Per Capita Olympic Medal Table

Which is the most successful Olympic Nation ?

Few would doubt that the former East Germany would have been a major contender for this title. Indeed, this country of 16 million inhabitants competed at par with giants USA and USSR.

Yet it is tiny Liechtenstein that takes this honour. Having won 9 olympic medals is a major achievement for a country of 32,000 inhabitants.

The following list shows the relative number of medals won by each country:

Column 'years' lists the years during which the country competed in the Olympics - countries no longer active are not numbered in the ranking.
Column 'med' shows the number of medals won (since 1948).
Column 'inh' is the number of inhabitants (mid 1999, x000) Column 'N-Oly' is the number of Olympic games that the country has competed in, adjusted for medal count per olympiad. The 1998-2000 Olympics (Nagano and Sydney combined) count for 1 = 1133 medals, but the 1948 Games count only .423 (479 medals). The last column should be read : medals per 10 million inhabitants per standard Olympiad.

rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
1 1 Liechtenstein 48 00 9 32 9.055 313.55
- - East Germany 68 88 515 17569 3.917 74.83
2 2 Norway 48 00 235 4452 9.055 58.30
3 3 Finland 48 00 234 5167 9.055 50.02
4 4 Hungary 48 00 353 10065 9.055 38.73
5 6 Sweden 48 00 290 8859 9.055 36.15
6 5 Tonga 88 00 1 98 3.540 28.77
7 7 Switzerland 48 00 173 7165 9.055 26.67
8 8 Bulgaria 48 00 198 8206 9.055 26.65
9 14 Bahamas 52 00 6 297 8.633 23.40
10 10 Austria 48 00 163 8080 9.055 22.28
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
11 9 New Zealand 48 00 69 3841 9.055 19.84
12 15 Belarus 94 00 36 10164 1.903 18.61
13 13 Denmark 48 00 88 5316 9.055 18.28
14 17 Australia 48 00 312 18943 9.055 18.19
15 11 Bermuda 48 00 1 63 9.055 17.67
16 12 Slovenia 92 00 9 1977 2.772 16.42
17 18 Jamaica 48 00 38 2592 9.055 16.19
18 22 Netherlands 48 00 193 15777 9.055 13.51
19 24 Cuba 48 00 132 11159 9.055 13.06
20 21 Romania 48 00 264 22405 9.055 13.01
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
21 34 Estonia 92 00 5 1439 2.772 12.54
22 19 Germany 92 00 285 82100 2.772 12.52
23 16 Virgin Islands (US) 68 00 1 120 6.689 12.46
24 27 Iceland 48 00 3 276 9.055 12.00
- - Czecho-Slowakia 48 92 134 15688 7.152 11.94
25 23 Czech Rep. 94 00 22 10290 1.903 11.23
26 29 Latvia 92 00 7 2428 2.772 10.40
27 35 Qatar 88 00 2 589 3.540 9.59
28 30 Trinidad & Tobago 48 00 11 1289 9.055 9.42
- - West Germany 68 88 238 64531 3.917 9.42
29 20 Namibia 92 00 4 1648 2.772 8.76
- - Germany (E+W) 48 64 167 82100 2.366 8.60
30 25 Mongolia 64 00 14 2440 7.224 7.94
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
31 26 Kazakhstan 94 00 23 15348 1.903 7.87
32 32 Italy 48 00 409 57723 9.055 7.83
33 50 Lithuania 92 00 8 3699 2.772 7.80
34 42 Slovakia 94 00 8 5398 1.903 7.79
35 51 Georgia 94 00 8 5449 1.903 7.71
36 28 Luxembourg 48 00 3 432 9.055 7.67
37 33 Canada 48 00 212 30626 9.055 7.64
38 31 Suriname 68 00 2 415 6.689 7.20
- - Soviet-Union 52 88 1193 291053 5.861 6.99
39 39 Russia 94 00 192 146394 1.903 6.89
40 37 Poland 48 00 222 38654 9.055 6.34
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
41 43 France 48 00 336 59087 9.055 6.28
42 45 Belgium 48 00 54 10224 9.055 5.83
43 - Barbados 68 00 1 266 6.689 5.62
44 44 U.S.A. 48 00 1382 273131 9.055 5.59
- - Unified Team CIS 92 92 134 283487 0.869 5.44
45 46 Great-Britain 48 00 291 59313 9.055 5.42
46 40 Croatia 92 00 7 4677 2.772 5.40
47 38 Netherl. Antilles 52 00 1 217 8.633 5.34
48 48 Ukraine 94 00 49 49890 1.903 5.16
- - Yugoslavia (ex) 48 88 75 23246 6.283 5.14
49 47 Ireland 48 00 17 3736 9.055 5.03
50 49 Moldova 94 00 4 4301 1.903 4.89
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
51 36 Djibouti 88 00 1 669 3.540 4.22
52 41 Armenia 94 00 3 3804 1.903 4.14
53 52 Korea, Republic 48 00 170 46858 9.055 4.01
- - South Africa (- 56) 48 56 21 43426 1.359 3.56
54 55 Greece 48 00 34 10561 9.055 3.56
55 53 Yugoslavia 92 00 10 10731 2.772 3.36
56 - Macedonia (FYROM) 96 00 1 2023 1.742 2.84
57 65 Azerbaijan 94 00 4 7993 1.903 2.63
58 54 Japan 48 00 284 126680 9.055 2.48
59 57 Korea, People's Dem Rep 72 00 32 21386 6.131 2.44
60 56 Uruguay 48 00 7 3247 9.055 2.38
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
61 59 Kenya 56 00 53 28809 8.170 2.25
62 61 Spain 48 00 73 40017 9.055 2.01
63 60 Puerto Rico 48 00 6 3888 9.055 1.70
64 64 Portugal 48 00 14 9988 9.055 1.55
65 66 Uzbekistan 94 00 7 24449 1.903 1.50
66 63 Guyana 48 00 1 787 9.055 1.40
67 62 Lebanon 48 00 4 3563 9.055 1.24
68 72 Costa Rica 48 00 4 3594 9.055 1.23
69 - Kyrgyzstan 94 00 1 4761 1.903 1.10
70 67 Turkey 48 00 61 64431 9.055 1.05
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
71 58 Burundi 96 00 1 5736 1.742 1.00
72 69 South Africa 92 00 12 43426 2.772 1.00
73 71 Argentina 48 00 30 36578 9.055 0.91
74 68 Tunisia 60 00 6 9514 7.696 0.82
75 70 Panama 48 00 2 2809 9.055 0.79
76 73 Israel 52 00 4 5939 8.633 0.78
77 - Kuwait 68 00 1 1924 6.689 0.78
78 75 Morocco 60 00 16 28307 7.696 0.73
79 74 Iran 48 00 40 62127 9.055 0.71
80 86 Taiwan 56 00 10 22024 8.170 0.56
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
81 83 Algeria 64 00 12 29910 7.224 0.56
82 77 Chili 48 00 7 15018 9.055 0.51
83 82 Ethiopia 56 00 24 59680 8.170 0.49
84 78 Mexico 48 00 42 97367 9.055 0.48
85 76 Singapore 64 00 1 3225 7.224 0.43
86 81 Brazil 48 00 63 163947 9.055 0.42
87 84 China 80 00 238 1251238 4.871 0.39
88 79 Venezuela 48 00 8 23707 9.055 0.37
89 80 Uganda 56 00 6 22805 8.170 0.32
90 85 Zambia 64 00 2 9664 7.224 0.29
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
91 89 Cameroon 64 00 3 15456 7.224 0.27
92 87 Ghana 52 00 4 18888 8.633 0.25
93 100 Mozambique 80 00 2 19124 4.871 0.21
94 88 Syria 48 00 3 15727 9.055 0.21
95 91 Colombia 48 00 7 38297 9.055 0.20
96 90 Zimbabwe 80 00 1 11163 4.871 0.18
97 92 Peru 48 00 4 25232 9.055 0.18
98 97 Nigeria 52 00 17 113829 8.633 0.17
99 95 Dominican Rep. 64 00 1 8130 7.224 0.17
100 101 Thailand 52 00 9 61806 8.633 0.17
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
101 93 Hong Kong 52 00 1 6885 8.633 0.17
102 94 Malaysia 56 00 3 22710 8.170 0.16
103 - Saudi Arabia 72 00 2 21505 6.131 0.15
104 98 Niger 64 00 1 9962 7.224 0.14
105 96 Senegal 64 00 1 10052 7.224 0.14
106 99 Egypt 48 00 8 64560 9.055 0.14
107 107 Sri Lanka 48 00 2 18940 9.055 0.12
108 102 Ecuador 60 00 1 12411 7.696 0.10
109 108 Indonesia 52 00 16 206143 8.633 0.09
110 103 Tanzania 64 00 2 31271 7.224 0.09
rank rk96 country years med inh N-Oly rel
111 104 Côte d'Ivoire 64 00 1 15818 7.224 0.09
112 105 Pakistan 48 00 10 152231 9.055 0.07
113 106 Philippines 48 00 4 74723 9.055 0.06
114 109 Iraq 48 00 1 22427 9.055 0.05
115 - Vietnam 80 00 1 77311 4.871 0.03
116 110 India 48 00 11 1000849 9.055 0.01

Barbados, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam all won their first medals in Sydney, as did Macedonia and Kyrgyzstan, although athletes from those last two had won medals previously under Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union respectively.

Other countries that are still waiting for their first medals.

(if you are wondering what the list looked like before Sydney, here it still is)

I have compiled this list by myself. I do not claim it is completely correct, but have worked hard at making it as correct as possible.

Check my Home Page for my other intrests (including two non-olympic Sports, Bridge and Cricket)

Adapted after Sydney 2000-10-02 - Last Modified 2000-10-24

hermandw@village.uunet.be / Copyright ©1996-2000.

This Olympics site is owned by
Herman De Wael.

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