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GDP per capita, long-run history: compare countries

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

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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 MexicoUnited StatesGermanyPortugal
11,89444,57632,08822,590
12,61345,88633,36723,372
12,56545,87834,26023,751
12,64646,26634,59123,896
12,79447,15834,71623,678
13,28848,49335,52924,143
13,65649,65536,20624,378
14,28850,49038,01424,809
14,68550,90239,75225,477
14,80850,27640,71525,591
14,02748,45338,96324,902
14,69749,26741,11025,463
15,21049,67543,18925,133
15,54850,43643,28824,211
15,61551,01143,35924,120
15,88451,79744,13324,442
16,23552,80844,40524,984
16,70553,30145,03025,569
16,90054,15246,06526,530
17,05555,45546,37727,330
16,80256,46946,76228,056
15,25454,37944,99625,700
15,85357,52346,15927,138
16,23558,48746,64828,992

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

Mexico

  • 1550–1812: Arroyo Abad, L. and J.L. van Zanden (2016), “Growth under Extractive Institutions? Latin American Per Capita GDP in Colonial Times” Journal of Economic History 76(4): 1182–1215.
  • 1812–1870: Prados de la Escosura, L., (2009), ‘Lost decades? Economic performance in post-independence Latin America’, Journal of Latin America Studies, 41, pp. 279–307. (updated data)
  • 1870-1895: Bértola, L., & Ocampo, J. A. (2012). The Economic Development of Latin America since Independence. Oxford University Press, Table A.2
  • 1895–2003: Barro, R.J. and J.F. Ursua, (2008). “Macroeconomic Crises since 1870” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 39(1 (Spring), pages 255-350

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.

Portugal

  • 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
  • 1530–1850: Palma, N., & Reis, J. (2019). From Convergence to Divergence: Portuguese Economic Growth, 1527–1850. The Journal of Economic History, 79(2), 477-506. doi:10.1017/S0022050719000056
  • 1850-1913: Pedro Lains, "How Far Can We Go? Measuring Portuguese Economic Growth (1850-1913)"
  • 1938-1950: R. Janes Cartado and N.E. Sequeira da Rosa, Series Longas as Contas Nacionais Portuguesas 1958-1985, Banco de Portugal, Lisbon,