New Zealand in the OECD

Purchasing power parities

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is commonly used as a measure of prosperity.

The GDP data of different countries can be compared when converted into a common currency by using Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs). PPPs are calculated by measuring the relative amounts of different countries’ currencies required to purchase a common basket of goods and services.

Below OECD average

New Zealand’s GDP per capita was below the OECD average in 2003 and was twenty-first of the 30 countries.

At US$23,200 or 88 percent of the OECD average (US$26,300), New Zealand’s GDP per capita was most similar to that of Spain.

Luxembourg continued to be the richest OECD country in 2003; its GDP per capita was more than twice the OECD average. The lowest rating country in the OECD was Turkey; its GDP per capita was 26 percent of the OECD average.