Geography, including climatic factors, have long been considered potentially important elements in shaping socio-economic activities . However, it has been argued that other possible drivers, particularly institutions, can be more important factors . Here we demonstrate that geography /climate variables satisfactorily explain the worldwide economic activity as measured by the per capita Gross Cell Product (GCP-PC) at a high geographical resolution, typically much higher than country average. A 1{\deg} by 1{\deg} GCP-PC dataset has been key for establishing and testing a direct relationship between 'local' geography/climate and GCP-PC. Not only have we tested the geography/climate hypothesis using many possible explanatory variables, importantly we have also predicted and reconstructed GCP-PC worldwide by retaining the most significant predictors. While this study confirms that latitude is the most important predictor for GCP-PC when taken in isolation, the accuracy of the GCP-PC prediction is greatly improved when other factors mainly related to variations in climatic variables,  rather than average climatic conditions  , are considered. However, latitude diminishes in importance when only the wealthier parts of the globe are considered. This work points to specific features of the climate system which appear key to driving economic activity, such as the variability in air pressure or the seasonal variations of dew point temperature. The implications of these findings range from a better understanding of why socio-economically better-off societies are geographically placed where they are , in the present, past and future, to informing where new economic activities could be established in order to yield favourable economic outcomes based on geography/climate conditions.
Geography, including climatic factors, have long been considered potentially important elements in shaping socio-economic activities , alongside other determinants, such as institutions . Here we demonstrate that geography and climate satisfactorily explain worldwide economic activity as measured by the per capita Gross Cell Product (GCP-PC) at a fine geographical resolution, typically much higher than country average. A 1{\deg} by 1{\deg} GCP-PC dataset has been key for establishing and testing a direct relationship between 'local' geography/climate and GCP-PC. Not only have we tested the geography/climate hypothesis using many possible explanatory variables, importantly we have also predicted and reconstructed GCP-PC worldwide by retaining the most significant predictors. While this study confirms that latitude is the most important predictor for GCP-PC when taken in isolation, the accuracy of the GCP-PC prediction is greatly improved when other factors mainly related to variations in climatic variables, such as the variability in air pressure, rather than average climatic conditions as typically used , are considered. Implications of these findings include an improved understanding of why economically better-off societies are geographically placed where they are 
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. However, it has been argued that other possible drivers, particularly institutions, can be more important factors
, alongside other determinants, such as institutions
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/climate variables satisfactorily explain the
and climate satisfactorily explain
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high
fine
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such as the variability in air pressure,
A
as typically used
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However, latitude diminishes in importance when only the wealthier parts of the globe are considered. This work points to specific features of the climate system which appear key to driving economic activity, such as the variability in air pressure or the seasonal variations of dew point temperature. The implications of these findings range from a better
Implications of these findings include an improved
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socio-economically
economically
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, in the present, past and future, to informing where new economic activities could be established in order to yield favourable economic outcomes based on geography/climate conditions.