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Countries with the Highest GDP per Square Kilometer

Name the countries that generate the most economic output per square kilometer of surface area.
2023 figures. Purchasing power parity. Read about data and methodology here.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: April 23, 2023
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First submittedDecember 11, 2016
Times taken53,739
Average score70.0%
Rating4.91
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$ / sq km
Country
?
Vatican
3798 mil
Monaco
1054 mil
Singapore
125 mil
Bahrain
103 mil
Malta
48.2 mil
Maldives
47.3 mil
Taiwan
$ / sq km
Country
44.2 mil
San Marino
36.2 mil
Luxembourg
31.1 mil
Liechtenstein
30.8 mil
Netherlands
29.2 mil
South Korea
28.2 mil
Qatar
25.7 mil
Israel
$ / sq km
Country
25.1 mil
Belgium
18.8 mil
Switzerland
18.0 mil
Mauritius
17.1 mil
Japan
15.9 mil
United Kingdom
15.5 mil
Germany
14.6 mil
Kuwait
+14
Level 76
Dec 12, 2016
Interesting quiz idea. Those are some amazing statistics even for the countries at the bottom of this scale in my opinion. Monaco's is just mind blowing. 3.3 billion dollars per square km?!
+18
Level 92
Dec 12, 2016
Yeah, that's actually a really interesting case--since Monaco's total area is about 7/9 of a square mile, their GDP/SqMi is actually more than their GDP.
+18
Level 46
Jan 24, 2020
The quizz is in km² not miles. :o

SI FTW !

+2
Level 67
Sep 18, 2019
yes interesting indeed, though I think after the 3rd answer or something I was allready thinking per capita and no per km² haha, might have gotten the last four I missed (which were the last 4 of the stats aswell)
+4
Level 46
Jan 24, 2020
Well monaco has BOTH the higher gdp per capita AND density of population in the world... It's not really a proper country though...
+4
Level 44
May 14, 2023
It's a country
+2
Level 94
Dec 12, 2016
No Vatican City?
+6
Level 59
Dec 12, 2016
There is no data available for the Vatican.
+2
Level 71
Apr 19, 2017
I don't think the Vatican produces anything, they rely on incoming income.
+6
Level 70
May 30, 2019
@Malbaby tourists buying stuff might still generate a decent 'income' for a country that small.
+1
Level 67
Sep 18, 2019
It is only 0,44km² so a few hunderd meter by a few hunderd meter. They have a gift shop, but I suppose that money goes to the church and the uphold of the buildings and not to any of the indviduals that live there (which for 95% are clergy or part of the swiss guard)
+26
Level 55
Apr 19, 2021
But it does have 2.2 Popes per square kilometre.
+7
Level 58
Oct 14, 2021
combining all living popes (2), it has 11.76 popes per square mile.
+3
Level 72
Dec 13, 2016
I've been to Malta and every square inch seems accounted for but I had no idea they were so productive. Tourism maybe?
+14
Level 69
Jan 18, 2017
Malta is a hub for financial services and gaming. And of course, tourism plays a major role!
+4
Level 57
Oct 5, 2020
they also have a pretty high population density
+3
Level 77
Dec 14, 2016
Missed the islands because started guessing those only as time was running out and didn't have a clue in which order to guess. Nice one.
+1
Level 86
Nov 19, 2018
Ditto.
+3
Level 57
Apr 19, 2017
Would never have guessed Maldives.
+5
Level 76
May 30, 2019
A lot of high-end tourism in a small area, I guess
+2
Level 75
Apr 16, 2021
Right. Area includes only land. Even if one included only the lagoons within atolls (rather than Exclusive Economic Zones), it would be far down the list. And without all that water, there'd be no tourism, no fishing, and far less income.
+31
Level 66
Apr 19, 2017
I am stunned that Brunei isn't on here. Small country, and I thought the Sultan's wealth alone would be enough to have them make the quiz.
+1
Level 55
Aug 6, 2022
This is about GDP though, not wealth.
+4
Level 56
Aug 17, 2022
Not much difference in Brunei's case
+2
Level 69
Apr 19, 2017
I guessed Brunei too, I wonder if it is because the wealth is focused in one household and the rest of the people are dirt poor? Amazed to see Malta made the list, just started guessing small industrialized countries. Very good quiz, makes you really think. I hope there are more.
+4
Level 60
Apr 19, 2017
Most probably that wealth doesn't generate any GDP. Having a lot of capital and using that capital productively aren't the same thing.
+12
Level 82
Mar 27, 2018
Brunei has the 5th highest per capita GDP in the world, so that's certainly not the problem. The issue is that it is too sparsely populated - only ranked 142 in the world for population density. The populace is extremely wealthy, but relatively spread out (compared to the rest of this list).
+1
Level 80
May 30, 2019
@Corrode - But Monaco is capital-rich rather than productive, isn't it?
+2
Level 67
Sep 19, 2019
@findlay that doesnt make much sense. If they were more populated, they would score lower per capita (because it means per person, more people means it gets divided by a bigger number) and spread out or lumped together doesnt matter either. In this case the amount of people and how and where they live does not mattter at all. Just the area of the country.
+3
Level 67
Sep 19, 2019
@officerdibble, monaco is one big capital, so it is capital rich yes, primarily made up of capital :P
+1
Level 58
Apr 16, 2021
I also guessed Brunei, mostly because I keep confusing it with Bahrain. I can't tell which is which, both small and rather rich countries that start with b...
+6
Level 93
Jun 19, 2018
interesting to see uk on the list, but actually most of the wealth generated is in the south-east and london. Those two combined would be $61M/km^2 (using GVA) and london on its own would be $208M/km^2. New York's $1.4Tn translates to a ratio of $1154M/km^2. Even in that context Monaco really is high. Is there a version of this for metropolitan areas?
+3
Level 80
Oct 3, 2018
Wow, wouldn't have guessed Germany.
+1
Level 69
Dec 9, 2023
*Sad German noises*
+9
Level 48
Apr 7, 2019
Surprised UAE isn't on here
+5
Level 82
May 30, 2019
and Kuwait. and Austria. and Ireland. and Brunei.
+3
Level 80
May 30, 2019
Kuwait is on (and was at the time of your comment, since the quiz was last updated in March).
+1
Level 82
May 30, 2019
hm... so it is. I guess it's just the UAE that's the odd one out. But it is a bit bigger that the other non-Saudi Gulf countries.
+1
Level 69
May 13, 2023
The UAE has a considerably larger are than the gulf states on this list, and with about 10 million inhabitants also a lower population density. If they had Qatar's crazy GDP per capita, they might have made the list.
+2
Level 70
May 31, 2019
Ireland has a very low population density compared for example to the UK. Its GDP per capita would need to be within the region of maybe 7 or 8 times higher than the UK's to get on here. Ireland's GDP per capita is higher than the UK's, but not that much higher.
+2
Level 82
Apr 15, 2021
UAE has quite some empty desert
+1
Level 63
May 30, 2019
Very interesting quiz!
+1
Level 64
Nov 12, 2019
You forgott the UAE
+11
Level ∞
Apr 15, 2021
No, I didn't.
+2
Level 71
Nov 11, 2020
I was wondering if the US would be up there if you took away Alaska's area and GDP, but no it's still just ~$2,500,000/km²
+5
Level 82
Apr 15, 2021
There's still quite a lot of empty land, not just in Alaska
+1
Level 69
May 13, 2023
The US' population density is below world average. They would have to be MUCH more populated or astronomically wealthy to make the list.
+1
Level 67
Apr 15, 2021
I'd use the land area rather than the total area to calculate these.
+3
Level 68
Apr 16, 2021
KMS how did I manage to forget Switzerland haha
+3
Level 46
Apr 16, 2021
How tf did I forget Japan but got some bumm feck islands lol
+7
Level 68
Apr 23, 2021
France should just invade Monaco and teach them a thing or two about solidarity and income tax. That's my opinion, and you can't change it.
+4
Level 52
Apr 23, 2021
Great idea! All these tiny countries are messing up my scores on quizzes, so the bigger countries should just invade them.
+1
Level 66
May 13, 2023
The finger on the monkey's paw slowly closes.

Welcome to now re-memorizing Franaco. Capital city: Princess Grace Avenue. Flag: chequered red/white/blue. Ruler: Albert II.

Enjoy Belgiburg, Switzerstein, Poliningrad, and the rest.

The real debate will begin when jetpunk users must decide what size will be the cutoff. And who merges with Kosovo, FYROM NM, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Taiwan, etc.

+2
Level 71
Apr 23, 2021
Is Denmark not on here because of Greenland? Or would it not show up even looking at just the mainland?
+4
Level 67
Apr 23, 2021
It is not because of Greenland, only looking at the mainland would give a number around 8 mio $ / square km. Denmark has a way to low population density to be on this list, only half the density of Germany or UK and like four times lower than the Netherlands
+1
Level 57
Apr 25, 2021
Ireland is approaching the highest GDP per capita on earth in 2021 - it should factor somewhere here, especially with the UK making the list. Brunei should also probably be here as well.
+5
Level 65
Dec 9, 2022
You also do understand that 1) this quiz is not about GDP per capita, and 2) Ireland has 4 million people, while the UK has almost 70 million?
+1
Level 69
May 13, 2023
Ireland's population density is too low for this.
+1
Level 48
May 15, 2023
I missed Mauritius (never would've thought of that!) and Israel, but excellent quiz! Monaco is just crazy...
+1
Level 43
Mar 24, 2024
How did I forgot all Benelux...
+1
Level 69
Apr 12, 2024
No Brunei, Andorra, Pacific/Caribbean Island or Bangladesh is crazy.

Kuwait is even below Germany.

Wild.