GDP density

File:Global 15 x 15 Minute Grids of the Downscaled GDP Based on the SRES B2 Scenario, 1990 and 2025 (7983292321).jpg

Gridded GDP density of the world (1990 and 2011)

GDP density is a measure of economic activity by area. It is expressed as gross domestic product per square kilometer and can be calculated by multiplying GDP per capita of an area by the population density of that area. Amongst other uses it demonstrates the effects of geography on economy.

GDP density

What is GDP density?

GDP density refers to the distribution or intensity of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) within a particular area or population. GDP density could be interpreted as a measure of economic activity or output relative to the size of a region or population, often expressed as GDP per capita or GDP per unit of area.

GDP per capita

The GDP per capita is a commonly utilized indicator to assess a nation's economic performance. It is calculated by dividing the total value of products and services produced in a nation during a given time period by the average population of that nation. This measure, which is frequently used to compare the economic success of various countries, sheds light on the average economic output per person in a specific nation. GDP per capita typically denotes a higher standard of life because it shows that the nation's citizens have more resources and GDP density.

GDP per unit area

GDP per unit area refers to the geographical distribution of Gross Domestic Product within a country. It analyzes how economic output is spread across different regions, provinces, states, or territories within a nation. Understanding GDP geographic distribution is essential for policymakers, businesses, and researchers as it provides insights into regional disparities in economic development and helps identify areas that may require targeted interventions or investment. Policymakers can identify economically underperforming regions and may need to implement tailored policies to promote growth and development by analyzing the geographic distribution of GDP. By identifying the areas of concentrated economic activity, it also assists firms in making well-informed decisions regarding the allocation of resources and market prospects. Additionally, trends of urbanization, economic resiliency, and regional growth are studied by scholars using geographic GDP density data.

Fluctuations in GDP density

Academic discussions have highlighted two significant reasons why typical households might not benefit proportionally from economic growth. These reasons revolve around discrepancies between GDP per capita and median household income, shedding light on challenges in accurately measuring and interpreting economic indicators. The first reason centers on differences in measurement between GDP per capita, derived from national accounts, and median household income, based on household surveys. Despite efforts by organizations like the OECD and EU to align income measures with national accounts concepts, disparities persist due to methodological variations and mismeasurement. Empirical studies reveal substantial disparities between mean per capita income from national accounts and household surveys across various countries. The second reason gaining attention is the widening income inequality, where a significant portion of national income growth concentrates at the top of the income distribution. This trend results in minimal increases in the median income. Empirical studies, primarily focused on countries like the USA and the UK, underscore the impact of income inequality on household income dynamics.

Effect on poverty levels

Geographical detectors have been used, especially in rural poverty contexts, to systematically measure the individual and interacting influences of numerous factors on changes in GDP density. This investigation has found the ideal qualities of important variables that support GDP density growth. Furthermore, a better comprehension of the GDP density differentiation mechanism in rural poverty has been gained. Sufficient reasons for changes in GDP density in rural poverty have been established, based on variables like elevation, average yearly temperature, land use, normalized differential vegetation index (NDVI), and distance to main roadways. Crucially, it has been noted that these impact factors have interactive impacts on GDP density, with synergistic effects frequently producing nonlinear consequences and mutual enhancement.

List of countries by GDP density

GDP forecast or estimate (million US$) by country

Country/Territory	IMF GDP 2025 (million)	Land area (km)	GDP per km2
	30,615,743	9,525,067	3,214,229
	19,398,577	9,596,960	2,021,325
	5,013,574	357,581	14,020,806
	4,279,828	377,915	11,324,843
	4,125,213	3,287,263	1,254,908
	3,958,780	244,376	16,199,545
	3,361,557	551,500 (metropolitan)	6,095,298
	2,543,677	302,068	8,420,875
	2,540,656	17,098,246	148,592
	2,283,599	9,984,670	228,711
	2,256,910	8,510,346	265,196
	1,891,371	505,370	3,742,547
	1,862,740	1,964,375	948,261
	1,858,572	100,432	18,505,775
	1,829,508	7,741,220	236,333
	1,565,471	783,562	1,997,890
	1,443,256	1,904,569	757,786
	1,320,635	41,865	31,545,085
	1,268,535	2,149,690	590,101
	1,039,619	312,685	3,324,813
	1,002,666	41,291	24,282,919
	884,387	35,980	24,579,961
	716,980	30,528	23,485,980
	708,771	70,273	10,085,965
	683,371	2,780,400	245,782
	662,318	450,295	1,470,854
	610,752	21,937	27,841,182
	574,185	740	775,925,676
	569,097	83,600	6,807,380
	566,456	83,878	6,753,332
	558,573	513,120	1,088,582
	517,102	386,224	1,338,866
	494,158	300,000	1,647,193
	484,726	331,340	1,462,926
	475,011	148,460	3,199,589
	470,572	330,621	1,423,297
	459,612	42,947	10,701,842
	438,121	1,138,910	384,684
	428,233	1,114	384,410,233
	426,383	1,219,090	349,755
	422,508	238,398	1,772,280
	410,495	882,363	465,222
	383,384	78,871	4,860,899
	356,513	1,648,195	216,305
	349,264	1,001,450	348,758
	347,174	756,102	459,163
	337,936	92,225	3,664,256
	318,480	1,285,216	247,803
	314,724	338,145	930,737
	300,052	2,724,910	110,114
	288,013	2,381,741	120,925
	285,003	923,768	308,522
	282,019	131,957	2,137,204
	265,455	438,317	605,623
	262,909	268,838	977,946
	247,759	93,025	2,663,359
	222,119	11,586	19,171,327
	209,713	575,627	364,321
	201,986 (2023)	109,884	1,838,175
	179,612	446,550	402,221
	157,469	17,818	8,837,636
	154,587	50,310	7,625,265
	137,480	447,400	307,287
	136,014	580,367	234,359
	130,529	283,561	460,321
	129,748	48,670	2,665,872
	127,924	110,879	1,153,726
	126,546	9,100	13,906,154
	120,850	108,889	1,109,846
	115,167	1,246,700	92,377
	111,963	238,537	469,374
	109,492	1,104,300	99,151
	105,190	309,500	339,871
	103,901	56,594	1,835,901
	102,637	51,180	2,005,412
	100,642	2,586	38,918,020
	100,048	88,499	1,130,499
	99,207	322,462	307,655
	98,964 (2024)	67,240	1,471,802
	95,274	65,286	1,459,333
	90,408	75,320	1,200,319
	87,444	947,303	92,308
	85,739	207,600	413,001
	84,986	176,215	482,286
	82,767	912,050	90,748
	82,262	2,344,858	35,082
	79,221	20,273	3,907,710
	76,390	86,600	882,102
	72,119	488,100	147,755
	64,993	241,550	269,066
	60,577	475,650	127,356
	60,561	676,578	89,511
	59,069	163,610	361,035
	57,086	1,098,581	51,963
	56,157	89,318	628,731
	53,310	390,757	136,427
	52,379	33	1,587,242,424
	48,802	181,035	269,572
	47,941	1,759,540	27,246
	47,880	64,594	741,245
	47,398	406,752	116,528
	47,391	778	60,913,882
	46,763	45,339	1,031,408
	45,513	147,181	309,231
	39,943	9,251	4,317,695
	39,445	112,492	350,647
	38,386	103,000	372,680
	37,403	69,700	536,628
	36,839	196,712	187,274
	36,587	21,041	1,738,843
	35,897	1,861,484	19,284
	33,237	51,209	649,046
	32,714	462,840	70,681
	30,908	27,750	1,113,802
	29,939	28,748	1,041,429
	29,369	752,612	39,023
	28,280 (2024)	10,452	2,705,702
	27,859	29,743	936,657
	27,745	315	88,079,365
	27,515	245,857	111,915
	26,866	274,200	97,980
	26,002	5,127	5,071,582
	25,591	1,240,192	20,635
	25,105	1,564,116	16,051
	25,064	214,969	116,594
	24,726	799,380	30,931
	24,402	114,763	212,630
	23,137	10,991	2,105,086
	22,969	1,267,000	18,129
	21,592	1,284,000	16,816
	21,455	267,668	80,155
	20,689	130,373	158,691
	20,160	199,949	100,826
	19,993 (2024)	185,180	107,965
	19,620	33,847	579,667
	19,377	587,041	33,008
	19,186	582,000	32,966
	18,783	25,713	730,487
	18,080 (2024)	652,864	27,693
	17,032	144,100	118,196
	16,934	236,800	71,512
	16,447 (2023)	120,538	136,447
	16,393	13,880	1,181,052
	15,730	2,096	7,504,771
	15,695	342,000	45,892
	15,565	5,765	2,699,913
	14,975	118,484	126,388
	14,771	26,338	560,825
	14,686	824,292	17,817
	13,711 (2024)	6,020	2,277,575
	13,467	28,051	480,090
	12,944	637,657	20,299
	12,672	10,887	1,163,957
	11,953	1,030,700	11,597
	10,951	56,785	192,850
	9,995 (2024)	2	4,997,500,000
	9,623 (2024)	18,575	518,062
	9,424	160	58,900,000
	9,353	13,812	677,165
	8,980 (2024)	54	166,296,296
	8,758 (2023)	455,503	19,227
	8,639	72,300	119,488
	7,676	300	25,586,667
	7,559	431	17,538,283
	7,431 (2024)	572	12,991,259
	7,139 (2024)	264	27,041,667
	7,025	27,834	252,389
	6,910 (2024)	541	12,772,643
	6,402 (2024)	4,167	1,536,357
	6,336	18,272	346,760
	5,201	17,363	299,545
	5,182	111,369	46,530
	4,979	644,329	7,727
	4,672 (2024)	347	13,463,977
	4,613	23,200	198,836
	4,496	163,820	27,445
	4,408	468	9,418,803
	4,319	180	23,994,444
	3,907 (2024)	1,393	2,804,738
	3,408	38,394	88,764
	3,327 (2024)	2,166,086	1,536
	3,300	622,984	5,297
	3,297	22,965	143,566
	3,281 (2024)	444	7,389,640
	2,915	4,033	722,787
	2,659	616	4,316,558
	2,497	11,295	221,071
	2,474	36,125	68,484
	2,390	30,355	78,735
	2,340	442	5,294,118
	2,275 (2023)	117,600	19,345
	2,241	61	36,737,705
	2,230	457	4,879,650
	2,125	14,874	142,867
	1,904	28,896	65,891
	1,745 (2024)	948	1,840,717
	1,735 (2024)	34	51,029,412
	1,613	1,861	866,738
	1,506 (2023)	151	9,973,510
	1,458	345	4,226,087
	1,248	2,842	439,127
	1,238	389	3,182,519
	1,141	261	4,371,648
	1,119	12,189	91,804
	1,096 (2024)	457	2,398,249
	976	964	1,012,448
	871 (2024)	199	4,376,884
	748	750	997,333
	649 (2024)	53	12,245,283
	587	747	785,810
	495	702	705,128
	416 (2023)	91	4,571,429
	366 (2023)	236	1,550,847
	341	459	742,919
	321	811	395,808
	302	181	1,668,508
	172	21	8,190,476
	80 (2023)	103	776,699
	58	25	2,320,000

External links

• GDP per land area