United States, Canada World's Strongest Economies

The World Bank is out with a revised estimate of world economies (gross domestic product) based upon purchasing power parities. for 2005. There are a number of notable developments.

The United States remains the most affluent of the larger nations, with a GDP of $41,700. Canada has emerged as a strong number two among larger nations, at $35,100, leading perpetual rivals Australia ($32,800), the United Kingdom ($31,600), Germany ($30,500) and Japan ($30,300).

The United States, however, is not the most affluent. A number of smaller nations have higher GDP-PPP’s per capita than the United States, such as Luxembourg (population equal to metropolitan Santa Barbara) and oil rich countries Qatar, Brunei Darussalam, Kuwait and Norway.

Some smaller countries and city-states rank between the United States and Canada, including Ireland, Singapore, Macao and Hong Kong.

Argentina continues its relative slide. Some reports indicate that Argentina was among the world’s three strongest economies in the 1930s, before Peronism. Argentina has now fallen behind Mexico and is no longer South America’s most prosperous economy. That honor goes to Chile.

China ($4,100) and India ($2,100) ranked surprisingly low.