World’s Richest Nation: Qatar

Qatar ranked as the wealthiest country in the world beating 182 nations in Forbes magazine’s latest list of the world’s richest countries. The UAE, at sixth place, was the other Gulf country that made it to the top ten in the list.

With an estimated GDP of more than $88,000 for 2010 – adjusted for purchasing power – Qatar made it to the top spot.

“If wealth is power, then Qataris have some serious muscle to flex,” said Forbes in its online report. The Gulf state has the third-largest reserves of natural gas in the world, and has lured several multinational financial firms to the country. It has invested heavily to diversify its economy, “without overreaching as much as nearby Dubai,” said the report. The government is also pouring money into infrastructure in line for the 2022 World Cup.

The second on the list was Luxembourg, with a per capita GDP on a purchasing-power parity basis of just over $81,000. Technology, manufacturing and finance hub Singapore came third, followed by Norway and Brunei.

The UAE with a GDP of nearly $47,500 per capita (PPP) came next, followed by the US, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Burundi, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo came at the bottom of the list, ranking as the poorest nations in the world.

To create the list, Forbes used GDP per capita figures-adjusted for purchasing power- from the International Monetary Fund’s 2010 data.