TOP 20 Countries by GDP Growth per Capita (2025)
Fastest GDP per Capita Growth Economies: 2025 Estimate Snapshot
This ranking compares real GDP growth per capita in 2025 using one disclosed IMF World Economic Outlook vintage. It measures where inflation-adjusted output per resident is estimated or projected to rise fastest in 2025.
The per-capita lens matters because aggregate GDP growth can look strong while rapid population growth reduces the gain per resident. This is a growth ranking, not an income-level ranking or a richest-economies list.
Top 10 overview
Libya stands apart because a rebound from a weak prior base can generate a very large one-year rate. The rest of the top group mixes steadier expansion, catch-up growth, resource-linked cycles and large-market momentum.
Leader
Libya
At +16.1%, Libya is far above the rest of the displayed table. The figure should be read as a rebound signal rather than evidence of a settled long-run trend.
Largest economy in Top 10
India
India matters because a high per-capita growth rate is occurring in one of the world’s largest consumer and labour markets.
Top 10 range
4.5%–16.1%
The top rate is exceptional; most leading economies cluster between roughly 4.5% and 6.0%.
Reading limit
One-year rate
One-year growth can reflect rebounds, commodity cycles and base effects. It should not be treated as a complete welfare scorecard.
Country context for the leading economies
Libya
Libya’s result reflects a high-volatility rebound. Oil output and a weak prior base can move the rate sharply in a single year.
Georgia
Georgia remains near the top after a strong previous year, although the 2025 pace is lower than its 2024 growth rate.
Senegal
Senegal stands out because its 2025 rate is strong and higher than its 2024 rate in this vintage.
India
India combines high per-capita growth with economic scale, making it one of the most consequential entries in the ranking.
Main patterns in the ranking
The ranking shows three patterns. First, demography changes the result: countries with strong aggregate GDP growth do not automatically rank at the top once the population denominator is included.
Second, the list mixes rebound cases with more stable expansion. Libya is an outlier because a rebound can generate a very large one-year number. India matters for a different reason: it combines a high per-capita growth rate with very large economic scale.
Third, small differences still matter. The gap between ranks 10 and 15 is modest, so one or two tenths of a point should not be treated as a deep structural divide.
Near misses. Countries ranked just outside the headline Top 10 are Argentina, Philippines, Vietnam, Serbia and China. The gap between the lower Top 10 and the next group is small.
Accelerating economies. Libya, Argentina, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Senegal show the largest positive shifts versus 2024 inside the displayed ranking universe.
Slower but still high growth. Georgia, Tajikistan, Rwanda and the Kyrgyz Republic remain strong performers even though their 2025 pace is softer than in 2024.
How to use this ranking
For market analysis, the table helps separate large-market momentum from small-country spikes. It also keeps growth and income level separate: fast growth and high income are related, but they are not the same metric.
Ranking table: Top 20 economies by GDP per capita growth
Values are shown as annual real GDP per capita growth rates for 2025. The delta column compares the 2025 rate with the 2024 rate from the same IMF WEO April 2026 vintage.
| Rank | Economy | Growth | Delta vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Libya MENA | +16.1%+17.8 pp | +17.8 pp |
| 2 | Georgia Europe / Caucasus | +6.0%−4.7 pp | −4.7 pp |
| 3 | Senegal Africa | +5.5%+1.7 pp | +1.7 pp |
| 4 | India South Asia | +5.3%−0.2 pp | −0.2 pp |
| 5 | Ethiopia Africa | +4.9%−0.4 pp | −0.4 pp |
| 6 | Tajikistan Central Asia | +4.9%−1.6 pp | −1.6 pp |
| 7 | Mongolia Asia | +4.9%+1.2 pp | +1.2 pp |
| 8 | Rwanda Africa | +4.8%−1.3 pp | −1.3 pp |
| 9 | Kyrgyz Republic Central Asia | +4.6%−2.2 pp | −2.2 pp |
| 10 | Guinea Africa | +4.5%+1.0 pp | +1.0 pp |
| 11 | Argentina Americas | +4.5%+7.1 pp | +7.1 pp |
| 12 | Philippines Southeast Asia | +4.4%−0.1 pp | −0.1 pp |
| 13 | Vietnam Southeast Asia | +4.3%−1.8 pp | −1.8 pp |
| 14 | Serbia Europe | +4.2%−0.4 pp | −0.4 pp |
| 15 | China East Asia | +4.2%−0.9 pp | −0.9 pp |
| 16 | Zimbabwe Africa | +3.8%+4.0 pp | +4.0 pp |
| 17 | Kazakhstan Central Asia | +3.7%+0.2 pp | +0.2 pp |
| 18 | Uzbekistan Central Asia | +3.7%−0.2 pp | −0.2 pp |
| 19 | Indonesia Southeast Asia | +3.6%−0.3 pp | −0.3 pp |
| 20 | Ukraine Europe | +3.5%−2.1 pp | −2.1 pp |
Source note: IMF WEO April 2026 database. Growth figures are based on the IMF real GDP per capita growth indicator and expressed as annual percent change for 2025. Delta compares the 2025 rate with the 2024 rate from the same WEO vintage.
Chart: Top 20 growth rates
The bar chart highlights Libya’s outlier position and the much tighter cluster from Georgia through Ukraine.
If the chart is unavailable, the ranked bars still show the Top 10 order and relative scale.
Methodology
The ranking uses real GDP growth per capita in 2025 from the IMF World Economic Outlook April 2026 database. One disclosed source vintage is used across the page to avoid mixing different forecast rounds.
The headline table is limited to sovereign economies with estimated 2025 population above 3 million. This trims microstates and very small territories that can dominate percentage rankings without being useful for broad cross-country comparison.
All headline values are rounded to one decimal place. The delta column shows how much the 2025 growth rate differs from the 2024 growth rate from the same IMF series. Estimate-year values are not final national accounts for every economy, and one-year spikes can reflect rebounds, commodity cycles or base effects.
FAQ
Why is Libya first by such a wide margin?
Because this is a one-year growth ranking. Libya’s score reflects a sharp rebound from a weak prior base, so it is more volatile than a gradual expansion path.
Why is India important if it is not number one?
Scale changes the meaning of growth. A 5.3% gain in per-capita output inside one of the world’s largest economies has more commercial and strategic weight than the same percentage in a much smaller market.
Is this the same as a GDP per capita level ranking?
No. A level ranking asks which economies are richest on average. This ranking asks which economies are projected or estimated to increase real output per resident fastest in 2025.
Why use a single IMF vintage?
Using one IMF WEO vintage makes the table easier to reproduce and reduces the risk of hidden inconsistencies across countries.
Does fast GDP growth per capita mean ordinary households are definitely better off?
Not automatically. Per-capita GDP is still an average and does not show inequality, household income distribution or public-service quality.
Sources
IMF World Economic Outlook database, April 2026
Primary source for the 2025 estimate/projection vintage and the real GDP per capita growth indicator used in the ranking.
View sourceIMF Data portal — WEO dataset documentation
Used for the official WEO dataset framework and country-comparison context.
View sourceIMF DataMapper country profiles
Used for IMF indicator presentation and country-level context.
View sourceIMF WEO assumptions and data conventions
Used for context on WEO estimates, projections and data conventions.
View source
