World's Richest Countries

World's Richest Countries - Top 10 list

During the recent economic recession, it might have felt like no countries have been 'rich' as such, or at least not when compared to their previous finances. Recently the world's richest countries have been thrown into flux and are not necessarily the same select few that they once were. Here we will look at what are now the world's richest countries and what's helped them to keep on top in a countdown of the world's richest countries today (of course these are likely to change regularly, and will vary depending on your exact definition of the World's richest countries).
 

10. United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates is a country rich in oil and gas and is highly developed making it number ten among the world's richest countries. This money has only lead to further development as the cash is invested in architecture and projects such as the Burj Khalifa (a tower nearly twice as tall as the Empire State Building) and many artificial islands. It also has a thriving tourist industry – particularly in Dubai which is a city that looks like it's situated in one of the world's richest countries.

9. Kuwait
Kuwait is one of the world's richest countries due to its oil reserves which make up a shocking 10% of the world's total. This makes it one of the world's richest countries and far wealthier than neighbours Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

8. Ireland
Ireland is perhaps surprisingly one of the richest countries in the world despite a troubled political landscape and is the larger developer of computer software anywhere in the world.

7. Switzerland
Not many people would have thought to put Switzerland in a countdown of the World's richest countries being a country that often stays 'off the radar'. This is partly why Switzerland has remained one of the world's richest countries however – by avoiding getting involved in world affairs and staying independent. During WW2 Switzerland stayed out of affairs and during this time the rest of the World's richest companies deposited their money in Swiss banks expecting them to be more secure. Being the home to companies such as Nestle, Logitech, Rolex and Credit Suisse also helps them to remain one of the world's richest countries.

6. United States
The United States is not only one of the world's richest countries in the world but perhaps the most powerful. It is also a hub of popular culture and entertainment and has a business friendly economy which makes it the home of more billionaires than any other country. While many of the world's richest countries are very small, the US manages to maintain its wealth across a population of more than 300 million.

5. China
China by many definitions is one of the world's richest countries and is only increasing. Partly this is due to the sheer strength in numbers and the size of China's population means that it can simply generate a lot of profit as well as a huge number of exports. At the same time work ethic is still instilled at an early age, and it is one of the leaders in terms of technology development. One of the world's richest countries now, and likely even more so soon. 

4. Singapore
Singapore is made up mostly of islands and is considered one of the four 'Asian Tigers' along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. One of the reasons it's among the world's richest countries is that it has the fourth busiest port in the world which makes a hugely active trading centre. Not only is it one of the world's richest countries, but is thought to be highly business friendly.

3. Norway
Norway is a very modern country in Europe that nevertheless is not a part of the EU. This helps it to stay as one of the world's richest countries, as do its rich reserves of oil and gas (as well as one of the world's richest countries it is one of the top five countries for exporting oil).

2. Luxembourg
Luxembourg is not only one of the world's richest countries, but also one of its smallest (the 8th smallest to be precise) with fewer than 500,000 residents. This in part helps it to remain wealthy due to simply having fewer 'mouths to feed', which may also have helped Qatar to be number one on this list of the world's richest countries.

1. Qatar
Qatar is an Arabic speaking country and was far from being one of the world's richest countries until the 1940s when it discovered lots of natural gas and oil reserves. Another reason it might be one of the world's richest countries is its minute population of just over a million people which creates fewer problems and helps money to go further. This makes it a great place to live and a popular choice for those who are already wealthy as it has no income tax whatsoever. By attracting people from the world's richest countries it only increases its standing financially.