List of continents by GDP (nominal)

World map showing nominal GDP of countries for the year 2010 according to the IMF.
Legend: (in billions of U.S. dollars)
  > 1,000
  200-999
  10-199
  < 10
  no data

This article includes a list of continents of the world sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP), the market value of all final goods and services from a continent in a given year. The GDP dollar estimates presented here are calculated at market or government official exchange rates.

The figures presented here do not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's currency. Such fluctuations may change a continents ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference to the standard of living of its population. Therefore these figures should be used with caution.

Comparisons of national wealth are also frequently made on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP), to adjust for differences in the cost of living in different countries. (See List of countries by GDP (PPP).) PPP largely removes the exchange rate problem, but has its own drawbacks; it does not reflect the value of economic output in international trade, and it also requires more estimation than GDP per capita. On the whole, PPP per capita figures are more narrowly spread than nominal GDP per capita figures.

The first list includes 2010 data estimatesn1 for members of the International Monetary Fund. The second list shows the World Bank's mostly 2010 estimates, and the third list includes mostly 2010 estimates from the CIA World Factbook.

Area and population

Comparison of area and population

The following table summarises the area and population of each continent using the seven continent model, sorted by decreasing area.[1]

Continent Area (km²) Area (mi²) Percent of
total land area
Total population Percent of
total population
Density
People per
km²
Density
People per
mi²
Most populous
city (proper)
Asia 43,820,000 16,920,000 29.5% 4,164,252,000 60.5% 95.0 246Shanghai, China
Africa 30,370,000 11,730,000 20.4% 1,022,234,000 14.8% 33.7 87Lagos, Nigeria
North America 24,709,000 9,540,000 16.5% 542,056,000 7.9% 21.9 57Mexico City, Mexico
South America 17,840,000 6,890,000 12.0% 392,555,000 5.7% 22.0 57São Paulo, Brazil
Antarctica 13,720,000 5,300,000 9.2% 1,000 0.00002% 0.00007 0.00018Villa Las Estrellas, Chilean claim
Europe 10,180,000 3,930,000 6.8% 738,199,000 10.7% 72.5 188Moscow, Russia
Oceania 9,008,500 3,478,200 5.9% 29,127,000 0.4% 3.2 8.3Sydney, Australia

The total land area of all continents is 148,647,000 square kilometres (57,393,000 sq mi), or 29.1% of Earth's surface (510,065,600 square kilometres or 196,937,400 square miles).

A rough estimate of the total population of all the continents is 7,280,000,000.

GDP (nominal) by continents

The following table summarises the GDP (nominal) of each continent by adding GDP (nominal) of each nations within the seven continent model, sorted by USD.

In this table, the sovereign states and dependent territories are classified according to the geoscheme created by the United Nations Statistics Division.[2] According to the UN, the assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories.[3]

For more information please see List of sovereign states and dependent territories by continent.


List by the International Monetary Fund (2013)[4] List by the World Bank (1990-2010)[5] List by the CIA World Factbook (2000-2010)[6]
Rank Continent GDP (trillions of $) Year
World73.982013
1Europe24.42013
2North America20.32013
3Asia18.52013
4South America4.22013
5Africa2.62013
6Oceania1.82013
7AntarcticaN/A2013
Rank Continent GDP (millions of $) Year
World53,175,3962010
1Europe18,799,8942010
2North America17,506,4582010
3Asia10,574,5812010
4South America3,632,8412010
5Africa1,594,7772010
6Oceania1,066,8452010
7AntarcticaN/A2010
Rank Continent GDP (millions of $) Year
World55,044,7252010
1Europe18,806,3702010
2North America17,587,7922010
3Asia12,084,6042010
4South America3,535,5272010
5Africa1,638,4042010
6Oceania1,392,0282010
7AntarcticaN/A2010

GDP per capita (nominal) by continents


List by the International Monetary Fund (2010)[7] List by the World Bank (1990-2010)[5] List by the CIA World Factbook (2000-2010)[6]
Rank Continent GDP per
capita (US$)
Year
World Average18,351[8]2010
1Oceania39,0522010
2North America32,0772010
3Europe25,4342010
4South America9,0242010
5Asia2,9412010
6Africa1,5762010
7AntarcticaN/A2010
Rank Continent GDP per
capita (US$)
Year
World Average16,8372010
1North America32,2962010
2Oceania29,9092010
3Europe25,4672010
4South America9,2542010
5Asia2,5392010
6Africa1,5602010
7AntarcticaN/A2010
Rank Continent GDP per
capita (US$)
Year
World Average18,4092010
1Oceania39,0252010
2North America32,4462010
3Europe25,4762010
4South America9,0062010
5Asia2,9022010
6Africa1,6032010
7AntarcticaN/A2010

Notes

1. ^ Estimated by IMF staff.
2. ^ Figures exclude Taiwan, and special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
3. ^ The Eurozone in 2010 was 16 of 27 European Union countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
4. ^ Data include the French overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion.
5. ^ Excludes Kosovo.
6. ^ Hyperinflation and the plunging value of the Zimbabwean dollar makes Zimbabwe's nominal GDP a highly inaccurate statistic.
7. ^ Excludes data for Transnistria.
8. ^ Includes Former Spanish Sahara.
9. ^ Data are for the area controlled by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus.
10. ^ Covers mainland Tanzania only.
11. ^ Excludes Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

References

  1. "Total Population – Both Sexes". World Population Prospects, the 2010 Revision. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2011. (Per linked individual article definitions, North America includes UN population estimates for North America, Central America and Caribbean; Australia includes Australia and Papua New Guinea.)
  2. "Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings". United Nations Statistics Division.
  3. "Standard country or area codes and geographical regions for statistical use". United Nations Statistics Division.
  4. "IMF Data Mapper". International Monetary Fund. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Data refer mostly to the year 2010. World Development Indicators database, World Bank. Accessed on 29 September 2011.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Field listing - GDP (official exchange rate), CIA World Factbook. Accessed on 26 September 2011.
  7. Nominal GDP list of countries for the year 2010. World Economic Outlook Database-September 2011, International Monetary Fund. Accessed on 26 September 2011.
  8. "Nominal 2010 GDP for the world and the European Union.". World economic outlook database, September 2011. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2011-09-21.