Lowest GDP per Capita (nominal)

According to the World Bank, the country with the lowest nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is the African country of Burundi on $320.1. If cost of living differences are taken into account, however – adjusting the GDP calculation for purchasing power parity (PPP) – then Burundi rises one place with a PPP-adjusted figure of $770, pushing the Central African Republic into last place on $725.9.

Nominal GDP can be most simply explained as the combined value of all the goods and services produced within a country in a year. It is typically stated in US dollars, converted from the local currency at single-year official exchange rates. GDP adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) takes that figure and adjusts it in accordance with the real-world purchasing power of the currency in each country.