As a Norwegian i feel an urge to nuance the claim that "Norway has a ridicilous amount of hydrocarbons per capita and just have to put a straw in the groun" as the main cause for high BNP per capita. In Norway’s national budget, about 16% of the money comes from oil, the rest from other sources.

There are several other factors which have contributed to Norway’s wealth. The most important factor is our high percentage of women who work, which accounts for more than the oil. This is possible because we have good public systems (at least compared to most other countries) with maternity pay, kindergarden for everyone and other incenitves for women to work. No employer expects a pregnant woman to quit her job, it’s my impression that is so in USA, although I might be wrong.

Norway is on the top of the list with most trust. People generally trust their neighbors, colleagues, the public services etc. We don’t sue each other for ridiculous reasons like in the USA, that is counterproductive.

Norway has a good public school system compared to most other countries. The idea is there should not be any economic reasons for anyone to not get the education they want, the limitation is one’s abilities and motivation. Thus companies in Norway has easy access to plenty of well educated people.

I could make this list very long. The short version is that Norway is one of the best functioning countries in the world in socioeconomic terms. The oil has been the icing of the cake here, but it’s by no means the only reason for Norway’s high GDP per capita.