World GDP per capita, 1960 to 2025
World GDP per capita stood at $14,406 in 2025, up 5.0% on the previous period.
The world produced $13,631 of GDP per person in 2024, up 3 percent from $13,237 in 2023. The series starts at $452 in 1960.
How it is measured
The figures come from the World Bank's World Development Indicators (indicator NY.GDP.PCAP.CD): nominal GDP in current US dollars divided by midyear population. It is average output per person, not income per person; wages, profits, and taxes all sit inside it, and it says nothing about how output is distributed across households.
What the curve shows
Per-person GDP is the standard first pass at prosperity because it removes country size: a small rich economy and a huge middle-income one can have similar totals and completely different lives. Over this window the world's figure rose roughly 30-fold in dollar terms, with the peak at $13,631 in 2024. Because both the numerator (dollar GDP) and denominator (population) move, a flat stretch can hide real growth absorbed by population gains, and exchange-rate swings pass straight through.
Is this the average income?
Why can it fall while GDP rises?
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