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

See Examples For:

per capita

Discontent with our current healthcare system, which costs twice as much per capita as some other developed countries for materially worse outcomes, is not only a Democratic issue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

A 10% rise in per capita gross domestic product can reduce the number of people at high risk from climate-related hazards by almost 100 million.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

For example, Orlando ranked 21st when it came to gerontologists and eighth-highest for home-healthcare facilities per capita.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

And while Spain suffers from similarly high levels of youth and total unemployment, Spanish GDP per capita is around eight times that of Morocco's according to World Bank figures.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

By the end of 2009, Alabama had the nation’s highest execution rate per capita.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson