– South Sudan holds the title of the poorest country in the world in 2025, with a GDP-PPP per capita of $455. The nation faces significant challenges due to political instability, ongoing conflicts, and economic dependency on oil.
A Case Study: The "Poorest Man in the World":
The title of "poorest man in the world" was often attributed to Jerome Kerviel, a former trader for Société Générale, who lost billions of dollars for the bank in 2008.
Top 10 poorest countries in the world in 2024 List: South Sudan, the world's youngest country, attained independence in 2011 and confronts enormous economic issues, political instability, recurrent wars, and poor infrastructure to impede its growth.
Luxembourg is the world's wealthiest country, with a GDP per capita of $143,742 thousand, according to the IMF.
Harry Truman was among the poorest U.S. presidents, with a net worth considerably less than $1 million. His financial situation contributed to the doubling of the presidential salary to $100,000 in 1949. In addition, the presidential pension was created in 1958 when Truman was again experiencing financial difficulties.
Net Worth: $18.5 Billion
Harold Hamm grew up in rural Oklahoma and was the last of 13 children born to sharecroppers. Hamm founded and chairs Continental Resources, one of the United States' biggest independent oil companies. Harold Hamm is one of the richest people in the world who came from poor families.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the national poverty rate was 12.7% in 2023, up from 12.4% in 2022. These states and territory have the highest percentages of poverty in the country: Puerto Rico, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New York and Tennessee.
Rich people love to invest in assets. Poor people tend to just leave their money in a savings account rather than invest it. An asset is defined as a resource with an economic value that will provide a benefit to you at a later point in time. Assets can include real estate, stocks, index funds, retirement funds, etc.
Shepherd Bushirin a media owner and agricultural land owner is the richest man in one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi. He is estimated to have a net worth of $150 million, at a time when his countrymen would have to live nearly 6 million years to earn that amount of money.
The world's poorest man Jerome Kerviel has handed himself in to French authorities. Jerome Kerviel, the ex-Societe Generale trader who has more debt than anyone else in the world, has turned himself in to French authorities to begin a three-year jail sentence.
The majority of the poorest now live in Sub-Saharan Africa, where weaker economic growth and high population growth in many countries has led to a rising number of people living in extreme poverty.
No individual has claimed the status of trillionaire just yet. But a net worth equal to at least one trillion in U.S. dollars or a similarly valued currency isn't unattainable, but it will be a couple of years yet. Only 18 countries have a GDP that exceeds that amount.
There were 337 women listed on the world's billionaires as of 4 April 2023, up from 327 in 2022. Since 2021, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers has been listed as the world's wealthiest woman.
Poverty in U.S. states
Among U.S. states, Mississippi had the highest poverty rate in 2018 (19.7% poverty rate), followed by Louisiana (18.65%), New Mexico (18.55%) and West Virginia (17.10%).
Most recent surveys consider James Buchanan, Lincoln's predecessor, the worst president for his leadership during the build-up to the Civil War. Several rank Lincoln's successor Andrew Johnson last for blocking civil rights for freed slaves and undermining Reconstruction.
Although an honest and honorable man, Andrew Johnson was one of the most unfortunate of Presidents. Arrayed against him were the Radical Republicans in Congress, brilliantly led and ruthless in their tactics. Johnson was no match for them. Born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1808, Johnson grew up in poverty.
The economy of Dubai's gross domestic product of the calendar year 2023 as of January 2024 is AED 429 billion ($USD 116.779 billion).