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In practice, when GDP rises significantly, average standard of living rises as well. Saudi Arabia's GDP per capita is $20k. Niger's GDP per capita is $565. I
by aetherson 4y ago
In practice, when GDP rises significantly, average standard of living rises as well. Saudi Arabia's GDP per capita is $20k. Niger's GDP per capita is $565. I think that Niger and Saudi Arabia's living standards are about on par with other countries for those per-capita GDPs.
- hither_shores 4y ago> Saudi Arabia's GDP per capita is $20k. Saudi Arabia's nominal GDP per capita. Their GDP (PPP) per capita is more like $50k - comparable to the United Kingdom, which has significantly better living standards.
- pas 4y agoAlso in a very unequal society like SA the average doesn't mean much.
- aetherson 4y agoBut... the reason why their PPP GDP is much better than their nominal GDP is exactly because they aren't actually that wealthy a nation, and so anything involving human labor there is cheaper. If Saudi Arabia actually developed better (whether by finding new, exciting natural resources to export or by developing some kind of productive economic sector not based on natural resource expansion), their nominal GDP would grow but the difference between their nominal GDP and their PPP GDP would shrink. The point here is, Saudi Arabia is not particularly wealthy, and that, not their inequality, mostly explains their low standard of living. It is not the case, as the thread-starter implied, that Saudi Arabia has a high GDP but due to massive inequality it's all in the hands of the royal family.