For example, China has almost $23 trillion of resource wealth and is among the top 10 resource-rich countries. But China has a population of 1.3 billion people. The resource-wealth per capita is not much - only about $17,000 per citizen.
Why is Singapore a resource-rich country when it has zero oil, zero natural gas, zero mineral and zero timber? As basic economics show, the price of a resource depends on supply and demand. Singapore is resource-rich because it has very limited supply and very high demand. And resource can be things other than oil, gas, mineral or timber.
Take, for example, road space. This is a resource that is very limited in Singapore and that is in very high demand. As shown, the wealth from this limited road space resource is enough to provide every citizen with $500 in 2010 and $625 in 2011. The very limited resource includes land, road space, water, electricity, air wave, education opportunities and many others.
Excluding tiny states (Macau with 30 square km and Monaco with 2 square km), Singapore has the highest population density in the world. Singapore also has the highest ratio of millionaire households in the world. As Singapore continues to super-pack the country with more and more people and more and more millionaires, the demand for limited resources will continue to increase, with the resource wealth shooting up as well.
Singapore citizens own a very resource-rich country. Unlike oil and minerals which will get depleted, Singapore's resources last forever.
Singapore is a very resource-rich country. Singapore may be resource-poor in resource quantity, but it is definitely resource-rich in resource value per capita.
If Singapore becomes a citizen-ownership country, Singapore citizens stand to get a big citizen-ownership income year after year.
If you are interested, you can look at a comparison of Singapore with other world cities: Singapore vs World Cities
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