Low tax rates, plenty of cheap energy, and a welcome for innovation and technology are three essentials for fast growth, high productivity and high per capita incomes. The present UK government in going for higher taxes, dearer energy and EU levels of restriction on business innovation has turned its back on growth and success.
The top group in the world GDP per head league comprises Luxembourg ($145,000) , Switzerland ($116,000), Ireland ($110,000) , Singapore ($97,000), Iceland ($94,000), US ($92,000) and Norway ($90,000) . Two of these are EU members, Luxembourg and Ireland, who have got away with very low corporate tax rates attracting plenty of international financial and technology business to book profits with them. Switzerland and Singapore have also made themselves attractive business, investment and financial centres. Norway has used oil, gas and hydro energy to build a national wealth fund out of the revenues. The US has combined cheap fossil fuel energy leapfrogging to be the world’s largest oil and gas producer, with dominance in the digital revolution creating the nine largest quoted corporations worldwide.
The Europeans along with Japan and South Korea create a middle grouping. The EU’s GDP per head is now less than half the US, with Korea about to overtake it, and with Japan around the same level. Germany ($60,000) and the UK ($56,000) lead this group with Greece as low as $26,000 . Spain ($38,000) , Italy ($43,000) , France ($51,000) share the group’s slow growth characteristics. The EU members and the UK are held back by dear energy, over regulation, and a failure to create conditions where home grown technology businesses can flourish and grow into world scale companies. This group of countries is falling further and further behind the US, with a few Asian exceptions like Taiwan and South Korea.
China and Russia on $15,000 hover just above the world average of $14,000. Mexico ($14,000), Brazil ($11,000), South Africa ($7,000) and India ($3,000) help keep the world average low. China is now growing at around 5% per annum and India faster. Over this century to date the US has grown twice as fast as the EU. The UK seeking closer ties with the EU is linking itself eveer more firmly to a proven slow growth or ,no growth model. EU economies are digital colonies of the great US corporations. They are de industrialising rapidly as their penal self harming n et zero policies destroy once great engineering, vehicle, steel, glass, ceramics, textile, petrochemical and other industries.
April 10, 2026
“turned its back on growth and success” rather worse than that it is actively at war anything that creates growth.
Reported yesterday – OpenAI has paused its major “Stargate” data center project in the UK, citing high energy costs and an unfavorable regulatory environment.
So is Miliband really so dim and deluded that he actually believes in what he preaches? If not what are his real motives for destroying the UK’s economy and defence & freezing pensioners. It might have been a small vote winner once I suppose (with the deluded “BBC think” & Greta types but now it is surely a massive vote loser and economic vandalism.
In short is Miliband mad or bad or both – no other explanations surely?
April 10, 2026
As anyone who’s studied even a minimum of science, the phrase ‘the science is settled’ is not spoken by any real scientist, and these are the words of our energy secretary. He has found his cause and he thinks he’s going to save the world, a real zealot, with power – very dangerous.
Now we have 2TK blaming Putin and Trump for our high energy prices. Perhaps if we used what is already ours, from under the north sea, and found a way to pay long term fixed prices (as most nations with resourcrs do), we might have reasonable energy costs.
April 10, 2026
Prosperity doesn’t figure in this governments calculations. The entire income tax take is shelled out on welfare. This is unsustainable.
Milibrain will be cock a hoop because AI are pulling out of investing as with the projected £17.5 billion in the North Sea.
Milibrain us neither mad or bad just following in his Marxist upbringing. His father fled to England and hated us.
April 10, 2026
I think Miliband is more of a do as I say, not do as I do person.
April 10, 2026
Luxembourg ($145,000) , Switzerland ($116,000) figures are rather exaggerated by people working in the countries but not actually living there and so not counted in the per cap division. Ireland ($110,000) by large companies shifting profits to head offices located this low Corp. tax area.
April 10, 2026
Man jailed for stealing handbag that contained £2.2m Fabergé egg and watch sentenced to 27 months in prison. Yet three court of appeal judges thought 31 months for Lucy Connolly’s very temporary and insignificant tweet said:-
“For the reasons which we have explained, there is no arguable basis on which it could
be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive. The
application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused.”
Six other turn down the right to appeal Lucy Letby’s obviously unsafe all 15 convictions. Not even one of the 15 it seems justified an appeal these learned judges decided!
April 10, 2026
Good morning.
I am always sceptical when comparing countries as not all are the same. One should not look at one set of figures and say that that makes them better off. For example. If a country has an economy more based on agriculture which is highly variable / risk then growth will be slower but, unlike a manufacturing country producing high end goods, we all need to eat. So that economy is more sustainable.
As we have seen in the UK, GDP is not everything.
April 10, 2026
@Mark B. Yes. I’m no economist but I was going to make a similar point.
Under this measure we are at $56k and China $15k. Yet our cities and infrastructure are falling apart, and China’s (by travellers’ accounts) are astonishing. We have lost our industrial capacity, they clearly have not.
It makes me question the utility of this measure (GDP per head), certainly as an indicator of wellbeing, life quality or state of economic advancement. What is its value?
April 10, 2026
GDP is clearly not everything. GDP per capita in PPP perhaps the best measure but so many other things matter crime rates, road quality, housing quality, the legal system, healthcare, free speech and freedom of choice…
If my wife works and I employ a nanny for my children it increases GDP significantly but if I do not and my wife looks after them herself no increase in GDP but society can actually be better off this way. Similarly if you run an old car, fix it yourself and do you own diy and gardening rather than employing people then GDP is lower but now real effect on living standards or happiness levels. Indeed they prob. rise. Saves load of taxes too. If your wife earns £100,000 to pay a Nanny say £40,000 so she can work about £80k in total goes in tax, NI employer & employee. So make little economic sense unless you just far prefer your job to looking after your children!
April 10, 2026
The UK has perhaps the worst of all worlds – very high taxes & very poorly spent, energy costs the highest in the world, high and increasing crime rates, poor roads covered in potholes, a very poor healthcare system, a poor and expensive justice system, an open door to low skilled and often proble causing and criminal immigrants, a largely anarcho-tyranny system of justice & government, attacks of free speech and three more years of Labour still to go.
April 10, 2026
GDP is meaningless, it’s per capita that matters and that is reducing year on year
April 10, 2026
Well said. As Oscar Wilde said, ‘you can know the price of everything but the value of nothing!’
Looking at this, I think the UK is best place to live (for so many reasons!). Followed by rest of Europe (great weather, food, old buildings, good healthcare). Australia, NZ etc. Vietnam / Thailand etc. Chile, Argentina etc. Morocco, Turkey, Kenya etc. Followed by China (average person can live quite well in peace and comfort and still lots of traditional values). India (lots of poverty sadly etc but some srill great places to live). Singapore (good quality of life but boring – like Franfurt!). Dubai (lots of comfort but quite vulgar and predictable way of life). Then USA (quite a crazy place to live). And finally Russia (just really corrupt) and the really poor and corrupt countries around world just too stressful to live in.
So UK deffo at top. And USA, Followed by Russia, at bottom.
April 10, 2026
The trouble with this list and averages is that the money is not in the hands of the people but in the hands of increasingly insatiable governments.
Ireland is on fire – the pathetic, greedy, rogue, anti-Irish government is driving the people into bankruptcy.
They have entered the 4th day of blockade, what amounts to a General Strike. The Army has been called out by the Government, using threats and terrorist tactics.
The Irish have been up all night and the protests hold. Peaceful apart from the Gardai arresting individuals here and there when they can.
They say they are not afraid because their army is the biggest.
They say the Irish want their country back! I know the feeling well.
The North will be next and then Scotland, which literally means ‘the land of the Irish’.
Starmer needs to back down fast or the whole of Britain will unite against the authorities who demand that we hand our homeland, people and figure to aliens.
The Irish people are making their mark as the British did in June 2016.
We MUST all stand together once again, and win.
April 10, 2026
GDP per head is misleading as it is buying power per head that needs to take account of taxes and especially the cost of living that really counts- the cost of living in most of the highest GDP countries (e.g.Norway, Switzerland and Iceland) is notoriously expensive with the U.S.A. being an exception whereas the cost of living in some low income countries(such as Brazil at least was and India is for living essentials) is low. That is what really matters for people and that would produce a rather different picture of real living standards in each country.
April 10, 2026
The most depressing feature of these statistics, is the governments refusal to do anything positive to change the so called ‘progressive’ direction of travel.
The data shows us a continuing decline in GDP/capita. We are becoming ever poorer personally and ever more debt laden as each year progresses. With those damning facts out there for all to see, why do the authorities in charge of the national direction of travel continue to progress the negative policies such as Net Zero and ever more Woke alignment policies?
Our defence forces have been instructed by the Attorney General Hermer not to board threatening Russian vessels or vessels sanctioned for carrying war provisions without first issuing a warrant authorised under International law.
This ban on boarding suspect enemy ships makes naval patrols pointless. I suspect that is what Hermer and his boss Starmer want. Their determination to align the UK with the EU in all things is driving national security out of the window along with our national defence capability, and our past alignment with our key ally the USA.
We have got to stop these mad men out as soon as the political system allows.
April 10, 2026
It’s the duty of government to jettison us into this top group.
Back in the day, innovation in the form of jet engine, radar, transistor, TV, hovercraft when coupled with US investment brought our ideas to the market.
How do we get back to that?
1 Replace the immigrants we have with the immigrants we need.
2 Meritocratic education system.
3 Tax system to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Reduce benefits and public sector/non productive jobs by 50% to pay for it.
4 Encourage outside investment to propel our ideas into home grown companies or JVs.
It’s the opposite of what’s happening.
April 10, 2026
The British Establishment is delivering the UN objective of “levelling down.” It won’t be long before we reach 2nd world status, on a par with the likes of Bulgaria and Albania.
April 10, 2026
You could live in Monaco but so many there divorced so the tax man might not have got your money but your cheating ex has in the law courts. And Monaco a bit boring too like Dubai.
The UK still easily comes out top best country in world to live in people should just be happier to live here (plus life is just too short to complain and moan instead of being happy with what we’ve got)! Despite our problems. Other countries have theirs (and theirs overall greater / much greater). But grass is not greener on other side.
Good old Britain!