Rich vs Poor Countries

What makes a rich country rich and what makes a poor country poor? It may be easy to distinguish the rich and the poor country but there is probably no single indicator for a country to be called ultimately rich.

Economics use certain indexes like GDP and income per capita to measure the productivity of nations. Most experts claim that the higher the GDP of a nation, the richer the country is or the greater the income per capita, the more stable the country’s economy is. Income per capita by the way somewhat dictates how much each individual resident in the country earns annually. GDP (gross domestic product) estimates the nation’s market output of goods and services. Hence, higher GDPs may almost always relate to more productivity within the country.

In terms of GDP, one can say that three of the richest countries in the world are U.S.A., China and Japan. It is amazing to note that America’s GDP is about 50% greater than its second follower (China). Also, GDP is not restricted with the land size or area of the country. Like Japan, being relatively small, it can still rival the continent-sized nations ‘“ China and U.S.A. Conversely, the poorest countries with regard to GDP would have to be Sierra Leone, Somalia, and the Congo Republic amongst others. These are nations are seen to be unproductive. Moreover, the highest income per capita belongs to Norway. No wonder many dreaming workers would want to work there despite the harsh environmental conditions and the low population density.

Other people also regard rich countries as areas with employment opportunities. Dubbed as the ‘green land’ where the so-called ‘American Dream’ resides, the U.S. is also one of the biggest employers in the world attracting millions of overseas workers from around the globe.

With regard to the populations’ insight, rich countries are often described as having people who are optimistic and have a positive outlook in life. Poor countries often have citizens who are clamoring for anarchy, who want change and for their corrupt governments to end. If, you try to survey and identify the most corrupt countries in the world then most of them are considered to be poor countries.

Lastly, life expectancy is also an index for a country to be regarded as either rich or poor. It is said that rich countries have an aging population wherein 60 to 75% of their citizens die beyond 70 years old due to chronic illnesses like cancer and diabetes. In poorer countries however, majority of their people often die at a much younger age level due to infectious, thought to be very preventable diseases, like TB and malaria. The younger chunk of their population dies early as well.

1. Rich countries often have high GDP and income per capita compared to the poor ones.

2. Rich countries have bigger employment opportunities and mostly have citizens with a positive outlook in life.

3. Rich countries have an aging population that usually dies of chronic diseases whereas poor countries have a younger population base that die of preventable or much simpler illnesses.

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