Skip to content
ChartBasis
Choose a language: English

GDP per capita, long-run history: compare countries

See GDP per capita, long-run history for up to four countries side by side.

Countries being compared

Four countries are being compared, the most the chart can show clearly. Remove one to add another.

GDP per capita, long-run history by country

GDP per capita, long-run history

Annual, International dollars (2011 prices)

Source: Maddison Project Database 2023
GDP per capita, long-run history: latest observations by country
Date United KingdomUnited StatesGermanySouth Korea
30,93344,57632,08821,541
31,94645,88633,36723,108
32,66045,87834,26023,804
33,27146,26634,59125,251
34,23247,15834,71625,679
34,86648,49335,52926,647
35,62449,65536,20627,443
36,21450,49038,01428,516
36,81750,90239,75229,717
36,26550,27640,71530,118
34,40248,45338,96329,968
34,75449,26741,11031,538
34,97149,67543,18932,225
35,24450,43643,28832,826
35,66151,01143,35933,712
36,52251,79744,13334,573
37,10152,80844,40535,358
37,59453,30145,03036,255
38,28454,15246,06537,296
38,70555,45546,37738,214
39,11356,46946,76238,936
34,65154,37944,99638,607
37,13457,52346,15940,278
38,40758,48746,64841,321

Source: Bolt, J. and van Zanden, J.L. (2024), Maddison style estimates of the evolution of the world economy: A new 2023 update, Journal of Economic Surveys, 1-41, DOI 10.1111/joes.12618. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. The original sources are listed on each page.

All data sources

Original sources of these estimates

GDP pc: 2008 - 2022: Total Economy Database the Conference Board for all countries included in TED. Otherwise UN national accounts statistics

United Kingdom

  • 1: Scheidel, W. and Friesen, S. J., ‘The size of the economy and the distribution of income in the Roman Empire’, Journal of Roman Studies, 99 (2009), pp. 61–91
  • 1252–1700 (England): Broadberry, S.N., B. Campbell, A. Klein, M. Overton and B. van Leeuwen (2015), British Economic Growth 1270-1870 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • 1700–1870: Broadberry, S.N., B. Campbell, A. Klein, M. Overton and B. van Leeuwen (2015), British Economic Growth 1270-1870 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • 1870-1950: C.H. Feinstein, National Income Expenditure and Output of the United Kingdom 1855-1965, Cambridge, 1972

United States

  • 1650 - 1790: McCusker, John J., ‘Colonial Statistics’, Historical Statistics of the United States: Earliest Time to the Present, in S. B. Carter, S. S. Gartner, M. R. Haineset al. New York, Cambridge University Press. V-671.
  • 1790 - 1870: Sutch, R. (2006). National Income and Product. Historical Statistics of the United States: Earliest Time to the Present, in S. B. Carter, S. S. Gartner, M. R. Haineset al. New York, Cambridge University Press III-23-25.
  • 1800-1830: Prados de la Escosura, L. (2009). “Lost Decades? Economic Performance in Post-Independence Latin America,” Journal of Latin America Studies 41: 279–307. (updated data)
  • 1820-1950: GDP movement from Maddison (1995a), amended for 1820–70 to include income of the indigenous population (taken to be $400 per capita in 1820 and 1870).

Germany

  • 1500-1850: Pfister, U. (2022). Economic Growth in Germany, 1500–1850. The Journal of Economic History, 82(4), 1071–1107
  • 1850-1950: Hoffmann, Grumbach and Hesse, op. cit., pp. 454-5.

South Korea

  • 1911-1990: Cha, M.S., Kim, N.N., Park, K.-J., Park, Y. (Eds.) (2020), Historical Statistics of Korea. Studies in Economic History, New York: Springer Publishing
  • 1820, 1870: Maddison, A. Monitoring the World Economy, 1995