Meaning and Significance
Per capita Income means how much an individual earns, of the yearly income that is generated in the country through productive activities. It means the share of each individual when the income from the productive activities is divided equally among the citizens. Per capita income is reported in units of currency. Per capita income reflects the gross national product of a country. Per capita income is also a measure of the wealth of a population of a nation when compared with other countries. It is expressed in terms of commonly used international currency such as Euro, Dollars because these currencies are widely known.
Per Capita Income In India
India's per capita income is found by the Atlas method and by employing official exchange rates for conversion. Further, this Atlas method of calculating the per capita income of India is not determined by using purchasing power parity, which essentially adjusts exchange rates for purchasing power of currencies.
Economist have been giving considerable importance to the performance of states vis a vis each other in terms of per capita income. It has been observed that those states that were more open and better adapted to economic liberalization have overall shown faster rate of growth.
Per Capita Income of Various Indian States
The two backward states of the Indian republic Jharkhand and Orissa are growing at a rapid rate in terms of the per capita income because of rise of industrial activities in these two states. Karnataka is at the top of the chart with the fastest growing per capita income (nearly 9.28%) followed by Gujarat with 8.92%.The per capita income in 17 states is below the national average of 8.4%. Per capita income shows the purchasing power of the states and so it is very important for the states to increase the per capita income of each person.
History of India Per Capita GDP
