I knew about the GDP (gross domestic product), a metric for how well an economy is doing.
Mostly, GDP is measured per capita, or in other words, per citizen. So China has a lot of money, but seems poor because it also has a lot of people who need to share that money. It's a few bucks per citizen.
There is however, also another metric, one that maybe is even more useful for comparison.
The GDP per land area. In this metric some of the most profitable land areas on the planet are… exactly where you would expect them to be. Check is out here: GDP per land area.
My only true surprise was Malta. In my imagination it's not a particular rich island. But I guess I was wrong? Or maybe they have a lot of money "on paper" (like Luxembourg's) because the banking laws are very flexible?
