NEWS,09.01.2012.

The richest countries by 2050

Which countries will be wealthiest 40 years from now?

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Say what you will about Goldman Sachs, but the investment firm does seem to grasp the next big thing. Jim O'Neill, Goldman's Chairman of Asset Management, you may recall, is the man largely credited with minting Brazil, Russia, India and China as the planet's next economic drivers - way back in 2001.

So regardless of how you feel about the notorious company's practices, when Goldman Sachs releases a projection report, the world listens. Recently, the Manhattan-based multinational announced its forecast for the richest countries by GDP per capita in 2050, considering Brazil, Russia, India and China, the N-11 and G7 nations*. Which country may be wealthiest 40 years from now? Click through to find out.

*N-11, or "Next Eleven," nations consist of economically growing countries Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam. G7 membership includes France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States and Canada. All figures in this feature are in USD. Current GDP per capita figures are current as of 2010, sourced from the CIA World Factbook.

10   …2

GDP per capita, now: $12,300
GDP per capita, 2050: $48,000

Turkey is a hot economy today - one of the world's fastest-growing, despite skyrocketing inflation - and Goldman Sachs sees nothing to suggest the fun won't continue. According to the bank's projections, Turkey's GDP per capita will balloon nearly four-fold by 2050, a staggering jump matched in relation by only one other country on this list. As a point of reference, $48,000 as a GDP per capita figure is more than 20 per cent higher than what Canada ($39,400) can boast today.

9   …3

GDP per capita, now: $30,500
GDP per capita, 2050: $58,000

Greece may get the brunt of the blame for the ongoing Eurozone crisis, but not without its faults today is Italy, where new premier Mario Monti is still drowning in national debts just months after being sworn in. 

Goldman has strong projections for Italy a few decades from now, though. By 2050, according to the bank, Italy will maintain its economic powerhouse status (10th-largest economy in the world, the bank projects) and will nearly double its GDP per capita.

8   …4

GDP per capita, now: $15,900
GDP per capita, 2050: $62,000

Goldman Sachs continues to be bullish on Russia, and its latest projections surely reflect the bank's forecast for the nation. Russia is at the heart of Goldman's 'BRIC' countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - that the firm contends could outpace the economies of the G7 nations as early as 2027. According to the bank's forecast, Russia's GDP per capita, like Turkey's, will balloon nearly four-fold by 2050, when it will lay claim to the world's fifth-largest economy - ahead of major traditional powers like the U.K. and Japan.

 7 …5

GDP per capita, now: $30,000
GDP per capita, 2050: $63,000

Today, on the CIA World Factbook's database rankings, South Korea's GDP per capita falls just one spot (44th overall) behind Italy (43rd). It's a small deficit - Italians produced just $500 more per year than South Koreans did in 2010 - but the two countries will switch spots by 2050, Goldman Sachs predicts. By then, where GDP per capita is concerned, South Korea will out-produce Italy by about $5,000 per resident.

6  …6

GDP per capita, now: $34,000
GDP per capita, 2050: $68,000

The people of Japan don't care much for how its economy will fare in 2050; they're looking for fiscal prosperity now. 

Indeed, Japan's 2011 was positively ruined by the earthquake and tsunami that hit last March, and much speculation wonders if the island nation can get back on its feet this year, not four decades down the road. In any case, Goldman Sachs considers the long-term prospects of Japan to be sturdy, and by 2050 it will own a larger economy than big European names like France, Germany and Italy.

5  ..7

GDP per capita, now: $35,700
GDP per capita, 2050: $69,500

Economic measuring sticks are sometimes tough to figure. For instance, by Goldman Sachs' projections, Germany's economy will be just a fraction as that of Brazil or India in 2050. But perspective switches when you look through a different kaleidoscope. 

According to Goldman, Germany's GDP per capita figure of $69,500 will be light years ahead of Brazil ($45,000) and India ($18,000) in 2050, meaning the Euro nation, despite overall dollar figures, will continue to be one of the world's wealthiest countries.

4  …8

GDP per capita, now: $33,100
GDP per capita, 2050: $74,000

For all Goldman Sachs thinks of Germany, which the bank says will nearly double its current GDP per capita by 2050, France is even more of a darling in the firm's eyes. Today, France's GDP per capita is $2,600 less than Germany's, but the countries may flip in the world rankings a few decades down the road. If Goldman's projections hold true, France's GDP per capita will go from $2,600 less than Germany's today to $4,500 more when 2050 rolls around.

3 … 9

GDP per capita, now: $34,800
GDP per capita, 2050: $78,000

The U.K. isn't Europe's richest economy in terms of GDP per capita (that distinction belongs to mini-nations Liechtenstein and Luxembourg), but it is the continent's wealthiest within the G7, the body considered for its 2050 predictions by Goldman Sachs. According to the bank, the U.K. will be the sixth-largest economy in the world by 2050, bigger than the financial systems in Japan and other Euro powerhouses France, Germany and Italy.

2   ..10

GDP per capita, now: $39,400
GDP per capita, 2050: $79,500

Who knows how this projection will bear out for Canada over the next five years, let alone by 2050? Certainly, there is great immediate potential in Canada's economy, especially if the proposed Keystone pipeline extension is approved, and Alberta's oil-sands turn us into the western world's energy superpower. Regardless of our prospects, Goldman's projections look favourably on Canada as it stands today, forecasting a GDP per capita that will more than double by 2050. Only one nation measured by Goldman will boast a higher GDP per capita in 2050 than Canada.

1   …11

GDP per capita, now: $47,200
GDP per capita, 2050: $85,500

By Goldman's projections, the U.S. economy will be the second-largest in the world in 2050, dwarfed only by China, whose financial system is forecast to be then nearly twice as large as America's. But again, GDP per capita tells a different story.

America's GDP per capita will make it the wealthiest nation surveyed by Goldman Sachs in 2050, when each Yankee will produce more than $85,000 annually. By contrast, China's GDP per capita will reach just over $40,000 by 2050, meaning the Asian country will own the world's largest economy but as a nation won't even be as rich as Mexico (projected 2050 GDP per capita: $47,500).