per capita

[per kap-i-tuh]

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.

per capita

/ pə ˈkæpɪtə /

adjective

1. of or for each person

per capita

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of per capita¹

1675–85; < Latin: literally, by heads

Word History and Origins

Origin of per capita¹

Latin, literally: according to heads

Example Sentences

Income per capita in New Mexico is among the lowest in the nation, according to Commerce Department data.

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Its per capita income tripled in the last decade and the World Bank estimates that more than 25 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the last 20 years.

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“We’ve led the state in homicides and violent crimes per capita for a while now.”

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Guyana, a small English-speaking country neighboring Venezuela, holds the largest known oil reserves per capita in the world.

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In 2022, it had more than twice the per capita military enlistment rate of the highest U.S. state, according to the Government Accountability Office.

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