The richest countries in South America

Which are the richest countries in South America by GDP per capita?

Guyana is the richest country in South America by GDP per person, at $33,170. Uruguay is second at $27,610 and Chile third at $20,240. The average for South America, total GDP divided by total population, is $11,831.

Guyana's rise is the fastest of any country in the world this decade. ExxonMobil found oil offshore in 2015, production started in December 2019, and GDP per person went from about $6,500 in 2019 to $33,170 in the 2026 projection. The country has only 836,000 people, so a few hundred thousand barrels a day change the average a lot. Whether the money reaches most Guyanese is a different question, and the IMF's own reports say inflation and housing costs have risen with it.

Uruguay has been the steadiest economy on the continent for two decades and is second. Chile, the world's largest copper producer, is third. Argentina is fourth in dollar terms, though its figure swings with every devaluation of the peso. Brazil, Peru and Colombia are all between $10,000 and $12,500. Venezuela is last. Its GDP fell by about three quarters between 2013 and 2020.

4 of the 12 countries in this table have fewer than 10 million people. GDP per capita rewards small places with one strong industry: banking, oil, a port, or a low-tax regime that attracts company profits.

Which are the richest countries in South America by total GDP?

By the size of the whole economy the answer is Brazil, at $2.64 trillion. This is the list people usually mean by "biggest economies", and it favours countries with many people.

Brazil's economy is 3.8 times Argentina's and larger than the other eleven countries combined. Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Peru follow. Guyana, first per person, is eleventh in total with $34.0 billion. See South America ranked by area, population and GDP.

Rich per person or rich in total? The top five both ways

Only Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador are in the top ten on both lists. The rest of the per-person list is small countries, and the rest of the total list is large ones.

Why is GDP per capita not the same as being rich?

GDP per capita is the value of everything a country produces in a year, divided by its population. It is a measure of income, not of wealth, and it is an average, so it says nothing about how the income is shared. Three things push it up without making ordinary people richer.

• Oil. Guyana's GDP is now mostly oil revenue shared between the government and the oil companies. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world and the lowest GDP per person on the continent, which shows that reserves alone are not enough.
• Exchange rates. Argentina's dollar figure has moved between about $9,000 and $14,000 in the last five years as the peso was devalued and then stabilised. The economy did not change that much; the exchange rate did.
• Population. Uruguay's 3.4 million people share an economy of $96.1 billion. Bolivia has a similar-sized economy and 3.7 times as many people.

Which are the poorest countries in South America?

Venezuela has the lowest GDP per person in South America at $4,140, an eighth of Guyana's. Bolivia and Ecuador are next. The IMF's Venezuelan figures are estimates, because the government has published little official data since 2017.

How do we count?

South America is the 12 independent countries on the continent. French Guiana is a region of France and is not counted. Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are in North America.

GDP per capita and total GDP are the IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026) projections for 2026, in current US dollars at market exchange rates. Population is the UN's 2025 estimate. The same figures draw the map, where you can switch between GDP per capita and total GDP with one click. More on the data.