We may be in th amidst of a recession but our densely populated nation has been named as the 14th richest nation on the planet.
Our surprisingly wealthy status was revealed when Global Finance Magazine conducted a study to find the wealthiest countries across the globe. The magazine found Ireland to be significantly wealthier than other nations such as Canada, Australia and Germany, given the fact that we have a GDP per capita of $48,786 (approximately €42,820).
The new list which will surely puzzle many of you was compiled using the basis of a nations gross domestic product, with factors such as cost of living and inflation rates also taken into account. The extensive study found that Qatar is the richest country, followed by Luxembourg, Singapore and Brunei.
Meanwhile Norway and Switzerland are the only other European countries to feature in the top ten at numbers six and ten respectively, whilst our neighbours the United Kingdom came in at number 27.
Here is the top 20 richest countries in the world according to Global Finance Magazine
20. Canada
19. Taiwan
18. Germany
17. Sweden
16. Austria
15. Australia
14. Ireland
13. The Netherlands
12. Bahrain
11. Saudi Arabia
10. Switzerland
9. United States
8. Hong Kong
7. United Arab Emirates
6. Norway
5. Kuwait
4. Brunei
3. Singapore
2. Luxembourg
1. Qatar