Each volume rates every single year of a country's post-war history on one 1–10 scale — not by GDP growth, but by how the year was actually lived by the median household. Same method, same scale, same constant 2026 dollars, applied identically across twenty-four countries so the records can be read against each other.
Every rated year of every volume, 1946 at the left to 2026 at the right, ordered by lived average — deep red a catastrophe, green a good year broadly felt, an outlined cell a year this series does not rate. Every country name links to its volume.
The lived average is an experience ranking, not a prosperity one: how good the median year felt. The multiple is the eighty-year growth verdict, and it scrambles the ladder entirely. Averages within about 0.15 are ties.
| # | Country | Lived avg | Range | Income per head | Multiple | % of US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 5.26 | 2–8 | $20,300 → $91,600 | ×4.5 | 100 → 100 |
| 2 | Taiwan | 5.24 | 2–8 | $770 → $42,530 | ×55.2 | 4 → 46 |
| 3 | Japan | 5.01 | 1–9 | $2,100 → $36,400 | ×17.3 | 10 → 40 |
| 4 | China | 4.99 | 1–8 | $90 → $14,580 | ×162 | 0.4 → 16 |
| 5 | Australia | 4.79 | 3–7 | $15,500 → $68,000 | ×4.4 | 76 → 74 |
| 6 | Sweden | 4.67 | 2–7 | $12,800 → $64,100 | ×5 | 63 → 70 |
| 7 | Canada | 4.54 | 2–7 | $14,500 → $56,100 | ×3.9 | 71 → 61 |
| 8 | India | 4.52 | 1–8 | $270 → $2,800 | ×10.4 | 1.3 → 3 |
| 9 | South Korea | 4.47 | 1–8 | $860 → $37,000 | ×43 | 4 → 40 |
| 10 | Germany | 4.43 | 1–8 | $6,910 → $60,080 | ×8.7 | 34 → 66 |
| 11 | France | 4.12 | 2–7 | $7,260 → $49,400 | ×6.8 | 36 → 54 |
| 12 | United Kingdom | 3.99 | 2–7 | $13,380 → $57,700 | ×4.3 | 66 → 63 |
| 13 | Italy | 3.90 | 2–7 | $5,420 → $43,590 | ×8 | 27 → 48 |
| 14 | Saudi Arabia | 3.88 | 2–7 | $2,500 → $37,500 | ×15 | 12 → 41 |
| 15 | Spain | 3.78 | 2–6 | $5,470 → $39,300 | ×7.2 | 27 → 43 |
| 16 | Poland | 3.69 | 1–7 | $2,600 → $29,400 | ×11.3 | 13 → 32 |
| 17 | Brazil | 3.65 | 2–6 | $1,700 → $10,900 | ×6.4 | 8 → 12 |
| 18 | Russia / USSR | 3.64 | 1–7 | $2,290 → $15,160 | ×6.6 | 11 → 18 |
| 19 | Mexico | 3.62 | 1–6 | $3,810 → $14,140 | ×3.7 | 19 → 15 |
| 20 | Indonesia | 3.58 | 1–6 | $560 → $5,310 | ×9.5 | 3 → 6 |
| 21 | Turkey | 3.47 | 1–6 | $1,900 → $19,100 | ×10.1 | 9 → 21 |
| 22 | Iran | 3.36 | 1–6 | $1,560 → $4,017 | ×2.6 | 8 → 4 |
| 23 | Argentina | 3.30 | 1–6 | $6,900 → $15,300 | ×2.2 | 34 → 17 |
| 24 | Pakistan | 3.19 | 1–5 | $386 → $1,655 | ×4.3 | 1.9 → 1.8 |
Full notes on how to read these columns are in The Twenty-Four Compared.
Each strip is that country's whole record at a glance, one bar per year.