30 Most Economically Powerful Countries in the World

Published on August 25, 2023 at 8:34 am by Ashar Jawad in Economy, Lists, News

In this article, we look at the 30 most economically powerful countries in the world. You can skip our analysis of the global economic power dynamics, and head over directly to the 10 Most Economically Powerful Countries in the World.

As the old adage goes, there is no free lunch. Large and prosperous economies around the world have used development assistance, or simply foreign aid, as a foreign policy tool to expand their national interests. While in doing so they have without doubt contributed to improving human welfare, but the primary motive behind channeling billions of dollars to weaker, developing countries has always been to receive something back in return. Aid has been used to reward friendly countries for their compliant policies, and aid has been withdrawn to destabilize nations with antagonistic regimes.

Abubacarr Tambadou, Gambia’s Justice Minister in 2020 took Aung San Suu Kyi to the world court in The Hague over the persecution faced by Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, but it is hard to conceive that an African country would seek to do the same with any Chinese leader over the happenings in Xinjiang province with Uyghurs, primarily due to hefty development aid a number of African countries receive from China. Pakistan pulled out of the 2019 summit of Muslim nations hosted by Malaysia after Saudi Arabia and UAE expressed reservations about Islamabad joining the meeting, which they felt could rival the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Both of these countries host large Pakistani expatriate communities and have repeatedly assisted Pakistan in times of financial distress.

Similarly, powerful countries have also used foreign investments as a means of pursuing foreign policy goals by expanding their cultural influence. Due to the size and strength of their economies, these countries are home to some of the world’s largest corporations with funds available to expand geographically. One much talked about example in the last century has been the global expansion of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO). After American troops went overseas for World War II, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) vowed to make Coke available for the soldiers wherever they were and began building bottling stations on the Western Front and the Pacific.

After the war was over, the company started expanding its operations across Europe and Asia, and that marked the beginning of a concept that came to be known as ‘coca-colonization’ – a term that signified the Americans pushing forward their ideals in areas under their sphere of influence. In 1948, the French government openly stood against the drink and even accused The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) of being an espionage network. As of 2015, Coca-Cola is distributed in more than 200 countries. Coca Cola is considered to be the second-most commonly understood word in the world after ‘okay’ according to the company’s website.

Another brand that rode the coattails of America’s economic and cultural dominance is Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI). It is hard to imagine any garment today that is as widely embraced and worn across the world as jeans are. First designed in the 19th century by Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI) for laborers, jeans, despite gaining popularity in the decades that followed, were worn only in the western states of the US till World War II. Soon the trend caught up among middle class Americans and started to gain popularity in Europe as well where American soldiers often wore Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI)’s jeans when they were off duty. Jeans represented symbols of democratization and a happy, prosperous American way of life for the Europeans.

Fast food culture is also widely seen as a representation of American marketing dominance. Brands such as McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ), and Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s KFC and Pizza Hut have thousands of outlets around the world today. China has the most Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)’s KFC restaurants in the world. India is the second largest market for Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE:DPZ) after the United States, while China and Japan race to claim second spot for the most McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) outlets by country.

Methodology

We have ranked the 30 most economically powerful countries in the world using two metrics: nominal GDPs of these countries in 2022 and the average foreign aid given by these nations to developing countries between 2020 and 2022. Data measuring the size of the GDP has been sourced from the IMF, while OECD’s Net ODA Database and other reliable and independent sources were studied to get figures related to the foreign aid these countries gave out. Equal weightage has been given to both metrics and then summed to get an aggregated score. We have listed countries in this article in ascending order of those scores.

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Let’s now head over to the list of the most economically powerful countries in the world.

30. Portugal

GDP (2022): $252 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $478 million

Score: 1.067

Portugal is the 50th largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP. It gives an estimated 0.23% of its GNI as foreign aid in official development assistance.

29. Taiwan

GDP (2022): $762 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $383 million

Score: 1.117

Taiwan is commonly referred to as one of the four ‘Asian Tigers’ along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea due to its consistent high economic growth over several decades.

28. Israel

GDP (2022): $523 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $413 million

Score: 1.125

Israel is one of the most advanced nations in the world and spends heavily on research and development. The size of the Israeli economy was measured at $523 billion in 2022 by the IMF.

27. New Zealand

GDP (2022): $242 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $616 million

Score: 1.130

New Zealand spent 0.23% of its GNI on foreign aid in 2022. It is a powerful economy with a strong currency which is the tenth most traded currency in the world in the foreign exchange market.

26. Czech Republic

GDP (2022): $290 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $558 million

Score: 1.131

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is located in central Europe. Despite being a landlocked country, it has one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. You can read more about this in our article, 25 Wealthiest Countries in the World by GDP Per Capita.

25. Finland

GDP (2022): $281 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $1.5 billion

Score: 1.175

Finland has a population of just over 5.5 million. In 2022, the size of its GDP was measured at $281 billion by the IMF. Finland is one of the most economically powerful countries in the world.

24. Austria

GDP (2022): $472 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $1.6 billion

Score: 1.30

Austria is the 25th largest donor in the world, having a foreign aid per capita of $165 between 2018 and 2022. You can read more about this in our article, 25 Countries that Give the Most Foreign Aid Per Capita.

23. Ireland

GDP (2022): $530 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $1.59 billion

Score: 1.301

Ireland is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and recorded the second highest economic growth over the last five years, estimated to be 9.14%, according to the IMF.

22. United Arab Emirates

GDP (2022): $508 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $1.62 billion

Score: 1.340

The Emirati nation has the second largest economy in the Arab world. In 2022, the GDP growth rate was measured at 7.6% and the size of the economy was estimated to be $508 billion. The UAE’s government is aiming to double the size of the economy by 2031.

21. Poland

GDP (2022): $688 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $1.79 billion

Score: 1.405

Poland gave 0.51% of its gross national income in development assistance aid in 2022, which amounted to $1.79 billion. It is one of the most economically powerful countries in Europe.

20. Denmark

GDP (2022): $391 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $2.91 billion

Score: 1.411

Denmark has the sixth highest GDP per capita in the world – estimated to be $68,008. It is one of the few countries that meet the UN’s target of spending 0.7% of countries’ gross national income on foreign aid.

19. Belgium

GDP (2022): $582 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $2.64 billion

Score: 1.439

Belgium is one of the most influential countries in the world, and hosts the headquarters of several large international organizations including the European Union and NATO. In 2022, it gave 0.45% of its GNI in foreign aid to developing countries. Belgium has a GDP per capita of more than $51,000.

18. India

GDP (2022): $3.4 trillion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $2.3 billon

Score: 1.516

India is the fifth largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP and third when ranked by purchasing power parity. Much of India’s foreign aid is given to its neighbors as well as regional countries, such as Bhutan, Nepal, and Afghanistan.

17. South Korea

GDP (2022): $1.67 trillion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $2.78 billion

Score: 1.524

South Korea is one of the fastest emerging markets in the world. It ranks as the 13th largest economy in the world and 4th in Asia by nominal GDP.

16. Australia

GDP (2022): $1.70 trillion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $3.31 billion

Score: 1.578

Australia is one of the most economically powerful countries in the world. The Australian Dollar is the premiere currency of the Asia-Pacific region, accounting for close to $500 billion of daily trade in the forex market. You can read about the Australian Dollar and other strong currencies in our article, 15 Most Powerful Currencies in the World.

15. Switzerland

GDP (2022): $807 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $4.05 billion

Score: 1.586

Switzerland gives an average of $4 billion in foreign aid each year. In 2022, it donated 0.56% of its gross national income on official development assistance. Switzerland gives the fifth most foreign aid per capita averaged at $415 per person each year.

14. Spain

GDP (2022): $1.4 trillion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $3.8 billion

Score: 1.587

Next on the list is Spain, a European economic powerhouse, whose GDP was estimated to be worth $1.4 trillion in 2022 by the IMF. Much of Spain’s foreign aid goes to Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

13. Norway

GDP (2022): $579 billion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $4.94 billion

Score: 1.604

Norway has spent an average of 0.97% of its gross national income on foreign aid between 2018 and 2022. It has the third highest GDP per capita in the world – estimated to be $89,154 – making it one of the wealthiest nations in the world.

12. Saudi Arabia

GDP (2022): $1.11 trillion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $5.13 billion

Score: 1.674

Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest exporters of oil in the world, because of which it has become a trillion dollar economy. It is the largest fund donor in the Gulf region.

11. China

GDP (2022): $18.1 trillion

Average Foreign Aid Per Year (2020-2022): $4.8 billion

Score: 1.702

According to OECD estimates, China gives about $4.8 billion in foreign aid to developing countries. It is the largest economy in the world when ranked by PPP and the second largest in terms of nominal GDP. A huge chunk of China’s aid is channeled towards African countries.

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