ENGLISH
REFERENCE

capita

n. uncountable
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈkæpɪtə// UK //kˈæpɪtɐ// capi·ta

n. the amount of something for each person in a group. It is almost always used in the phrase 'per capita' to talk about things like money or food in a country.

n. the individual person within a population, used almost exclusively in the Latin phrase 'per capita'. It functions as a unit of measurement for statistical averages across a group.


SIMPLE

The country has a high income per capita.

CONTEXTUAL

Economists use per capita data to compare the living standards of different nations regardless of their total population size.

COMPLEX

While the nation's total wealth is growing, the per capita distribution remains uneven, suggesting that the benefits of economic expansion are not reaching the average citizen.

Synonyms
Origin

From the Latin capita, plural of caput.

Usage

Used almost exclusively in the prepositional phrase 'per capita', which functions as an adjective or adverb. It follows the noun it modifies or the verb it describes.

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