GDP

GDP (Gross Domestic Product) measures the total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a specific period (usually one year). It comes in nominal (current prices) and real (inflation-adjusted) forms and is widely used as an indicator of economic size.

2024 top 5 by nominal GDP: USA ($28T), China ($18T), Germany ($4.6T), Japan ($4.2T), India ($3.9T). Per capita GDP tells a different story: Luxembourg ($130K) ranks among the highest, while China ranks around 60th at $13K despite being 2nd overall.

'GDP per capita above $80,000' narrows to about 10 countries (Luxembourg, Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, etc.). Economic clues work well in combination with population and region.