,677
47	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	6,650
48	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	6,591
49	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	6,590
50	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	6,545
51	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	6,515
52	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	6,448
53	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	6,164
54	Peru`PER`South America	6,143
55	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	6,135
56	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	6,056
57	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	6,038
58	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	5,984
59	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	5,643
60	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	5,587
61	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	5,536
62	Panama`PAN`Central America	5,131
63	Colombia`COL`South America	4,932
64	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	4,857
65	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	4,774
66	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	4,662
67	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	4,653
68	Brazil`BRA`South America	4,635
69	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	4,547
70	Ecuador`ECU`South America	4,535
71	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	4,463
72	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	4,457
73	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	4,398
74	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	4,251
75	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	4,044
76	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	3,889
77	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	3,818
78	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	3,585
79	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	3,537
80	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	3,488
81	Bolivia`BOL`South America	3,469
82	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	3,314
83	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	3,194
84	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	3,008
85	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	2,976
86	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2,975
87	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	2,912
88	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	2,882
89	Paraguay`PRY`South America	2,825
90	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	2,818
91	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	2,812
92	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	2,778
93	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	2,700
94	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	2,576
95	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	2,488
96	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	2,396
97	Honduras`HND`Central America	2,391
98	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	2,389
99	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	2,287
100	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	2,270
101	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	2,243
102	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	2,203
103	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	2,043
104	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	1,999
105	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	1,961
106	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	1,954
107	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	1,934
108	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	1,882
109	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	1,744
110	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	1,710
111	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	1,704
112	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	1,631
113	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1,567
114	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	1,565
115	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	1,553
116	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	1,548
117	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1,543
118	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1,517
119	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	1,508
120	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	1,492
121	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1,458
122	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1,422
123	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	1,415
124	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	1,398
125	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	1,395
126	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1,385
127	India`IND`Southern Asia	1,384
128	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	1,382
=129	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1,337
=129	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	1,337
131	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	1,272
132	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1,226
133	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	1,224
134	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1,188
135	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	1,172
136	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1,073
137	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1,055
138	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	1,031
139	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	1,023
140	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	1,004
141	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	961
142	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	948
143	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	934
144	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	907
145	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	905
146	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	893
147	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	880
148	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	850
149	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	795
150	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	713

02In 1970

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Qatar51,921
2Kuwait48,927
3United Arab Emirates39,135
4United States23,958
5Switzerland23,479

Lowest

150Malawi713
149Guinea795
148Laos850
147Chad880
146Burundi893

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 3,967. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031969 → 1970

Since 1969

+1 / −0countries joined / left
149values changed, of 149 in both
121 · 28rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Kuwait33,415 → 48,927+15,512
Japan14,145 → 15,484+1,339
Switzerland22,308 → 23,479+1,171
Finland14,151 → 15,266+1,115
Sweden19,215 → 20,269+1,054

Fell most

Qatar56,236 → 51,921−4,315
United Arab Emirates40,639 → 39,135−1,504
Jordan4,420 → 3,818−602
New Zealand18,348 → 17,835−513
Syria6,059 → 5,643−416

+ Czechia

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 1970.
149 distinct values among 150
Values are stored exactly as published, to 13 decimals. 2 countries share 1,337. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 150 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
150 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-1970-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
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) (1970). Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1970 [data set], describing 1970. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/historical-gdp-per-capita/1970

06112 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1969
149 countries
The year after ›
Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1971
150 countries
All of them
Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison): every year
112 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

This edition

The same ranking, cut differently

Behind the number

Browse

By continent

Much-read profiles

Every subject

The numbers

Reading the data