Income expansion is a widely adopted indicatorIndicators when assessing long-term paths of economic developmentEconomic development. The present chapter investigates trends in per-capita Gross Domestic ProductGross domestic product (GDP) over the last 60 years in several countries around the world, including advanced and emerging economiesEmerging economies. Results highlight heterogeneous spatio-temporal trends in the global process of income expansion, confirming the existence of important wealthWealth disparities in both affluent and disadvantaged economic systems. The observed expansion of wealthWealth implies better standards of living, also in a context of increasing population. Nevertheless, heterogeneous development paths delineated in this contribution ultimately led to a drastic sharpening in regional inequalities.