Japan, Western Europe and Scandinavian countries may have higher per capita income. Once tax and living costs are taken into account, what's left isn't as impressive anymore. Similar phoenomenon for Little Dragons...while GDP and trade surplus figures of Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan are very impressive, the distribution of wealth isn't even. The size of middle class has been shrinking. Gaps between the rich and poor are getting ever wider. Taking into consideration of additional factors like high living costs (all 3), concentration of wealth in government (S'pore), very limited land (HK, S'pore), mismanagement and corruption (Taiwan), the average people in these 3 places have very much less available to them than those in North America and Australia/New Zealand though the difference of per capita income levels (after adjustment for purchasing power) aren't that big.