Real national income per person or, equivalently, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is a popular measure of economic development. Typically, higher levels of GDP per capita are associated with higher standards of living. For example, in 2022, the U.S. had a GDP per capita of $76,320, while Cameroon, a less developed economy, had a GDP per capita of only $1,500.
This article reveals that the relationship between the growth rate and level of GDP per capita has changed since 2000 compared with the years between 1960 and 1999. In the earlier period, richer countries grew faster than poorer ones. Today, poorer countries have higher growth rates and are catching up to the U.S., thereby reducing the disparity between nations.