Income per Person (GDP per capita, PPP) in Nepal: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

At MYRIAD, we examine the statistics of human lives to understand the material reality of our world. For Nepal, average yearly economic output per person, adjusted for purchasing power in 2017 international dollars, tells a profound story of incremental change across three centuries. Every value in this record is a statistical fact about the lives actually lived there, measuring the fluctuating resources available to individuals as they navigated food, shelter, labor, and community across generations.

The historical arc of this economy reveals a steady, if gradual, ascent. In the 1800s estimate, income per person stood at 800 intl-$, inching upward decade by decade through the 1890s estimate at 890 intl-$ and 1900s estimate at 900 intl-$. By the mid-twentieth century, the 1950s reached 1,000 intl-$, before accelerating toward the 2000s at 2,500 intl-$. In the 2020s, income per person (gdp per capita, ppp) in Nepal stands at 5,500 intl-$ — ranking #114 of 157 countries. Projections suggest this trajectory will continue toward the 2100s projection of 16,825 intl-$.

If you were born in Nepal across different eras, your economic landscape shifted profoundly. An inhabitant of the 1900s navigated a world anchored at 900 intl-$, while subsequent decades slowly expanded those boundaries toward the 1980s at 1,500 intl-$ and the 2010s at 4,000 intl-$. Today, individuals experience the realities of the 2020s at 5,500 intl-$, with future generations anticipated to encounter the 2030s projection of 6,325 intl-$ and beyond.

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