Qatar has been ranked as the world's wealthiest country in a new list compiled by US magazine Forbes.

With UAE placed sixth and Kuwait at 15th in the list the Gulf emirate of 1.7 million people topped the list as the world’s richest country per capita thanks to a rebound in oil prices and its massive natural gas reserves.

Qatar, which will host the 2022 World Cup and is also in the running for the 2020 Olympic Games, has been a high-profile investor in recent times.

The government is pouring money into infrastructure, including a deepwater seaport, an airport and a railway network, all with an eye to making the country a better host for businesses and the 2022 World Cup, Forbes said.

Luxembourg was placed second, with a per capita GDP of just over $81,000.

In third place was Singapore, which thrives as a technology, manufacturing and finance hub with a GDP (PPP) per capita of nearly $56,700.

To rank the countries, Forbes said it looked at GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power for 182 nations. It used International Monetary Fund data from 2010.

Norway and Brunei rounded out the top five positions in the list followed by the UAE, the US, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

A trio of politically and economically fragile African nations was listed as the poorest countries - Burundi, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where GDPs (PPP) per capita was $400, $386 and $312, respectively.