Least developed countries

  Least developed countries (designated by the UN as of 2023)
  Former least developed countries

The least developed countries (LDCs) are developing countries listed by the United Nations that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development. The concept of LDCs originated in the late 1960s and the first group of LDCs was listed by the UN in its resolution 2768 (XXVI) on 18 November 1971.[1]

A country is classified among the Least Developed Countries if it meets three criteria:[2][3]

  • Poverty – adjustable criterion based on Gross national income (GNI) per capita averaged over three years. As of 2018, a country must have GNI per capita less than US$1,025 to be included on the list, and over $1,230 to graduate from it.
  • Human resource weakness (based on indicators of nutrition, health, education and adult literacy).
  • Economic vulnerability (based on instability of agricultural production, instability of exports of goods and services, economic importance of non-traditional activities, merchandise export concentration, handicap of economic smallness, and the percentage of population displaced by natural disasters).

As of December 2023, 45 countries were still classified as LDC, while seven graduated between 1994 and 2023.[4] The World Trade Organization (WTO) recognizes the UN list and says that "Measures taken in the framework of the WTO can help LDCs increase their exports to other WTO members and attract investment. In many developing countries, pro-market reforms have encouraged faster growth, diversification of exports, and more effective participation in the multilateral trading system."[5]

  1. ^ "Identification of the least developed among the developing countries" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  2. ^ "Criteria For Identification Of LDCs". United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Development Policy and Analysis Division. Retrieved 2018-03-02.
  3. ^ UN-OHRLLS Criteria for Identification and Graduation of LDCs Archived 2019-07-25 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "LDCs at a Glance". Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  5. ^ "Doha WTO Ministerial 2001: Briefing Notes Least Developed Countries – Towards free market access for least-developed countries". World Trade Organization.