A fairer measure of Britain’s wealth | Letter

Peter Danielian disputes a claim that the UK is the sixth-richest country in the world

Although I agree with the main points of Aditya Chakrabortty's article (These are energy bills many Britons simply can't afford. Some will pay with their lives, 26 August), it is not correct to say that the UK is the sixth-richest country in the world". We have the sixth-largest economy (GDP), but GDP should not be used to compare nations' wealth, which depends on the size of the population. India has the fifth-largest GDP, but I doubt many would describe it as rich; Denmark has a small GDP but is much richer than the UK.

How rich a citizen is depends on per-capita GDP and how equitably it is distributed. It is better to use purchasing power parity (PPP) to compare individual wealth - this takes account of the per-capita GDP and the cost of living in each country. By this measure, the UK is ranked 30th in the world. The list of countries above us does include the expected tax havens and oil-rich countries with small populations, but notably includes Ireland (fifth) and most of the western and northern EU countries.
Peter Danielian
Aberdeen