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Top 10 Biggest Economies in the Americas

Can you name the countries with the largest GDPs in North and South America?
2022 data. Purchasing power parity. More info here.
In U.S. dollars
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: April 22, 2022
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First submittedAugust 23, 2016
Times taken70,910
Average score90.0%
Rating4.93
2:00
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GDP
Country
25.4 T
United States
3.68 T
Brazil
2.89 T
Mexico
2.24 T
Canada
1.20 T
Argentina
GDP
Country
941 B
Colombia
568 B
Chile
514 B
Peru
255 B
Dominican Republic
228 B
Ecuador
+65
Level ∞
Apr 15, 2020
Venezuela would possibly make the list with adequate data. There are indications that they got bored of destroying their economy and are now making free market reforms. But the IMF doesn't have a 2020 estimate, only a 2019 estimate.

How bad did it get in Venezuela? In 2013 they had a GDP of 555 billion. By 2019 it had fallen to 202 billion. In the mean time, the percentage of Venezuelans living in absolute poverty became the highest in the western hemisphere, surpassing even Haiti. Oof.

+26
Level 83
Aug 23, 2016
For some reason I didn't expect Ecuador to be on this list. Got the others easily though.
+7
Level 70
Jan 3, 2017
Goes to show just how small most American countries' economies actually are.
+28
Level 16
Jan 3, 2017
And yet, I guessed the Dominican Republic in desperation!
+22
Level 53
Jun 27, 2017
Bananas, lots of them.
+3
Level 70
May 11, 2018
Don't you mean banana stands?
+1
Level 79
Apr 16, 2020
And plantains.
+2
Level 74
Feb 24, 2021
Their economy has diversified in the last few decades. Service industry/tourism is the majority of GDP; mining and manufacturing are also significant.
+2
Level 77
Aug 16, 2022
I’ll throw martay a bone. There’s always money in the banana stand.
+1
Level 75
Jul 13, 2020
Same
+8
Level 60
Aug 27, 2016
These 10 countries also made it in the "Top 10 most populated countries in the Americas" and 9 of the countries here made it to the "Top 10 biggest countries in the Americas", which included Bolivia instead of Ecuador. Just goes to show that the Americas isn't a very diverse place when it comes to these 3 categories.
+1
Level 16
Jan 3, 2017
True.
+34
Level 66
Jan 7, 2017
There really aren't that many countries in the Americas.
+2
Level 66
Jul 28, 2019
But all of central/middle americas are skipped..
+6
Level 60
Jul 22, 2020
The Caribbean is mostly too small for there to be high population or GDP. Central America is somewhat poorer than many other parts of the Americas, so less GDP. Its just easier to have a higher GDP with more land and more people to build a larger economy with that land.
+3
Level 71
Jan 3, 2017
Surprised that Brazil's economy is nearly 4 X that of Argentina.
+3
Level 57
Jan 3, 2017
Actually just over 3x. Did you expect more or less? - Brazil population almost 5x.
+9
Level 82
Jan 3, 2017
In reality Brazil's economy is half as big as shown here. Due to a low cost of living, using PPP drastically inflates it.
+1
Level 79
Nov 5, 2019
Yes.
+1
Level 57
Jan 3, 2017
Cut time to 1:30 maximum.
+6
Level 74
Feb 24, 2021
Why? This isn't a fast typing quiz. Some folks are taking it on mobile for example. There isn't enough time to wildly guess every country in the Americas. I didn't have any trouble with the time length personally, but I don't see any need to cut the time down for others who might need it.
+2
Level 16
Jan 3, 2017
By PPP, Mexico is a lot bigger than Canada! I guess 'us' still isn't counted for America, and Uruguay isn't the richest country in South America?
+2
Level 70
Aug 14, 2017
Uruguay may be the richest per capita, but that is from its small population.
+2
Level 61
Jan 3, 2017
The quiz description says "name the countries with the largest GDPs in North and South America." It's unclear whether the countries or the GDPs are in the Americas - if the country has to be in the Americas, France should be on this list; it is (partially) in South America and it has a GDP of over 2 trillion. If the quiz only counts the GDP of the parts of the countries that are in the Americas, France should not be here, as the GDP of French Guiana is relatively tiny. You should probably add a caveat clearing up this issue. :)
+2
Level 82
Jan 3, 2017
most of the time it seems like France is considered to be in Europe, Turkey is considered Asia (Istanbul sometimes gets included in Europe), Russia typically gets counted as European, Kazakhstan as Asia, etc, even though all of these countries have territory on other continents. Territories are never included. And Cyprus is usually included with Asia.
+1
Level 75
May 13, 2018
I've learned from this site that French Guiana is not a territory, it's a department of France. French departments are equivalent to US states, so that makes French Guiana part of Europe even though it is geographically located in South America. I also read somewhere that for the same reason Hawaii is considered part of North America rather than Oceania.
+4
Level 82
Nov 25, 2018
French Guiana is not part of Europe any more than Siberia is part of Europe or the Hagia Sofia is in Asia. Countries are politically, not geographically, defined and can exist on multiple continents. Roping in Hawaii with North America might seem a bit odd, and perhaps it is, but then if you look at a map it's not really especially more odd than it would be roping it in with Oceania. Hawaii is kind of in the middle of nowhere.
+10
Level ∞
Jan 4, 2017
I assume common sense on the part of the quiz taker. Adding caveats takes up space and removes attention from the other text.
+1
Level 89
Jul 12, 2020
Plus people don't always read the caveats.
+2
Level 65
Aug 16, 2022
I usually read the caveats afterwards, when thinking "Shouldn't France, UK and the Netherlands make the list? Oh look! There is a caveat explaining that they don't count"
+1
Level 63
Mar 1, 2017
By that logic, its a good thing Denmark's GDP is too low to be debated because Greenland is in North America. While I personally think Greenland should be counted as part of Denmark (it would make the quizes more fun because it's so different in terms of extremes), but I respect Quizmaster's decision to exlude it. It's his site, and that is the custom now. Same with French Guinea.
+1
Level 59
Jul 12, 2020
French Guiana*
+1
Level 62
Jul 12, 2020
well if thats the case, only french guianas GDP should count, and I doubt it will make the list.
+1
Level 52
Apr 26, 2021
you 100% did not put france in during the quiz but instead did the quiz, thought it was too hard, got mad, think of something wrong with quiz, "france should be included cause its in south america"
+1
Level 76
Jan 4, 2017
too easy, decrease time allocation to make harder
+8
Level 84
Jan 24, 2018
Difficulty is subjective. If you want to increase the difficulty, try typing it with your toes while blindfolded.
+2
Level 66
Jul 28, 2019
That suggestion should be placed by each quiz where someone asked for shorter time. Or that they should let their pets type while they dictate the words
+2
Level 88
May 11, 2018
just type every country in the Americas from big to small and you only need about 20 seconds..
+1
Level 39
May 11, 2018
Just got my level 28 with this quiz! Smooth! ;)
+1
Level 22
May 11, 2018
I got them all exept for ecuador i keep writing it with a Q
+1
Level 34
May 11, 2018
I thought it said cities, not countries. I only got Colombia.
+2
Level 75
Jul 12, 2020
Colombia isn't a city...
+1
Level 52
Apr 26, 2021
maybe they were thinking of just any city they could think of and out of frustration thought the capital of ohio
+1
Level 51
Nov 5, 2019
My second favorite country in South America is either Bolivia or Brazil. I love the name of every capital in South America with the exception of Brasilia which I find to be slightly underwhelming when it rolls off the tongue.
+3
Level 75
Jul 18, 2020
I love saying the capital of Honduras, and Suriname's is almost as good. They make me want to dance.
+2
Level 57
Nov 5, 2019
Canada's GDP is (1.65 trillion) is significantly larger than Mexico's(1.15 trillion). Source: World Bank
+4
Level ∞
Nov 6, 2019
There are two different methods of calculating GDP. We use the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) method. What PPP does is calculate the value of the goods produced, not their price. Here's an oversimplified example: Let's say a McDonald's hamburger sells for $2 in Mexico but $5 in Canada. It's the same burger, but it sells for a higher price in Canada. For the sake of calculating the size of an economy, what matters more - the burger or the price? In my opinion, the burger matters more. That's why we use PPP.
+1
Level 82
Jul 12, 2020
There are many reasons why the Mexican burger costs less and it is not, in reality, the same burger. If the materials to make it are cheaper, the building it's served in is less expensive, the rent being paid is less because it's in a country with a shitty economy, and the salaries being paid to the workers who produce the burger are 1/10th as much... you're not getting the same burger. You might not be able to taste the difference, but it doesn't not exist. On top of that companies price goods to sell in whatever market they are sold in. There are wealthier people in Canada. So they raise the price there. That doesn't mean Canadians have less money or even, realistically, less purchasing power- as markets are increasingly becoming more and more global. It means the McDonald's in Canada are probably operating with bigger profit margins.
+2
Level 65
Sep 8, 2020
So many wrong things in one comment,

PPP is much more useful than nominal GDP, what matters IS the goods, not the prices. Your own argument contradicts your own conclusion.

Who cares about how much you paid for a burger, you care about eating a burger.

+1
Level 82
Aug 16, 2022
I'm sorry you were having trouble following along.
+1
Level 82
Apr 16, 2020
USA just scraping out in front then...
+1
Level 76
Apr 17, 2020
Always satisfied when it's: full score in less than 30sec.
+1
Level 68
Jul 12, 2020
fortunately, I had enough time to type out just about every country in the Americas. Got the Dominican Republic at the last second.
+3
Level 63
Feb 24, 2021
France?
+3
Level 40
Jul 28, 2021
not counting french guyana
+1
Level 59
Dec 22, 2021
French Guiana is politically a part of Europe
+1
Level 65
Jan 10, 2022
I only got DR because I was singing Yakos (terrible) World. Maybe it IS actually helpful.
+2
Level 82
Aug 16, 2022
Add up every other country on this list and you get to not-quite-half of the US GDP. That's some pretty thorough dominance.
+2
Level 71
Aug 16, 2022
I've seen a couple of articles about how Argentina is doing very poorly. They have something like 70% inflation and it's still going up. I wonder if this is a sign that their economy will implode in a Sri Lanka or Venezuela-type crisis.