Data for 1978

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1978

Name: Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1978
Creator: Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC)
License: https://doi.org/10.34894/INZBF2

1978, 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), 1978 covers 150 countries. Qatar is highest, at 47,072; Chad is lowest, at 808. The middle country reads 5,348. Against 1977, 149 values changed (114 up, 35 down), the same countries are covered.

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Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison) · Data for 1978

HighestQatar

47,072

LowestChad

808

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

150countries
1measure
1978the year it describes
146distinct values12 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), 1978, 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), 1978: every country, as published by Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC).
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	47,072
2	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	35,936
3	United States`USA`Northern America	29,286
4	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	26,363
5	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	26,159
6	Canada`CAN`Northern America	24,994
7	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	24,331
8	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	23,632
9	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	22,992
10	France`FRA`Western Europe	22,698
11	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	22,646
12	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	22,579
13	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	22,061
14	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	21,948
15	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	21,605
16	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	21,447
17	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	20,593
18	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	20,448
19	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	20,293
20	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	20,060
21	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	20,014
22	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	19,230
23	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	19,182
24	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	18,425
25	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	18,042
26	Venezuela`VEN`South America	17,481
27	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	16,139
28	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	14,689
29	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	13,860
30	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	13,569
31	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	13,265
32	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	13,150
33	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	12,463
34	Argentina`ARG`South America	12,444
35	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	12,055
36	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	11,829
37	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	11,700
38	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	11,588
39	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	11,014
40	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	9,967
41	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	9,958
42	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	9,741
43	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	9,594
44	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	9,561
45	Uruguay`URY`South America	9,483
46	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	9,341
47	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	9,075
48	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	8,730
49	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	8,710
50	Mexico`MEX`Central America	8,690
51	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	8,257
52	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	8,080
53	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	8,013
54	Chile`CHL`South America	7,936
=55	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	7,763
=55	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	7,763
57	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	7,519
58	Brazil`BRA`South America	7,425
59	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	7,037
60	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	6,653
61	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	6,583
62	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	6,513
63	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	6,476
64	Peru`PER`South America	6,454
65	Colombia`COL`South America	6,443
66	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	6,350
67	Ecuador`ECU`South America	6,314
68	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	6,156
69	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	6,027
70	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	5,977
71	Panama`PAN`Central America	5,946
72	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	5,926
73	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	5,906
74	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	5,856
75	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	5,482
76	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	5,214
77	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	4,874
78	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	4,812
79	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	4,771
80	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	4,463
81	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	4,375
82	Bolivia`BOL`South America	4,328
83	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	4,304
84	Paraguay`PRY`South America	4,302
85	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	4,218
86	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	4,114
87	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	3,861
88	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	3,696
89	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	3,636
90	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3,606
91	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	3,583
92	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	3,451
93	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	3,419
94	Honduras`HND`Central America	3,346
95	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	3,298
96	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	3,202
97	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	3,196
98	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	3,030
99	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	2,939
100	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	2,909
101	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	2,727
102	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	2,694
103	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	2,595
104	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	2,365
105	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	2,082
106	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	2,028
107	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	2,008
108	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	2,005
109	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	1,969
110	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	1,964
111	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1,934
112	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1,859
113	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	1,766
=114	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	1,744
=114	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	1,744
116	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1,720
117	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1,656
118	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	1,650
119	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	1,604
120	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	1,581
121	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	1,541
122	India`IND`Southern Asia	1,540
123	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1,537
124	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	1,530
125	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	1,524
126	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1,519
127	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	1,495
128	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	1,465
129	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1,446
130	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	1,398
131	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	1,291
132	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	1,285
133	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1,275
=134	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	1,205
=134	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1,205
136	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1,189
137	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	1,111
138	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1,105
139	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	1,101
140	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	1,070
141	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	1,042
142	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	1,015
=143	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	993
=143	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	993
145	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	991
146	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	964
147	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	952
148	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	897
149	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	878
150	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	808

02In 1978

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Qatar47,072
2United Arab Emirates35,936
3United States29,286
4Kuwait26,363
5Switzerland26,159

Lowest

150Chad808
149Bangladesh878
148Guinea897
147Ethiopia952
146Comoros964

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 5,348. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031977 → 1978

Since 1977

+0 / −0countries joined / left
149values changed, of 150 in both
114 · 35rose · fell
1unchanged

Rose most

Trinidad and Tobago16,412 → 18,042+1,630
Slovenia18,595 → 20,014+1,419
United States28,001 → 29,286+1,285
Iraq7,957 → 9,075+1,118
Iceland21,465 → 22,579+1,114

Fell most

United Arab Emirates41,915 → 35,936−5,979
Gabon10,849 → 8,013−2,836
Iran10,205 → 8,710−1,495
Argentina13,236 → 12,444−792
Djibouti4,036 → 3,419−617

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 1978.
146 distinct values among 150
Values are stored exactly as published, to 12 decimals. 2 countries share 7,763. 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
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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-1978-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) (1978). Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1978 [data set], describing 1978. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/historical-gdp-per-capita/1978

06112 held

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