Per capita is a term used in economics and statistics to denote a value per person. In other words, when analyzing economic statistics, per capita measures the value of a given item or statistic for each person within a certain population. It is a useful tool for comparing two different populations or two different countries and seeing how the metric compares on a per-person basis.

For example, when discussing economic conditions in two different countries, gross domestic product (GDP) is often used as a useful metric. GDP is the total market value of all the goods and services produced in a country in a given period of time, and is used as a measure of economic strength and performance. However, when talking about GDP per capita, the total GDP figure is divided by the total population size, allowing for a much more direct comparison between countries with different population sizes.

Another common example of per capita is income per capita. Income per capita measures the total income of all people in a population, and then divides it by the total population size. This gives a more accurate picture of the average amount of money someone earns in a certain population.

Per capita is a useful tool for data analysts to make more effective comparisons between populations. It is often used in contrast to median information, which can be useful for assessing a population, but does not take into account further outliers—it is simply the middle value of the population. Per capita takes into account all people in a population, providing a more accurate picture.

In short, per capita is an incredibly important tool in the field of economics and statistics. It allows for more apples-to-apples comparisons between countries with different population sizes, and provides a more in-depth picture of a population than other statistical measures such as median. It has become an invaluable tool for data analysts and economists in order to assess the effectiveness and performance of different nations and populations.