Per capita

How it is used

From Latin, literally by heads. It can follow a noun (GDP per capita) or come before one (per capita income). It is the most common way to compare living standards between countries of very different sizes. In everyday English people also say per person.

Example sentences

1. Luxembourg has one of the highest levels of GDP per capita in the world.

2. Per capita income doubled over twenty years, but the gap between rich and poor regions widened.

Common collocations

• GDP per capita
• per capita income
• per capita consumption
• income per capita

Related terms

• GDPShort for gross domestic product: the total value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period, usually a quarter or a year.
• developing countryA country with a lower average income, less industrial output and weaker infrastructure than the rich industrialised countries.
• inequalityThe unequal distribution of income, wealth or opportunities between people or groups in a society, or between countries.
• human capitalThe knowledge, skills, health and experience of workers, seen as an asset that raises productivity and income in the same way as machines or buildings.

More terms: Development and Inequality

• emerging market
• poverty line
• Gini coefficient
• informal economy
• sustainable development
• standard of living
• infrastructure
• advanced economy
• income distribution
• redistribution
• brain drain
• extreme poverty