Why are some countries richer than others? Poverty is still the biggest problem the world faces day after day. Every country suffers from it to some extent, however some places are more affected than others. This is because the level of economic growth varies from country to country. The greater the growth, the less room for poverty. This is the simple reason why some countries are richer than others. If countries fail to move forward, this can present many problems. Mainly the unnecessary suffering of many and, in general, a lower standard of living for all those who have fallen into the trap. It is true that growth creates problems such as pollution and congestion, but these are acceptable trade-offs to reduce the level of poverty. Governments around the world have many policies to try to improve the functioning of their economies. Governments will differ in the emphasis they place on particular objectives and the ways in which they seek to achieve them. The circumstances around these change from time to time, focusing on certain goals that need the most influence. Economic growth is a constant priority. Governments just need to ensure they properly manage the resources they have to achieve this goal. Every year a "ranking" is published showing the level of economic growth achieved by each country. The comparison is made using each country's gross domestic product or GDP. An important factor to consider is the difference between actual and potential economic growth. Actual economic growth increases in real GDP. This increase can occur as a result of utilizing previously unemployed resources, reallocating resources to more productive areas, or improving existing resources. While potential economic growth is the productive capacity of the economy. For example, it can be demonstrated by the country's projected ability to produce goods and services. This changes when there is an increase in the quantity or quality of resources. All countries have different ways of achieving this with the resources they have available. For this reason the party answers the question of why some countries are richer than others. It is widely believed that an economy's productive capacity will increase each year largely due to improvements in education and technology. This will obviously differ from country to country. For example, in the UK the quality of fertilizers could be improved and thus increase the annual production of fruit and vegetables.