Data for 1979

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1979

Name: Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1979
Creator: Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC)
License: https://doi.org/10.34894/INZBF2

1979, 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), 1979 covers 150 countries. Qatar is highest, at 45,806; Chad is lowest, at 622. The middle country reads 5,414. Against 1978, 150 values changed (109 up, 41 down), the same countries are covered.

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Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison) · Data for 1979

HighestQatar

45,806

LowestChad

622

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

150countries
1measure
1979the year it describes
147distinct 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), 1979, 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), 1979: every country, as published by Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC).
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	45,806
2	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	39,534
3	United States`USA`Northern America	29,949
4	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	28,174
5	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	26,641
6	Canada`CAN`Northern America	25,775
7	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	24,836
8	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	24,409
9	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	23,465
10	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	23,443
11	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	23,347
12	France`FRA`Western Europe	23,326
13	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	22,971
14	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	22,826
15	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	22,305
16	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	22,094
17	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	21,436
18	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	21,367
19	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	20,988
20	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	20,982
21	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	20,472
22	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	20,275
23	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	19,657
24	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	19,580
25	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	18,568
26	Venezuela`VEN`South America	17,135
27	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	16,761
28	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	15,903
29	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	14,193
30	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	13,994
31	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	13,678
32	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	13,335
33	Argentina`ARG`South America	13,114
34	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	13,012
35	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	12,521
36	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	12,326
37	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	12,164
38	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	11,867
39	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	11,837
40	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	10,772
41	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	10,769
42	Uruguay`URY`South America	9,966
43	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	9,964
44	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	9,954
45	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	9,891
46	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	9,580
47	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	9,471
48	Mexico`MEX`Central America	9,307
49	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	9,086
50	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	9,011
51	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	8,745
52	Chile`CHL`South America	8,475
53	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	8,091
54	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	7,967
55	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	7,905
56	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	7,889
57	Brazil`BRA`South America	7,736
58	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	7,678
59	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	6,746
60	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	6,730
61	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	6,709
62	Peru`PER`South America	6,664
63	Colombia`COL`South America	6,658
64	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	6,612
65	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	6,523
66	Ecuador`ECU`South America	6,472
67	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	6,446
68	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	6,376
69	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	6,298
70	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	6,266
71	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	6,247
72	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	6,204
73	Panama`PAN`Central America	6,075
74	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	6,073
75	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	5,510
76	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	5,318
77	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	5,088
78	Paraguay`PRY`South America	4,693
79	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	4,677
80	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	4,546
81	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	4,536
82	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	4,481
83	Bolivia`BOL`South America	4,227
84	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	4,194
85	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	4,183
86	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	3,979
87	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	3,733
88	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	3,716
89	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3,703
90	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	3,649
91	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	3,405
=92	Honduras`HND`Central America	3,382
=92	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	3,382
94	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	3,308
95	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	3,295
96	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	3,247
97	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	3,139
98	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	3,076
99	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	2,990
100	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	2,882
101	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	2,815
102	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	2,810
103	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	2,807
104	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	2,184
105	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	2,158
106	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	2,104
107	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1,959
108	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	1,937
109	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	1,932
110	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	1,930
111	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	1,929
112	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	1,859
113	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	1,785
114	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1,733
115	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	1,714
116	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	1,706
117	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	1,698
118	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1,678
119	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1,651
120	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1,594
121	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	1,584
122	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	1,572
123	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1,556
124	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	1,527
125	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	1,524
126	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	1,468
127	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	1,451
128	India`IND`Southern Asia	1,427
129	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1,360
130	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	1,345
131	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	1,326
132	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	1,325
133	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1,301
134	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	1,267
135	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1,261
136	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	1,240
137	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1,173
138	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1,106
139	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	1,030
=140	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	1,023
=140	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	1,023
142	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	1,011
143	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	999
144	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	977
=145	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	966
=145	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	966
147	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	961
148	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	894
149	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	869
150	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	622

02In 1979

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Qatar45,806
2United Arab Emirates39,534
3United States29,949
4Kuwait28,174
5Switzerland26,641

Lowest

150Chad622
149Guinea869
148Bangladesh894
147DR Congo961
145Ugandashared966

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 5,414. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031978 → 1979

Since 1978

+0 / −0countries joined / left
150values changed, of 150 in both
109 · 41rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

United Arab Emirates35,936 → 39,534+3,598
Kuwait26,363 → 28,174+1,811
Iraq9,075 → 10,769+1,694
Slovenia20,014 → 21,367+1,353
Finland18,425 → 19,657+1,232

Fell most

Nicaragua4,771 → 3,405−1,366
Qatar47,072 → 45,806−1,266
Iran8,710 → 7,678−1,032
Equatorial Guinea3,451 → 2,882−569
Dominica2,365 → 1,932−433

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 1979.
147 distinct values among 150
Values are stored exactly as published, to 12 decimals. 2 countries share 3,382. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 150 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

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.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-1979-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) (1979). Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1979 [data set], describing 1979. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/historical-gdp-per-capita/1979

06112 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1978
150 countries
The year after ›
Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1980
164 countries
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Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison): every year
112 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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