When shares of Apple touched a record high at the beginning of the month it marked a very special milestone, Apple became the first company in the world to have a $1 trillion USD market capitalization. Stock prices rise and fall and corporate fortunes can change as quickly as the seasons, but Apple reaching a valuation of $1 trillion is a remarkable achievement.

To put this into perspective we have a few Infographics on what a trillion dollars actually means. For instance that’s larger than the GDP of any country in ASEAN except Indonesia which it is roughly equivalent to. Yes comparing the market valuation for a company and an annual accounting of a country’s economic output is (pardon the pun) apples and oranges, but it’s a useful point of reference.

It’s more money than the annual GDP of any African or Middle Eastern country, slightly larger than US healthcare expenditures and much more than everyone in our offices can pool together. 

Put another way, $1 trillion is equal to around $142 for every man, woman and child on planet earth.  That’s a lot of money.