Singapore has been crowned the world's richest country in 2025 by Aviation A2Z based on gross domestic product per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity, recording an impressive $156,760 per person and narrowly edging out Luxembourg at $152,920 and Macao at $134,040 in the closely contested rankings.
The city-state's exceptional wealth stems from its strategic location at the crossroads of major international shipping lanes combined with consistently pro-business policies, robust political stability, a sophisticated financial services sector, and world-class infrastructure that continues attracting multinational corporations and high-net-worth individuals from across the globe.
Brunei represented the only other Southeast Asian nation to crack the top rankings at eighth position with a GDP per capita of $95,760, propelled by its substantial oil and natural gas exports alongside ongoing economic diversification efforts into halal food production and Islamic finance sectors.
The GDP per capita metric calculates national wealth by dividing total economic output by population size, offering insights into average prosperity levels though analysts caution that such rankings can be influenced by factors including tax haven status, income inequality, and whether wealth was generated domestically or flows from abroad.
Singapore's transformation from a modest trading port six decades ago into today's global financial powerhouse demonstrates how strategic economic planning, corruption-free governance, emphasis on education and innovation, and openness to international talent and investment can elevate a resource-scarce nation into the upper echelons of global prosperity rankings.
