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{{Short description|Countries that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development}}File:Least Developed Countries Map New.svg|alt=|thumb|400x400px|{{legend|#FF0000|Least developed countries (designated by the UNUNThe 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.WEB,www.unitar.org/resource/sites/unitar.org.resource/files/document-pdf/GA-2767-XXVI.pdf, Identification of the least developed among the developing countries, 2011-01-12,www.unitar.org/resource/sites/unitar.org.resource/files/document-pdf/GA-2767-XXVI.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20110709182754www.unitar.org/resource/sites/unitar.org.resource/files/document-pdf/GA-2767-XXVI.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20110709182754www.unitar.org/resource/sites/unitar.org.resource/files/document-pdf/GA-2767-XXVI.pdf, 2011-07-09, dead, A country is classified among the Least Developed Countries if it meets three criteria:WEB,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldc-criteria.html, Criteria For Identification Of LDCs, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Development Policy and Analysis Division, 2018-03-02, UN-OHRLLS Criteria for Identification and Graduation of LDCs {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725125957unohrlls.org/about-ldcs/criteria-for-ldcs/ |date=2019-07-25 }}.

• Poverty – adjustable criterion based on Gross national income (GNI) per capita averaged over three years. {{asof|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.WEB,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldcs-at-a-glance.html, LDCs at a Glance, 25 May 2008, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2020-12-04, 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.“WEB, Doha WTO Ministerial 2001: Briefing Notes Least Developed Countries – Towards free market access for least-developed countries,www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min01_e/brief_e/brief03_e.htm, World Trade Organization,

Overview

(File:Poverty headcount ratio at 1.90 a day.png|thumb|Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day)File:G33 Members.svg|thumb|G33 countries: a coalition of developing countriesdeveloping countriesLDC criteria are reviewed every three years by the Committee for Development Policy (CDP) of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Countries may be removed from the LDC classification when indicators exceed these criteria in two consecutive triennial reviews. The United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) coordinates UN support and provides advocacy services for Least Developed Countries. The classification ({{As of|2020|12|lc=on}}) applies to 46 countries.At the UN’s fourth conference on LDCs, which was held in May 2011, delegates endorsed a goal targeting the promotion of at least half the current LDC countries within the next ten years. As of 2018, ten or more countries were expected to graduate in 2024, with Bangladesh and Djibouti already satisfying all criteria in 2018.WEB,www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/06/ten-fewer-least-developed-countries-by-2024.html, Ten Fewer Least Developed Countries by 2024, Wang, Brian, 11 June 2018, nextbigfuture.com, 21 December 2018, There is one country which presently meets the criteria and two countries which previously met the criteria for LDC status, but declined to be included in the index, questioning the validity or accuracy of the CDP’s data: Ghana (no longer meets criteria as of 1994), Papua New Guinea (no longer meets criteria as of 2009), and Zimbabwe.BOOK,www.worldcat.org/fr/title/1088728737, Handbook on the least developed country category : inclusion, graduation, and special support measures, October 2018, United Nations, 978-92-1-104692-2, Third, New York, 1088728737,

Usage and abbreviations

{{Further|Developing country#Criticisms of the term}}Least developed countries can be distinguished from developing countries, “less developed countries”, “lesser developed countries”, or other similar terms.The term “less economically developed country” (LEDC) is also used today. However, in order to avoid confusion between “least developed country” and “less economically developed country” (which may both be abbreviated as LDC), and to avoid confusion with landlocked developing country (which can be abbreviated as LLDC), “developing country” is generally used in preference to “less-developed country”.During a United Nations review in 2018, the UN defined LDCs as countries meeting three criteria, one of which was a three-year average estimate of gross national income (GNI) per capita of less than US$1,025.WEB,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldc-criteria.html, Criteria For Identification Of LDCs, 4 March 2010, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Development Policy and Analysis Division, 2018-03-02,

UN conferences

File:Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis at the 4th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (5709246557).jpg|thumb|Deputy Foreign Minister of Greece Spyros KouvelisSpyros KouvelisThere were five United Nations conferences on LDCs, held every ten years. The first two were in Paris, in 1981 and 1991; the third was in Brussels in 2001.The Fourth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on 9–13 May 2011. It was attended by Ban Ki-moon, the head of the UN, and close to 50 prime ministers and heads of state. The conference endorsed the goal of raising half the existing Least developed countries out of the LDC category in 2022. As with the Seoul Development Consensus drawn up in 2010, there was a strong emphasis on boosting productive capability and physical infrastructure, with several NGOs not pleased with the emphasis placed on the private sector.WEB,www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/may/06/goal-halve-ldcs-10-years-conference, Goal to halve number of LDCs in next 10 years, The Guardian, 2011-05-06, 2011-05-13, WEB,www.theguardian.com/global-development/2011/may/13/least-developed-countries-ambitious-plan, Least developed countries: UN conference endorses ambitious plan to lift millions out of poverty, The Guardian, 2011-05-13, 2011-05-13,

Trade

Issues surrounding global trade regulations and LDCs have gained a lot of media and policy attention thanks to the recently collapsed Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations being termed a development round. During the WTO’s Hong Kong Ministerial, it was agreed that LDCs could see 100 percent duty-free, quota-free access to U.S. markets if the round were completed. But analysis of the deal by NGOs found that the text of the proposed LDC deal had substantial loopholes that might make the offer less than the full 100 percent access, and could even erase some current duty-free access of LDCs to rich country markets.WEB,www.citizen.org/hot_issues/issue.cfm?ID=1389, Public Citizen {{pipe, Global Trade Watch {{pipe}} Global Trade Watch – Hot Issue June 21 – Study shows WTO’s Doha Round proposal would leave many poor countries worse off |publisher=Citizen.org|access-date = 2014-07-28}}WEB,www.unnayan.org/Other/Unnayan_Onneshan_TNLP_Hong_Kong.pdf, How Hong Kong Empowers Rich Countries to Choke LDCs, 2006-07-26, 2011-04-01,www.unnayan.org/Other/Unnayan_Onneshan_TNLP_Hong_Kong.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20110401030510www.unnayan.org/Other/Unnayan_Onneshan_TNLP_Hong_Kong.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20110401030510www.unnayan.org/Other/Unnayan_Onneshan_TNLP_Hong_Kong.pdf, dead, Dissatisfaction with these loopholes led some economists to call for a reworking of the Hong Kong deal.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}Chiedu Osakwe, as of 2001 the Director, Technical Cooperation Division at the Secretariat of the WTO, and adviser to the Director-General on developing country matters, was appointed as the WTO Special Coordinator for the Least Developed Countries beginning in 1999.World Trade Organization, “Moore announces key appointments for development issues”, 1999 Press Releases, Press/136, 13 September 1999 He worked closely with the five other agencies that together with the WTO constitute the Integrated Framework of action for the Least Developed Countries. They addressed issues of market access, special and differential treatment provisions for developing countries, participation of developing countries in the multilateral trading system, and development questions, especially the interests of developing countries in competition policy.Osakwe, Chiedu, “Are WTO Members wrestling an octopus, did they set their sights too high?”, DAC News November–December 2005, Development Assistance Committee, OECD. At the 28th G8 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien proposed and carried the Market Access Initiative, so that the then 48 LDCs could profit from “trade-not-aid”.WEB, Vasil, Adria,stage81.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=140356, NOW Toronto: “Roots runs away: Beaver-clad clothier blames feds’ Africa trade aid for west-end plant closure” (February 12-19, 2004, VOL 23 NO 24 Vasil), Stage81.nowtoronto.com, 2014-07-28, dead,stage81.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=140356," title="web.archive.org/web/20140714134510stage81.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=140356,">web.archive.org/web/20140714134510stage81.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=140356, 2014-07-14, Additionally, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14 advocates for an effective special and differential treatment of LDCs as integral parts of WTO fisheries subsidies negotiation.WEB, Goal 14 targets,www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-14-life-below-water/targets.html, 2020-09-24, UNDP, en, 2020-09-30,web.archive.org/web/20200930060036/https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-14-life-below-water/targets.html, dead,

List of countries

The following 45 countries were still listed as least developed countries by the UN as of December 2023:UN (2021) List of Least Developed Countries (as of 24 November 2021) Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Tanzania, Yemen, and Zambia.

By continent or region

There are 33 countries that are classified as least developed countries in Africa, eight in Asia, three in Oceania, and one in the Americas.The list of “least developed countries” according to the United Nations with some that are categorized into the landlocked developing countries and the Small Island Developing States:WEB, 2008-05-25, LDCs at a Glance,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldcs-at-a-glance.html, 2019-01-03, United Nations Development Policy & Analysis Division, Africa

• {{flag|Angola}}
• {{flag|Benin}}
• {{flag|Burkina Faso}}Also a landlocked developing country
• {{flag|Burundi}}
• {{flag|Central African Republic}}
• {{flag|Chad}}
• {{flag|Comoros}}Also a Small Island Developing State
• {{flag|Democratic Republic of the Congo|name=D.R. Congo}}
• {{flag|Djibouti}}
• {{flag|Eritrea}}
• {{flag|Ethiopia}}
• {{flag|Guinea}}
• {{flag|Guinea-Bissau}}
• {{flag|Lesotho}}
• {{flag|Liberia}}
• {{flag|Madagascar}}
• {{flag|Malawi}}
• {{flag|Mali}}
• {{flag|Mauritania}}
• {{flag|Mozambique}}
• {{flag|Niger}}
• {{flag|Rwanda}}
• {{flag|São Tomé and Príncipe}}
• {{flag|Senegal}}
• {{flag|Sierra Leone}}
• {{flag|Somalia}}
• {{flag|South Sudan}}
• {{flag|Sudan}}
• {{flag|Tanzania}}
• {{flag|The Gambia}}
• {{flag|Togo}}
• {{flag|Uganda}}
• {{flag|Zambia}}

Americas

• {{flag|Haiti}}

Asia

• {{flag|Afghanistan|2013}}
• {{flag|Bangladesh}}WEB,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category-bangladesh.html, Least Developed Country Category: Bangladesh Profile {{pipe, Department of Economic and Social Affairs|date = 25 December 2015 |website= United Nations |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329004809www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category-bangladesh.html |archive-date= Mar 29, 2024 }}
• {{flag|Cambodia}}
• {{flag|East Timor}}
• {{flag|Laos}}
• {{flag|Myanmar}}
• {{flag|Nepal}}
• {{flag|Yemen}}

Oceania

• {{flag|Kiribati}}
• {{flag|Solomon Islands}}
• {{flag|Tuvalu}}

Delisted countries (graduated countries)

The three criteria (human assets, economic vulnerability and gross national income per capita) are assessed by the Committee for Development Policy every three years. Countries must meet two of the three criteria at two consecutive triennial reviews to be considered for graduation. The Committee for Development Policy sends its recommendations for endorsement to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).WEB, 2018-12-13, It’s official and historical – three more countries will graduate from the LDC category,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/2018/its-official-and-historical-three-more-countries-will-graduate-from-the-ldc-category/, United Nations, 2019-01-03, Development Policy & Analysis Division, After the initiation of the LDC category, seven countries graduated to developing country status. The first country to graduate from LDC status was Botswana in 1994. The second country was Cape Verde in 2007.WEB, 14 June 2007, UN advocate salutes Cape Verde’s graduation from category of poorest States,www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22918&Cr=cape&Cr1=verde, dead,www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22918&Cr=cape&Cr1=verde," title="web.archive.org/web/20171202011111www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22918&Cr=cape&Cr1=verde,">web.archive.org/web/20171202011111www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22918&Cr=cape&Cr1=verde, Dec 2, 2017, United Nations News Centre, Maldives graduated to developing country status at the beginning of 2011, Samoa in 2014,WEB, 5 March 2010, Graduation from the LDC category,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldc-graduation.html, 2018-03-02, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Development Policy and Analysis Division, WEB, Samoa To Gain Developing Country Economic Status in January 2014,unohrlls.org/news/samoa-to-gain-developing-country-economic-status-in-january-2014/, dead,unohrlls.org/news/samoa-to-gain-developing-country-economic-status-in-january-2014/," title="web.archive.org/web/20151017081118unohrlls.org/news/samoa-to-gain-developing-country-economic-status-in-january-2014/,">web.archive.org/web/20151017081118unohrlls.org/news/samoa-to-gain-developing-country-economic-status-in-january-2014/, 2015-10-17, 2015-08-09, UN-OHRLLS via Radio Australia, Equatorial Guinea in 2017,WEB, 2018, Least Developed Country Category: Equatorial Guinea Profile,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category-equatorial-guinea.html, 21 December 2018, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Development Policy and Analysis Division, Vanuatu in December 2020,WEB, 2020-12-04, Vanuatu graduates from least developed country status,unctad.org/news/vanuatu-graduates-least-developed-country-status, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and Bhutan in December 2023.WEB,www.un.org/ldcportal/content/bhutan-graduation-status, Bhutan graduation status, United Nations, 13 December 2023, The following countries are no longer categorized in the “least developed countries” group:

• {{flag|Kingdom of Sikkim|name=Sikkim}} (became a state within the Republic of India in 1975)WEB,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/publication/2008cdphandbook.pdf, UN Handbook on the LDC Category, 2014-07-28,web.archive.org/web/20170207091657/https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/wp-content/uploads/sites/45/publication/2008cdphandbook.pdf, 2017-02-07, live, WEB,sikkim.gov.in/ASP/Miscc/aboutsikkim.htm, “About Sikkim” from the Government of Sikkim’s website, Sikkim.gov.in, 2014-07-28, dead,www.sikkim.gov.in/asp/Miscc/aboutsikkim.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20090525171423www.sikkim.gov.in/asp/Miscc/aboutsikkim.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20090525171423www.sikkim.gov.in/asp/Miscc/aboutsikkim.htm, 2009-05-25,
• {{flag|Botswana}} (graduated from LDC status in December 1994)WEB,www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37239&Cr=least+developed&Cr1=, Istanbul forum offers chance to recommit to helping world’s poorest nations, 2011-01-10, United Nations, 2014-07-28,
• {{flag|Cape Verde}} (graduated in December 2007)
• {{flag|Maldives}} (graduated in January 2011)
• {{flag|Samoa}} (graduated in January 2014)NEWS,sdg.iisd.org/news/un-ohrlls-announces-samoa-to-graduate-from-ldc-status/, UN-OHRLLS Announces Samoa to Graduate from LDC Status, Ashton, Melanie, 20 June 2012, IISD’s SDG Knowledge, 2017-11-24, en-US,
• {{flag|Equatorial Guinea}} (graduated in June 2017)WEB,www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/equatorial-guinea-graduates-from-the-ldc-category/, Equatorial Guinea Graduates from the LDC Category, 4 June 2017, United Nations, 7 November 2017,
• {{flag|Vanuatu}} (graduated in December 2020)
• {{flag|Bhutan}} (graduated in December 2023)WEB,indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/bhutan-graduated-least-developed-country-status-explained-8492253, How Bhutan graduated from the ‘Least Developed Country’ status, Mira Patel, The Indian Express, 2023-03-13,

Countries expected to graduate soon

• São Tomé and Príncipe will leave the category in December 2024.
• Angola was expected to graduate in 2021, but the preparatory period was extended by three years because of the economic difficulties of the country and its dependence on commodities.WEB, 2021-02-04, Extension of the preparatory period preceding the graduation of Angola from the least developed country category,undocs.org/en/A/75/L.57, undocs.org,
• Bangladesh met the criteria twice, once in 2018 and again in 2021. The country will officially graduate from LDC status in November 2026, two years after it was supposed to, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.WEB, Byron, Rejaul Karim, Mirdha, Refayet Ullah, 2021-02-28, Becoming A Developing Nation: Bangladesh reaches A Milestone,www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/becoming-developing-nation-bangladesh-reaches-milestone-2052161, 2021-08-17, The Daily Star, en,
• Laos and Nepal will graduate in November 2026.NEWS, U.N. General Assembly graduates Bangladesh, Nepal to developing countries bloc, en-IN, The Hindu,www.thehindu.com/news/international/un-general-assembly-graduates-bangladesh-nepal-to-developing-countries-bloc/article37681442.ece, 2021-11-26, 0971-751X, The latter was originally selected to graduate to developing country status in 2018. However, the authorities of Nepal requested to postpone graduation until 2021.WEB, Nepal braces for graduation from an LDC,www.np.undp.org/content/nepal/en/home/operations/projects/poverty_reduction/snpc/nepal-braces-for-graduation-from-an-ldc.html, UNDP in Nepal, Graduation was later pushed back an additional five years.
• Solomon Islands will graduate in December 2027.WEB,www.un.org/ldcportal/content/countries-approaching-graduation-and-graduated, Countries approaching graduation and already graduated, United Nations,
• Cambodia, Comoros, Djibouti, Senegal and Zambia could graduate from LDC status in 2027 at the earliest.NEWS, Kingdom on track for LDC graduation, Dara, Voun, The Phnom Penh Post,phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-track-ldc-graduation, 2022-01-18, 2022-07-13,

See also

{{div col}}

• {{annotated link|Development geography}}
• {{annotated link|Development economics}}
• {{annotated link|Economic development}}
• {{annotated link|Extreme poverty}}
• {{annotated link|Failed state}}
• {{annotated link|Group of 77}}
• {{annotated link|Heavily indebted poor countries}}
• {{annotated link|Human Development Index}}
• {{annotated link|Human Poverty Index}}
• {{annotated link|List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita}}
• {{annotated link|Developed country|More developed country}} (MDC), opposite of LDCs
• {{annotated link|Newly industrialized country}}
• {{annotated link|Right to development}}
• {{annotated link|Third World}}

{{div col end}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, United Nations
• United Nations List of LDCs
• Criteria for Identification of LDCs
• Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs
• UNCTAD Least Developed Countries Report (Series)
• www.ldcwatch.org/csf/" title="web.archive.org/web/20110418145425www.ldcwatch.org/csf/">UN LDC-IV Civil Society Forum

{{Global economic classifications}}{{South-South}}{{UNFCCC negotiating groups|state=expanded}}{{United Nations}}{{Authority control}}