Japan has fallen to 20th place in GDP per capita among the 34 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The ranking is the lowest for Japan since 1970.
The cabinet office says Japan’s 2014 GDP was about $4.6 trillion, down by $304.5 billion from 2013. Japan was third in the global GDP ranking for the 6th year in a row, following the United States and China, Japan’s NHK World reported.
But Japan’s GDP per capita was $36,230 last year, down 6% or $2,330 from 2013, when the nation was 19th in the global ranking.
The decline in the figure is due to the yen’s depreciation. The nation’s GDP per capita rose 1.8% from a year earlier in yen terms.
Luxembourg took the top spot, with its GDP per capita at $116,199. The US ranked 7th with $54,353. South Korea was 23rd with $27,970.
China’s GDP per capita was $7,590. The country is not an OECD member state.
According to Japan’s cabinet office, Luxembourg’s government offered tax incentives to attract financial institutions from abroad, which helped increase the country’s GDP. Luxembourg’s small population is another factor behind its high GDP per capita.
Japan’s GDP per capita was about $2,000, ranking 19th in 1970, when that of the US was more than $5,000. Japan’s figure rose to $30,000 in 1992 with its rapid economic growth and the low yen. Japan was 3rd for 4 years in a row since 1993. Japan gradually slipped later with the collapse of the economic bubble in the early 1990s, deflation, and weaker yen.
