National Accounts Statistics

The purpose of this article is to compare all 36 advanced economies using key indicators from national accounts statistics. These indicators include:

1. Gross domestic product (GDP)
2. Net national income (NNI)
3. Household net-adjusted disposable income
4. Compensation of employees
5. Actual individual consumption (AIC)

The fifth indicator forms part of GDP as measured by the expenditure approach. The following indicators represent income components across resident sectors:

• (2) NNI covers all resident sectors.
• (3) Household net-adjusted disposable income includes both households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs).
• (4) Compensation of employees refers to the total remuneration—salaries, wages, and employers' social contributions—received by resident households.

All indicators are expressed on a per-capita basis and converted to US dollars using current purchasing power parities (PPPs). All datasets were last updated on April 8, 2025 (see Table 1 and 2). Dataset (1) refers to the year 2024, while the remaining datasets refer to 2023. Datasets (2), (3), (4), and (5) together constitute the Material Welfare Index (WMI), which is one of the subindices of the Sustainable Social Development Index (SSDI). (See the link below for more information.)

In 2023, the United States continued to rank highest in the WMI, followed by Luxembourg, Norway, Singapore, and Switzerland. The Netherlands ranked 6th, surpassing Germany compared to the 2022 ranking. Taiwan ranked 12th, overtaking Denmark compared to its 2022 position.

§ Links:
…… Sustainable Social Development Index
…… Household Mateiral Welfare and Income Distribution
…… Employee Material Welfare
…… Table 1. OECD-Eurostat
…… Table 2. Taiwan and Singapore


Figure 1.

• According to Eurostat Statistics Explained, GDP is equal to the sum of the gross value added of all resident institutional units engaged in production, plus any taxes on products, and minus any subsidies on products. Gross value added is defined as the difference between output and intermediate consumption. Alternatively, GDP can also be measured as the sum of final uses of goods and services (that is, all uses except intermediate consumption) at purchasers' prices, minus the value of imports of goods and services. It is also equal to the sum of primary incomes distributed by resident producer units.
• PPPs for GDP are used and sourced from the OECD (see Table 1). For Taiwan and Singapore, PPPs are estimated based on benchmark results from the International Comparison Program (ICP) 2021 (see Table 2).
• Data are generally sourced from the OECD and Eurostat. For Taiwan and Singapore, data come from their respective national statistics offices. (See Table 1 and 2.)
• For Australia and New Zealand, the data refer to the calendar year and are sourced from their respective national statistics offices. Annual GDP is calculated as the sum of quarterly figures, while annual population is calculated as the average of quarterly data. (In the OECD database, national accounts figures for both Australia and New Zealand refer to the fiscal year, which begins on July 1 for Australia and April 1 for New Zealand, respectively.)
• For Japan and Korea, data refer to the calendar year and are sourced from their respective national statistics offices. The annual population figure for Japan is sourced from the OECD. (In the OECD database, national accounts figures for both Japan and Korea refer to the calendar year.)
• For the United States, data are estimated and sourced from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
• Limitations: Per-capita values for Luxembourg and Switzerland are distorted due to cross-border employment. Figures for tax havens—including Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Singapore—are exaggerated.

Figure 2.

• NNI is calculated as Gross National Income (GNI) minus consumption of fixed capital. GNI—also referred to as the balance of primary income in the Allocation of Primary Income Account—represents the total income earned by residents of an economy. It is calculated as the sum of primary incomes (including gross operating surplus (GOS), mixed income, and compensation of employees, as recorded in the Generation of Income Account), plus property income received, and minus property income paid. It is also equal to GDP minus primary income payable by resident units to non-resident units, plus primary income receivable from non-resident units to resident units.
• PPPs for GDP are used and sourced from the OECD (see Table 1). For Taiwan and Singapore, PPPs are estimated based on benchmark results from the International Comparison Program (ICP) 2021 (see Table 2).
• Data are generally sourced from the OECD and Eurostat. For Taiwan and Singapore, data come from their respective national statistics offices. (See Table 1 and 2.)
• For Iceland and Norway, data are sourced from their respective national statistics offices.
• Limitation: Figures for tax havens—including Ireland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Singapore—are exaggerated.

Figure 3.

• Net-adjusted disposable income of households and NPISHs is calculated as their gross disposable income, minus their consumption of fixed capital, plus social transfers in kind from the government. Social transfers in kind from the government are equal to the individual consumption expenditure of the general government. Disposable income is the balancing item in the Secondary Distribution of Income Account, which includes current taxes on income and wealth, social contributions, social benefits other than social transfers in kind, and other current transfers.
• PPPs for AIC are used and sourced from the OECD (see Table 1). For Taiwan and Singapore, PPPs are estimated based on benchmark results from the International Comparison Program (ICP) 2021 (see Table 2).
• Data are generally sourced from the OECD and Eurostat. For Taiwan and Singapore, data come from their respective national statistics offices. (See Table 1 and 2.)
• For Iceland and Norway, data are sourced from their respective national statistics offices.
• Korea: The original data available is gross adjusted disposable income for households and NPISHs. Consumption of fixed capital (CFC) for these sectors is estimated by extrapolating 2022 data, assuming the same trend as CFC for the total economy.
• New Zealand: Data comprise the sum of net disposable income for households and NPISHs and the individual consumption expenditure of the general government (GICE). The former is based on the fiscal year and sourced from the national statistics office, while the latter is based on the calendar year and sourced from the OECD (due to a lack of fiscal year data).
• Singapore: Available source data comprise the gross disposable income of the personal sector and the individual consumption expenditure of the general government. (In Singapore, the personal sector refers to households and NPISHs.) CFC for the personal sector is estimated by multiplying total economy CFC by the ratio of gross operating surplus (GOS) for the personal sector to that of the total economy.
• Data for Israel is unavailable owing to the lack of a detailed breakdown of national disposable income for households and NPISHs.
• Limitation: Income distribution data are lacking, making this an imperfect metric for representing most residents. See the previously mentioned article for more on household income distribution. In 2021, Luxembourg and Norway ranked highest in median household disposable income adjusted for social transfers in kind.

Figure 4.

• According to Eurostat Statistics Explained, compensation of employees includes all forms of remuneration—both in cash and in kind—that employees receive from their employers in exchange for work performed. It comprises gross (pre-tax) wages and salaries, employers' actual social contributions, and imputed social contributions—those provided directly by employers to employees without the involvement of a social security fund, insurance enterprise, or autonomous pension fund.
• PPPs for AIC are used and sourced from the OECD (see Table 1). For Taiwan and Singapore, PPPs are estimated based on benchmark results from the International Comparison Program (ICP) 2021 (see Table 2).
• Data are generally sourced from the OECD and Eurostat. For Taiwan and Singapore, data come from their respective national statistics offices. (See Table 1 and 2.)
• Data for Israel is estimated by extrapolating from 2022, assuming the same trend as compensation of employees in the GDP income approach.
• Limitation: This value is calculated by dividing the compensation of employees by the resident population rather than the number of resident employees. For more information, refer to the earlier article on average annual wages (for all employees working within the country).

Figure 5.

• AIC refers to all goods and services actually consumed by households, consisting of consumer goods and services purchased directly by households, as well as services provided by NPISHs and the general government for individual consumption (such as health and education services).
• PPPs for AIC are used and sourced from the OECD (see Table 1). For Taiwan and Singapore, PPPs are estimated based on benchmark results from the International Comparison Program (ICP) 2021 (see Table 2).
• Data are generally sourced from the OECD and Eurostat. For Taiwan and Singapore, data come from their respective national statistics offices. (See Table 1 and 2.)
• Unlike other OECD countries, data for Korea and New Zealand are sourced from different OECD data series and refer to the calendar year.
• Advantage: AIC per capita is a better metric to measure consumers' welfare than GDP per capita.

Figure 6.

• See the previously mentioned article for more on the material welfare index.
• For Dataset (3), Israel's figure is missing and was imputed using regression with Datasets (4) and (5) as explanatory variables (2023 result: 32,866; adjusted R² = 0.92).

Despite having the highest level of material welfare among advanced economies, the United States also records the highest Gini index and the second-highest poverty rate among advanced OECD economies, both based on equivalised disposable income. In the 2024 SSDI, the United States ranks second lowest in the health index and performs worst in the safety and security index among all advanced economies. These outcomes may be partly attributed to its high levels of income inequality and poverty.

Only 13 advanced economies meet the criteria of high material welfare (defined as an index score exceeding two-thirds), low income inequality (a Gini index below 0.3), and a low poverty rate (below 10%). These include all Nordic countries, as well as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, and Taiwan—the only Asian country on the list. (For definitions of these income distribution indicators, see the article mentioned earlier.)