25 Richest Country in the World (No. 5)

°°Kuwait°°

• GNI per capita: $72,872

• 2017 GDP: $271.1 billion (57th out of 196 countries)

• Population: 4.1 million

• Life expectancy at birth: 74.8 years

Kuwait is one of just five nations with a GNI per capita above $70,000. Unlike most other countries that rank among the wealthiest in the world, Kuwait does not have a diverse economy. Petroleum accounts for more than 84% of its exports. Kuwait ranks as one of the most corrupt nations on this list, likely resulting in an uneven dispersal of the wealth created from petroleum.

Along with fellow oil-rich nation Saudi Arabia, Kuwait is one of the only countries that rank among the richest in the world that saw a decline in their GDP in 2017. Kuwait actually had one of the sharpest decreases in GDP of any country, with an economic contraction of 2.9%.