Top 10 World’s Richest Oil Countries That Are Still Poor

Original source : http://www.gizmocrazed.com

Posted : September 2013

Author : Mary Mckee

These are the richest oil nations per-capita, but take a closer look and you’ll see that their real per capita income, unemployment, and national poverty level is poor. Certainly poorer than you would expect in countries with this much black gold.

10. Iraq

Iraq’s oil wealth translates to $515,384 per person, but that doesn’t mean that every person in the nation is seeing that cash. With an unemployment rate of 16% and 25% of the population living in poverty as of 2008, it is hard to believe that the GDP per capita is $4,600.

9. Brunei

The Serian near-shore oil field, Brunei, rakes in an oil wealth of $521,000 per capita. Seria as an oil rich nation is much better off than Iraq. With an unemployment rating of 2.7% (2010) and only 4% are living in poverty. Not bad, with a GDP per capita of $50,500.

8. Canada

The oil and gas reserves in Canada equate to approximately $565,049 per capita, Seria’s Brunei fields still surprisingly surpass Canada in income per person, despite Canada’s reputation as a great place to live. With only a GDP per capita of $41,500, 9.4% of Canadians are living in poverty and have an unemployment rate of 7.3%. Tar sands are a large source of Canada’s natural resource wealth.

7. Libya

Oil and gas reserves that have not been monetized yet in Libya, but still with a per capita calculation of $861,101, it is hard to understand why the country is in such bad shape. With a GDP per capita of $13,300 Libya has a shocking 30% of its population living below the poverty line and a 30% unemployment rate.

6. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is notorious for their vast oil and gas reserves. Their reserves would make it possible for the country to give every citizen a check for $1.12 million. However, Saudi Arabia has a GDP per capita of $25,700 and an unemployment rate of 10.7%. We can’t tell you how much of the population live below the poverty line because there is no official statistic… which does not make us assume the best.

5. Venezuela

To put into perspective the amount of oil and gas reserves in Venezuela, it is the Americas equivalent of the Persian Gulf. The oil and gas reserves per capita equates to $1.14 million but that doesn’t mean that the general population is seeing it. With only an 8% unemployment rate, there was 31.6% of the nation living in poverty in 2011.

4. Turkmenistan

The Turkmenistan oil and gas reserves just off the Caspian Sea equate to $1.54 million. Oil drilling platforms are familiar in the Caspian Sea in Turkmenistan. However, with only a GDP of $8,500 per capita despite immense oil wealth, the country has an unemployment rating of 60% with 30% of the population living in poverty in 2004.

3. United Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia’s neighbor, the small but energy stuffed United Arab Emirates, produce an impressive $1.63 million per capita in oil and gas. While the small nation’s GDP is neck and neck with that of the U.S., it still struggles with poverty. Still, a GDP per capita of $49,000 and only 2.4% unemployment, the 19.5% population living in poverty is not nearly as bad as many other countries on this list.

2. Kuwait

With the population of around 2.8 million, the small nation produces a whopping $4.14 million per capita in oil and gas. We have no official data on the poverty level, but they have a $43,800 GDP and only an unemployment rate of 2.2%.

1. Qatar

Qatar’s oil wealth is an astounding $6.01 million, making this the place to be on the Persian Gulf. While there is no official data about the poverty level, a GDP per capita of $102,800 and only 0.5% unemployment, we feel comfortable in assuming it’s pretty low.

~Blog Admin~