Wealth brings with many great advantages, and this is reflected when we look at the wealthiest countries in the world. By and large these countries have much higher standards of living than other countries, complete with better healthcare, longer life expectancy, more disposable income for purchasing luxury goods and traveling the world, low unemployment rates, and broad social and welfare programs that take care of even the less fortunate citizenry in those societies.

We previously released a list of the The 20 Wealthiest Countries In 2013, based on each country’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Those figures were reported by The International Monetary Fund. Now we’re back with updated statistics reported by Forbes on the current wealthiest countries in the world, with a slight tweak to the statistics: this time we’re rating the countries based on the average GDP of their citizenry, rather than the country’s total. This levels the playing field for smaller countries like Canada against the bigger economies of the U.S, China, and Japan.

Not surprisingly, when we compare the two lists, we see some major changes. Our new number one didn’t even make the top 20 of our previous list, owing to its small size, while the world’s largest economies are by and large nowhere near the top of our new list, showing that despite the vast overall wealth, there is great income disparity in those countries. The U.S, which was previously number one, and has the most billionaires in the world, barely cracks the top 10 in GDP per capita. Yet perhaps one of the biggest surprises is that not a single major European economy cracks the list, save for Switzerland. In fact, believe it or not, Ireland has a higher GDP per capita than Germany, the continent’s economic powerhouse.

Are you ready to check out the list and see what other surprises it has in store? Then let’s take a look at the 15 wealthiest countries in the world.