per capita

American  

[per kap-i-tuh] / pər ˈkæp ɪ tə /

adjective

1. by or for each individual person.

   income per capita.

2. Law. noting or pertaining to a method of dividing an estate by which all those equally related to the decedent take equal shares individually without regard to the number of lines of descent.

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per capita British  

/ pə ˈkæpɪtə /

adjective

1. of or for each person

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per capita Cultural  

1. A Latin phrase literally meaning “by heads,” and translated as “for each person.” It is a common unit for expressing data in statistics. A country's per capita personal income, for example, is the average personal income per person.

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Etymology

Origin of per capita

1675–85; < Latin: literally, by heads

Example Sentences

These trends emerged despite the mayor's assertion that London's per capita homicide rate has fallen to its lowest level on record.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2026

GDP per capita was flat in the fourth quarter, as the overall increase in GDP was matched by a similar increase in New Zealand’s population.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

The top five states with the highest income per capita, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and California, also have the highest share of passport ownership in the country.

From Salon • Mar. 18, 2026

That keeps GDP per capita far below that of other major economies -- it is 12 times smaller than Japan's and 20 times smaller than Germany's.

From Barron's • Mar. 8, 2026

In a population of about eleven million, the country boasted more doctors per capita than any other country in the world, and twice as many per capita as the United States.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French