The world's income per person is $25,517 a year (GNI per capita, PPP, 2025). Across the 187 countries here it runs from $135,750 in Singapore to $1,010 in South Sudan: a 134-fold gap. Only 77 of 187 countries sit above the world figure, because a few very populous countries pull the average down.
International dollars (PPP), latest year the World Bank publishes for each country. "Per month" is the yearly figure divided by 12. "× world" divides by the world figure of $25,517. * Venezuela (2011), Yemen (2013), Eritrea (2011), South Sudan (2015): the latest available figure is old and the economy has probably changed since.
What this number is, and is not
GNI per capita is gross national income divided by population. National income counts everything residents earn: wages, company profits, rent, interest and net income from abroad. Dividing by everyone, working or not, gives a figure per person. It is the World Bank's standard measure of how rich a country is.
It is not a median salary. It is not after tax. It says nothing about how the income is shared. Two countries with the same GNI per capita can have very different typical households, depending on inequality, tax and how many people are of working age. For what one person earns compared to others in their country, use the income test linked below, which uses income distributions rather than this average.
The PPP conversion makes the figures comparable across borders by pricing a common basket of goods. It is an approximation; the price surveys behind it are updated every few years and revised in between.
Questions
Which country has the highest average income?
Singapore, at $135,750 per person (GNI per capita, PPP, 2025). Qatar and Macao follow at $126,290 and $125,630. Small, rich places dominate the top of the list: a few financial or oil centres with few residents to share the income among.
Is this the average salary?
No. GNI per capita is the whole country's income, including company profits, rents and interest, divided by every resident, including children and pensioners. It is before tax. Salaries are only part of it, and the median worker earns less than this figure in every country, because income is skewed by the top earners. Treat it as a national income level, not a payslip.
What does PPP mean here?
Purchasing power parity. Each country's income is converted into "international dollars" that buy the same basket of goods as a US dollar in the United States. This stops cheap-to-live-in countries looking poorer than they are. The same figure at market exchange rates would be lower for most countries outside the rich world, sometimes by half.