Per capita means “for each person” or “per person.” It's a way of measuring something by dividing the total amount by the number of people.

If a country produces 100 million tons of wheat and has 50 million people, the wheat production per capita is 2 tons per person. If your class raises $500 for charity and there are 25 students, that's $20 per capita. This measurement helps us compare things fairly between groups of different sizes.

Per capita is especially useful when comparing countries or cities. A large country might produce more total pollution than a small country, but when you calculate pollution per capita, you discover which citizens are actually producing more waste individually. A small town might have a tiny library budget compared to a big city, but its per capita spending on libraries might be higher because it has far fewer residents.

You'll see it often in news articles about economics, health, or resources: income per capita, hospital beds per capita, or carbon emissions per capita. It's a tool for making fair comparisons and understanding what numbers really mean for individual people.