Data for 1981

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1981

Name: Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1981
Creator: Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC)
License: https://doi.org/10.34894/INZBF2

1981, 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), 1981 covers 164 countries. United Arab Emirates is highest, at 42,456; Chad is lowest, at 521. The middle country reads 6,264. Against 1980, 164 values changed (96 up, 68 down), the same countries are covered.

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Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison) · Data for 1981

HighestUnited Arab Emirates

42,456

LowestChad

521

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

164countries
1measure
1981the year it describes
161distinct 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), 1981, 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 164 countries · select a heading to sort

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1981: every country, as published by Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC).
derived
1	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	42,456
2	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	37,307
3	United States`USA`Northern America	30,056
4	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	27,730
5	Canada`CAN`Northern America	26,256
6	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	25,284
7	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	25,136
8	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	24,179
9	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	24,063
10	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	23,777
11	France`FRA`Western Europe	23,655
12	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	23,368
13	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	23,153
14	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	22,760
15	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	22,553
16	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	21,924
17	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	21,866
18	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	21,393
19	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	21,041
20	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	20,935
21	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	20,929
22	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	20,537
23	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	20,319
24	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	20,298
25	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	18,301
26	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	18,103
27	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	16,402
28	Venezuela`VEN`South America	15,750
29	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	15,478
30	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	14,335
31	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	14,182
32	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	14,180
33	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	13,970
34	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	13,895
35	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	13,893
36	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	13,190
37	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	13,061
38	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	12,934
39	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	12,306
40	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	12,274
41	Argentina`ARG`South America	12,125
42	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	12,065
43	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	11,604
44	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	11,053
45	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	10,984
46	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	10,888
47	Uruguay`URY`South America	10,643
48	Mexico`MEX`Central America	10,538
49	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	10,123
50	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	9,937
51	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	9,860
52	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	9,844
53	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	9,631
54	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	9,548
55	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	9,538
56	Chile`CHL`South America	9,427
57	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	9,224
58	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	8,749
59	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	8,695
60	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	8,625
61	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	8,584
62	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	8,035
63	Brazil`BRA`South America	7,709
64	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	7,635
65	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	7,527
66	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	7,490
67	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	7,461
68	Panama`PAN`Central America	7,313
69	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	7,264
70	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	7,210
71	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	7,176
72	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	7,141
73	Peru`PER`South America	6,921
74	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	6,875
75	Colombia`COL`South America	6,782
76	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	6,762
77	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	6,760
78	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	6,666
79	Ecuador`ECU`South America	6,664
80	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	6,514
81	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	6,399
82	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	6,271
83	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	6,256
84	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	6,201
85	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	6,095
86	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	5,928
87	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	5,887
88	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	5,789
89	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	5,622
90	Paraguay`PRY`South America	5,424
91	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	5,040
92	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	4,991
93	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	4,830
94	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	4,811
95	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	4,549
96	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	4,420
97	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	4,230
98	Bolivia`BOL`South America	4,060
99	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	3,862
100	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	3,846
101	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3,819
102	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	3,767
103	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	3,762
104	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	3,625
105	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	3,507
106	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	3,480
107	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	3,457
108	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	3,309
109	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	3,242
110	Honduras`HND`Central America	3,231
111	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	3,119
112	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	3,091
113	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	3,051
=114	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	3,049
=114	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	3,049
116	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	2,783
117	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	2,603
118	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	2,528
119	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	2,499
120	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	2,243
121	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	2,153
122	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1,964
123	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	1,962
124	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	1,943
125	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	1,940
126	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	1,924
127	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	1,855
128	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	1,820
129	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1,733
=130	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	1,714
=130	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	1,714
132	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	1,706
133	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1,647
134	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	1,615
135	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1,564
136	India`IND`Southern Asia	1,557
137	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1,521
=138	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	1,492
=138	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	1,492
140	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	1,471
141	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	1,466
142	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	1,447
143	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	1,423
144	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	1,369
145	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	1,301
146	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1,277
147	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	1,223
148	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	1,219
149	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	1,199
150	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1,186
151	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	1,173
152	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	1,144
153	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1,119
154	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	1,111
155	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	1,081
156	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	1,014
157	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	1,009
158	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	950
159	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	925
160	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	923
161	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	920
162	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	878
163	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	859
164	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	521

02In 1981

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1United Arab Emirates42,456
2Qatar37,307
3United States30,056
4Switzerland27,730
5Canada26,256

Lowest

164Chad521
163Guinea859
162Bangladesh878
161Tanzania920
160Uganda923

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 6,264. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031980 → 1981

Since 1980

+0 / −0countries joined / left
164values changed, of 164 in both
96 · 68rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Hong Kong17,086 → 18,301+1,215
New Zealand19,681 → 20,537+856
Iceland24,528 → 25,284+756
Singapore13,601 → 14,335+734
Oman6,491 → 7,210+719

Fell most

Qatar45,860 → 37,307−8,553
Kuwait21,154 → 16,402−4,752
Iraq10,165 → 8,035−2,130
Libya8,741 → 6,760−1,981
United Arab Emirates44,168 → 42,456−1,712

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 1981.
161 distinct values among 164
Values are stored exactly as published, to 12 decimals. 2 countries share 3,049. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 164 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
164 rows · 4.5 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download historical-gdp-per-capita-1981-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) (1981). Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1981 [data set], describing 1981. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/historical-gdp-per-capita/1981

06112 held

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Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1980
164 countries
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Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1982
164 countries
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