You know, an interesting observation: when people talk about the richest countries, everyone immediately remembers Штаты. But that’s a mistake. In fact, there are a bunch of small states whose income per person far outstrips Штаты. And the point here is specifically the richest people in the world on a per-capita basis.

Luxembourg, Singapore, Ireland, Qatar — these are the real leaders. Luxembourg is first overall, with a figure of $154,910 per person. And the Штаты, for all their power, are only in tenth place with $89,680. The difference is tangible.

What’s interesting is that the paths to wealth for these countries are completely different. Qatar and Norway simply got lucky with oil and gas. They sit on enormous reserves and earn from exports. But there’s another scenario. Luxembourg, Switzerland, Singapore — they built their prosperity on financial services, the banking sector, and a favorable business environment.

Take Luxembourg. Back in the 19th century, it was a typical rural country. Then they developed the financial sector, banking services, tourism, and logistics. Now it’s a financial center of Europe. Its social security system is one of the best in the OECD — spending on social affairs makes up 20% of ВВП.

Singapore is a classic example, too. A tiny country, a tiny population, but in a short time it turned from a developing economy into one of the most developed. Why? Low taxes, openness of the economy, minimal corruption, strong leadership. Plus, the second-largest container port in the world. All of this together created a magnet for investment.

Macao is interesting in that it lives off casinos and tourism. ВВП per capita is $140,250 — the third result in the world. There, they even introduced 15 years of free education, first in China.

Ireland showed how to turn things around. In the 1930s, it shut itself off from the world, introduced high customs barriers — and got stuck. Then it opened up its economy, joined the EU, and lowered taxes on corporations. The result: it’s now the fourth-richest population in the world, with $131,550 per person.

Norway was basically poor among the Scandinavian countries. But when oil was found in the 20th century, everything changed. Now it has one of the highest living standards in Europe. True, living there is also the most expensive.

Switzerland holds its position thanks to banks, premium-class watches, and innovation. Nestlé, ABB, Rolex — all of them are from there. And it has held the top spot in the global innovation index for more than 10 years in a row.

In general, you can clearly see a pattern. The richest people in the world live either in countries with natural resources or in countries with strong financial sectors, stability, and a favorable environment for business. The Штаты, meanwhile, despite being the largest economy by nominal size, has one of the highest levels of income inequality among developed countries. And public debt there has surpassed $36 trillion — more than 125% of ВВП. So the size of the economy isn’t everything.