Data for 1998

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1998

Name: Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1998
Creator: Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC)
License: https://doi.org/10.34894/INZBF2

1998, 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), 1998 covers 166 countries. Norway is highest, at 48,956.7; DR Congo is lowest, at 472.9. The middle country reads 6,238.6. Against 1997, 166 values changed (132 up, 34 down), the same countries are covered.

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Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison) · Data for 1998

HighestNorway

48,956.7

LowestDR Congo

472.9

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

166countries
1measure
1998the year it describes
166distinct 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), 1998, 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 166 countries · select a heading to sort

Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1998: every country, as published by Maddison Project, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC).
derived
1	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	48,956.7
2	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	44,142.6
3	United States`USA`Northern America	43,072.8
4	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	39,890.5
5	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	39,667.8
6	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	36,448.1
7	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	36,361.2
8	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	34,688.6
9	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	34,337.1
10	Canada`CAN`Northern America	33,785.7
11	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	33,590.5
12	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	33,331.3
13	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	32,558.2
14	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	32,376.3
15	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	31,908.6
16	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	31,480.7
17	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	31,444.6
18	France`FRA`Western Europe	31,323.1
19	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	31,187.2
20	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	31,129.6
21	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	30,866.4
22	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	30,649.6
23	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	30,077.4
24	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	29,715.3
25	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	24,861.4
26	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	24,586.2
27	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	24,506.2
28	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	24,284.9
29	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	24,131.2
30	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	22,310.9
31	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	21,782.1
32	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	20,213.0
33	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	20,212.7
34	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	19,851.1
35	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	19,624.7
36	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	19,378.7
37	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	18,488.7
38	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	17,013.8
39	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	15,657.4
40	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	15,593.0
41	Chile`CHL`South America	15,259.5
42	Argentina`ARG`South America	15,186.0
43	Venezuela`VEN`South America	14,739.1
44	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	13,822.2
45	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	13,801.2
46	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	13,776.0
47	Uruguay`URY`South America	13,744.3
48	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	13,607.9
49	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	12,476.0
50	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	12,384.8
51	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	12,129.6
52	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	11,772.8
53	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	11,758.2
54	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	11,663.0
55	Mexico`MEX`Central America	11,510.9
56	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	11,413.3
57	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	10,429.8
58	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	10,382.1
59	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	9,712.2
60	Panama`PAN`Central America	9,560.3
61	Brazil`BRA`South America	9,419.1
62	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	9,077.7
63	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	9,053.9
64	Colombia`COL`South America	8,863.3
65	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	8,743.0
66	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	8,557.5
67	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	8,545.5
68	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	8,482.0
69	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	8,458.4
70	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	8,322.1
71	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	8,088.6
72	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	7,411.5
73	Ecuador`ECU`South America	7,307.2
74	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	7,185.3
75	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	7,120.5
76	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	7,024.3
77	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	6,994.2
78	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	6,944.7
79	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	6,831.2
80	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	6,603.7
81	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	6,589.6
82	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	6,432.7
83	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	6,407.5
84	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	6,069.8
85	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	6,051.9
86	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	6,012.7
87	Peru`PER`South America	5,926.7
88	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	5,884.8
89	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	5,859.9
90	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	5,730.6
91	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	5,522.1
92	Dominica`DMA`Caribbean	5,462.7
93	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	5,440.2
94	Paraguay`PRY`South America	5,321.9
95	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	5,203.6
96	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	5,077.9
97	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	4,994.1
98	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	4,729.2
99	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	4,712.5
100	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	4,640.2
101	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	4,619.9
102	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	4,576.0
103	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	4,309.8
104	Bolivia`BOL`South America	4,205.7
105	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	4,044.1
106	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	4,042.8
107	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	3,873.4
108	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3,852.6
109	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	3,550.4
110	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	3,415.5
111	Honduras`HND`Central America	3,332.9
112	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	3,106.0
113	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	3,078.0
114	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	3,037.7
115	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	3,035.5
116	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	2,999.6
117	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	2,794.8
118	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	2,620.5
119	India`IND`Southern Asia	2,611.8
120	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	2,569.8
121	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	2,564.3
122	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	2,393.5
123	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	2,369.0
124	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	2,228.9
125	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	2,050.9
126	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	2,025.9
127	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	2,018.0
128	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	1,974.6
129	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	1,922.7
130	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	1,915.4
131	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	1,890.0
132	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1,862.8
133	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	1,847.2
134	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	1,841.2
135	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	1,811.2
136	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	1,785.1
137	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	1,589.3
138	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	1,579.9
139	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	1,570.7
140	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	1,547.0
141	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	1,480.6
142	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	1,476.3
143	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	1,348.1
144	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	1,335.7
145	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	1,324.9
146	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	1,309.0
147	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	1,293.6
148	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	1,179.8
149	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	1,174.9
150	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	1,174.2
151	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	1,167.4
152	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	1,137.6
153	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	1,130.8
154	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	1,052.1
155	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	1,010.8
156	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	986.0
157	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	950.4
158	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	936.2
159	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	882.7
160	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	808.3
161	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	786.3
162	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	772.7
163	Niger`NER`Western Africa	755.2
164	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	753.9
165	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	545.0
166	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	472.9

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Norway48,956.7
2Luxembourg44,142.6
3United States43,072.8
4Switzerland39,890.5
5United Arab Emirates39,667.8

Lowest

166DR Congo472.9
165Afghanistan545.0
164Chad753.9
163Niger755.2
162Liberia772.7

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 6,238.6. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

+0 / −0countries joined / left
166values changed, of 166 in both
132 · 34rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Qatar30,989.1 → 36,448.1+5,458.9
Ireland29,455.9 → 31,908.6+2,452.7
Norway46,556.5 → 48,956.7+2,400.3
Luxembourg42,311.3 → 44,142.6+1,831.2
Kuwait31,511.2 → 33,331.3+1,820.1

Fell most

Hong Kong33,385.8 → 30,866.4−2,519.4
South Korea21,055.9 → 19,624.7−1,431.3
Singapore34,868.1 → 33,590.5−1,277.6
Malaysia13,344.6 → 12,129.6−1,214.9
Thailand9,995.6 → 9,077.7−917.9

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 1998.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 166 countries has every column.

05The files

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.csv
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Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download historical-gdp-per-capita-1998-nations-inquiry.csv
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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) (1998). Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/historical-gdp-per-capita/1998

06112 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1997
166 countries
The year after ›
Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison), 1999
166 countries
All of them
Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison): every year
112 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
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