Per capita income

2018

Per capita income or average income is the average amount of money a person gets in a year. It is found by dividing the amount of money in an area by the number of people living there.[1][2]

Per capita income is often used to measure an area's average income. The currency used is often the euro or the US dollar as they are widely used international currencies.

It has been criticised for not accounting for inflation. This means that it overstates economic growth. It also means that a small number of wealthy people can increase the country's per capita income whilst the rest of the population experience no change. It does not account for the differences in the cost of living between countries.[3]

References[change | change source]

  1. Per capita income The Free Dictionary
  2. Income Per Capita Definition, Investopedia
  3. Oulton, Nicholas (22 December 2012). "Hooray for GDP! GDP as a measure of wellbeing". VOX, CEPR's Policy Portal. Retrieved 2 September 2016.