The world’s poorest countries are classified as low-income economies in the four-tiered World Bank ranking system. This ranking is based on each country’s gross national income (GNI) per capita, which is a measure of the country’s total income divided by its population.
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GNI is very similar to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Both metrics measure the dollar value of all goods and services produced in a given country, but GNI also includes income earned via international sources (such as foreign investments or real estate holdings). For that reason, GNI is considered a slightly more accurate measure of a country’s economic health.
GNI is typically expressed in one of two ways. The first is in US dollars, calculated using a technique called the Atlas method to compare each nation’s currency. The second is in “purchasing power parity (PPP) international dollars”, a hypothetical currency tied to a value of the US dollar in a given year.
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Poorest Countries in world – Most poor country in the world
Under the World Bank system, low-income countries are nations that have a GNI (adjusted to current US dollars) of less than $1,046 as of July 01, 2021.
- Burundi – $270
- Somalia – $310
- Mozambique – $460
- Madagascar – $480
- Sierra Leone – $490
- Afghanistan – $500
- Central African Republic – $510
- Liberia – $530
- Niger – $540
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) – $550
