A bit of data crunching shows the enormity of the number, $19 billion. Yes, 82 countries (and more) have a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) lesser than what Whatsapp is worth. I used Excel and the 2012 GDP data from WordBank’s site. The list is shown below.
What could have Facebook spent this on? Well, the UN annual aid budget is $13 billion. The UN Syria Aid Appeal is around $7 billion. How about relief for Philippine at around $6.5 billion. Just saying, to put things into perspective.
It is just mind boggling to see a 5 year old app that’s on your smartphone right now is worth more than these 82 countries listed below. If that doesn’t blow your mind, may be this will. Whatsapp is worth more than the last 25 countries GDP combined. Mind blown?
Some highlights: Nepal, Iceland, Brunei, Jamaica, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Mauritius have GDP’s lesser than what’s Whatsapp worth for. If I had $19 billion dollars to spend on an app, knowing my company’s doing a decent profit, I’d have helped people in the lower half of these countries. Especially the ones in Africa. They need it.
| Country Name | GDP in Billions |
| Nepal | 18,962,962,963 |
| Honduras | 18,434,022,403 |
| Gabon | 18,377,083,881 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 17,697,394,251 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 17,465,958,606 |
| Congo, Dem. Rep. | 17,203,980,743 |
| Brunei Darussalam | 16,953,952,625 |
| Georgia | 15,747,288,816 |
| Papua New Guinea | 15,653,921,367 |
| Jamaica | 14,755,051,129 |
| Botswana | 14,504,339,386 |
| Mozambique | 14,243,717,484 |
| Senegal | 14,045,759,802 |
| Cambodia | 14,038,383,450 |
| Congo, Rep. | 13,677,928,884 |
| Iceland | 13,578,943,167 |
| Namibia | 13,072,278,943 |
| Chad | 12,887,072,082 |
| Albania | 12,648,095,824 |
| Nicaragua | 10,507,356,838 |
| Mauritius | 10,486,037,634 |
| Burkina Faso | 10,441,012,681 |
| Mali | 10,308,146,676 |
| Mongolia | 10,271,393,281 |
| South Sudan | 10,220,256,857 |
| Madagascar | 9,975,124,872 |
| Armenia | 9,950,522,733 |
| Zimbabwe | 9,802,360,203 |
| Macedonia, FYR | 9,612,518,136 |
| Lao PDR | 9,417,665,586 |
| Malta | 8,721,923,077 |
| Bahamas, The | 8,149,004,000 |
| Haiti | 7,843,484,458 |
| Pacific island small states | 7,810,192,972 |
| Benin | 7,557,286,829 |
| Moldova | 7,252,769,934 |
| Rwanda | 7,103,000,861 |
| Tajikistan | 6,972,163,026 |
| Niger | 6,773,185,511 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | 6,474,843,799 |
| Kosovo | 6,445,201,981 |
| Guinea | 5,631,621,298 |
| Bermuda | 5,473,536,000 |
| Suriname | 5,012,121,214 |
| Montenegro | 4,373,170,812 |
| Malawi | 4,263,794,984 |
| Barbados | 4,224,850,000 |
| Mauritania | 4,199,051,817 |
| Fiji | 3,907,563,305 |
| Togo | 3,813,834,650 |
| Sierra Leone | 3,796,030,045 |
| Swaziland | 3,744,472,287 |
| Eritrea | 3,091,837,398 |
| Guyana | 2,850,572,407 |
| Burundi | 2,472,384,864 |
| Lesotho | 2,447,573,299 |
| Maldives | 2,222,429,330 |
| Central African Republic | 2,184,181,391 |
| Cabo Verde | 1,827,021,562 |
| Bhutan | 1,779,561,112 |
| Liberia | 1,733,823,553 |
| Timor-Leste | 1,293,000,000 |
| St. Lucia | 1,238,640,741 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 1,134,159,259 |
| Seychelles | 1,128,753,721 |
| Solomon Islands | 1,008,424,232 |
| Gambia, The | 917,292,053 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 822,321,032 |
| Vanuatu | 787,073,459 |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | 767,000,000 |
| Grenada | 766,510,727 |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 712,588,889 |
| Samoa | 683,719,606 |
| Comoros | 595,900,353 |
| Dominica | 479,688,889 |
| Tonga | 471,575,497 |
| Micronesia, Fed. Sts. | 326,160,961 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 263,398,378 |
| Palau | 228,415,735 |
| Marshall Islands | 182,400,000 |
| Kiribati | 174,984,469 |
| Tuvalu | 39,875,708 |
Technologies used
I used Excel to sift the data, a convertor to convert Excel format to a JSON array and finally Google Maps to display the map. All under 20 minutes. The idea was to help my readers put this number, $19 billion, into perspective. Thanks for reading.
About Ali Gajani
Hi. I am Ali Gajani. I started Mr. Geek in early 2012 as a result of my growing enthusiasm and passion for technology. I love sharing my knowledge and helping out the community by creating useful, engaging and compelling content. If you want to write for Mr. Geek, just PM me on my Facebook profile.
