South Korea came down a notch in the global rank in economic scale, coming at 12th in gross domestic product (GDP) while its per-capita income moved up to 31st in 2017 data of the World Bank.

According to the World Bank data on Thursday, Korea’s gross domestic product reached $1.53 trillion and placed it as the world’s 12th largest economy in 2017. GDP is the sum of total goods and services produced in a country and it is one of the best indicators for gauging a country’s economic health.

Korea’s GDP has failed to move ahead after peaking at 10th in 2005.

The U.S. remained the biggest in GDP of $19.39 trillion, followed by China with $12.24 trillion, Japan with $4.87 trillion, Germany with $3.68 trillion, and the United Kingdom with $2.62 trillion.

Korea’s per capita gross national income (GNI) reached $28,380 and ranked 31st in 2017, jumping from 45th in the previous year. GNI per capita measures the average income earned by a person in a given country and it is often used to compare the standard of living in a country with those of other nations.

In terms of GNI per capita on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis or GNI per capita after taking local purchasing power differences into account, Korea’s ranking moved up 17 notches from a year earlier to 31st in 2017 with $38,260.

The Isle of Man, a self-governing region and offshore tax haven of the U.K and, topped the list for GNI per capita with $82,650, followed by Switzerland with $80,560 and Norway with $75,990. In terms of GNI per capita on PPP basis, Qatar was No. 1 with $128,060, Macau the second with $96,570, and Singapore the third with $90,570.

A Bank of Korea official said the country’s global ranking for per-capita GNI likely have moved up due to higher won value against the U.S. dollar last year and the GNI per capita on PPP basis moved upward because its inflation rate rose slower than others. The World Bank’s data differ from those of Bank of Korea because the first uses the average exchange rate of the three most recent years when calculating its figures while the latter uses the average rate of the corresponding year.

Based on the Bank of Korea’s method, the country’s 2017 GDP came at $1.5302 trillion won or $600 million less than that of the World Bank. Its per-capita GNI was estimated at $29,745 for last year, higher than the World Bank’s $28,380.

By Kim In-oh and Cho Jeehyun

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