The United States has the highest total GDP, but not the highest GDP per capita. That title often goes to smaller, high-income nations like Luxembourg or Switzerland. GDP per capita gives a better idea of average income per citizen. A large country may have high overall GDP due to population size, but wealth could be unevenly distributed.

So, total GDP shows economic size, while per capita GDP shows average prosperity. Both are useful, but they tell different stories about how rich or developed a country really is.