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Regional Summary Tables from the World Development Indicators 2001
The tables provided below contain the latest data for key development topics from the World Development Indicators database. All files are in PDF format.
Country comparisons: East Asia & Pacific (9K), Europe & Central Asia (9k PDF), Latin America & Caribbean (9K PDF), Middle East & North Africa (9k PDF), South Asia (8K PDF), Sub-Saharan Africa (10K PDF)
Classification of economies Definitions of groups Country groups
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
Latin America and the Caribbean
Middle East and North Africa
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Low-income economies
Lower-middle-income economies
Upper-middle-income economies
High-income economies
High-income OECD members
Severely indebted
Moderately indebted
Less indebted
Not classified by indebtedness
For operational and analytical purposes, the World Bank’s main criterion for classifying economies is gross national income (GNI) per capita. In previous editions of our publications, this term was referred to as gross national product, or GNI. (More about this change in terminology). Based on its GNI per capita, every economy is classified as low income, middle income (subdivided into lower middle and upper middle), or high income. Other analytical groups, based on geographic regions and levels of external debt, are also used.
Low-income and middle-income economies are sometimes referred to as developing economies. The use of the term is convenient; it is not intended to imply that all economies in the group are experiencing similar development or that other economies have reached a preferred or final stage of development. Classification by income does not necessarily reflect development status.
The Bank's analytical income categories (low, middle, high income) are based on the Bank's operational lending categories (civil works preferences, IDA eligibility, etc.). These operational guidelines were established three decades ago, based on the view that since poorer countries deserve better conditions from the Bank, comparative estimates of economic capacity needed to be established. GNI, a broad measure, was considered to be the best single indicator of economic capacity and progress; at the same time it was recognized that GNI does not, by itself, constitute or measure welfare or success in development. GNI per capita is therefore the Bank's main criterion of classifying countries.
The process of setting per capita income thresholds started with finding a stable relationship between a summary measure of wellbeing such as poverty incidence and infant mortality on the one hand and economic variables including per capita GNI estimated based on the Bank's Atlas method on the other. Based on such a relationship and the annual availability of Bank's resources, the original per capita income thresholds were established. Thereafter, the original thresholds have been updated every year to incorporate the effect of international inflation, which is now measured by the average inflation of the G-5 countries ("SDR deflator"). Thus, the thresholds remain constant in real terms over time. See a discussion on estimating internationally comparable per capita income numbers for the Bank's operational purposes.
The economies whose per capita GNI falls below the Bank's operational cutoff for "Civil Works Preference" are classified as low income economies, and those economies whose per capita GNI is higher than the Bank's operational threshold for 15-year IBRD Loans and lower than the threshold for High-income economies are classified as Upper-middle income economies.
But as late as 1989, there were some anomalies in the countries included in the middle-income group (a holdover of earlier listings of what constituted "developing" vs. "industrial" countries). An explicit benchmark between the middle-income and high-income countries was established in 1989 at $6,000 per capita in 1987 prices.
In general discussions in Bank reports, the term "developing economies" has been used to denote the set of low and middle income economies. Bank publications with notes on the classification of economies state that the term "developing economies... does not imply either that all the economies belonging to the group are actually in the process of developing, nor that those not in the group have necessarily reached some preferred or final stage of development."These tables classify all World Bank member countries (183), and all other economies with populations of more than 30,000 (207 total).
Income group: Economies are divided according to 2000 GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method. The groups are: low income, $755 or less; lower middle income, $756- $2,995; upper middle income, $2,996- $9,265; and high income, $9,266 or more.
Indebtedness: Standard World Bank definitions of severe and moderate indebtedness are used to classify economies in this table. Severely indebted means either of the two key ratios is above critical levels: present value of debt service to GNI (80 percent) and present value of debt service to exports (220 percent). Moderately indebted means either of the two key ratios exceeds 60 percent of, but does not reach, the critical levels. For economies that do not report detailed debt statistics to the World Bank Debtor Reporting System (DRS), present-value calculation is not possible. Instead, the following methodology is used to classify the non-DRS economies. Severely indebted means three of four key ratios (averaged over 1997-99) are above critical levels: debt to GNI (50 percent); debt to exports (275 percent); debt service to exports (30 percent); and interest to exports (20 percent). Moderately indebted means three of the four key ratios exceed 60 percent of, but do not reach, the critical levels. All other classified low- and middle-income economies are listed as less-indebted.
Click here to download the country classification table in Excel format.
East Asia and Pacific (developing only: 23)
American Samoa Lao PDR Philippines Cambodia Malaysia Samoa China Marshall Islands Solomon Islands Fiji Micronesia, Fed. Sts Thailand Indonesia Mongolia Tonga Kiribati Myanmar Vanuatu Korea, Dem. Rep. Palau Vietnam Korea, Rep. Papua New Guinea
Europe and Central Asia (developing only: 28)
Albania Hungary Russian Federation Armenia Isle of Man Slovak Republic Azerbaijan Kazakhstan Tajikistan Belarus Kyrgyz Republic Turkey Bosnia and Herzegovina Latvia Turkmenistan Bulgaria Lithuania Ukraine Croatia Macedonia, FYR Uzbekistan Czech Republic Moldova Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep. Estonia Poland Georgia Romania
Latin America and the Caribbean (developing only: 32)
Antigua and Barbuda Ecuador Paraguay Argentina El Salvador Peru Belize Grenada Puerto Rico Bolivia Guatemala St. Kitts and Nevis Brazil Guyana St. Lucia Chile Haiti St. Vincent and the Grenadines Colombia Honduras Suriname Costa Rica Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago Cuba Mexico Uruguay Dominica Nicaragua Venezuela, RB Dominican Republic Panama
Middle East and North Africa (developing only: 16)
Algeria Jordan Syrian Arab Republic Bahrain Lebanon Tunisia Djibouti Libya West Bank and Gaza Egypt, Arab Rep. Morocco Yemen, Rep. Iran, Islamic Rep. Oman Iraq Saudi Arabia
Afghanistan India Pakistan Bangladesh Maldives Sri Lanka Bhutan Nepal
Sub-Saharan Africa (developing only: 48)
Angola Gabon Niger Benin Gambia, The Nigeria Botswana Ghana Rwanda Burkina Faso Guinea Sao Tome and Principe Burundi Guinea-Bissau Senegal Cameroon Kenya Seychelles Cape Verde Lesotho Sierra Leone Central African Republic Liberia Somalia Chad Madagascar South Africa Comoros Malawi Sudan Congo, Dem. Rep. Mali Swaziland Congo, Rep Mauritania Tanzania Cote d'Ivoire Mauritius Togo Equatorial Guinea Mayotte Uganda Eritrea Mozambique Zambia Ethiopia Namibia Zimbabwe
Afghanistan Ghana Nicaragua Angola Guinea Niger Armenia Guinea-Bissau Nigeria Azerbaijan Haiti Pakistan Bangladesh India Rwanda Benin Indonesia Sao Tome and Principe Bhutan Kenya Senegal Burkina Faso Korea, Dem Rep. Sierra Leone Burundi Kyrgyz Republic Solomon Islands Cambodia Lao PDR Somalia Cameroon Lesotho Sudan Central African Republic Liberia Tajikistan Chad Madagascar Tanzania Comoros Malawi Togo Congo, Dem. Rep Mali Uganda Congo, Rep. Mauritania Ukraine Cote d'Ivoire Moldova Uzbekistan Eritrea Mongolia Vietnam Ethiopia Mozambique Yemen, Rep. Gambia, The Myanmar Zambia Georgia Nepal Zimbabwe
Lower-middle-income economies (54)
Albania Guatemala Paraguay Algeria Guyana Peru Belarus Honduras Philippines Belize Iran, Islamic Rep. Romania Bolivia Iraq Russian Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina Jamaica Samoa Bulgaria Jordan Sri Lanka Cape Verde Kazakhstan St. Vincent and the Grenadines China Kiribati Suriname Colombia Latvia Swaziland Cuba Lithuania Syrian Arab Republic Djibouti Macedonia, FYR Thailand Dominican Republic Maldives Tonga Ecuador Marshall Islands Tunisia Egypt, Arab Rep. Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Turkmenistan El Salvador Morocco Vanuatu Equatorial Guinea Namibia West Bank and Gaza Fiji Papua New Guinea Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep.
Upper-middle-income economies (38)
American Samoa Grenada Poland Antigua and Barbuda Hungary Puerto Rico Argentina Isle of Man Saudi Arabia Bahrain Korea, Rep. Seychelles Botswana Lebanon Slovak Republic Brazil Libya South Africa Chile Malaysia St. Kitts and Nevis Costa Rica Mauritius St. Lucia Croatia Mayotte Trinidad and Tobago Czech Republic Mexico Turkey Dominica Oman Uruguay Estonia Palau Venezuela, RB Gabon Panama
Andorra Germany New Caledonia Aruba Greece New Zealand Australia Greenland Northern Mariana Islands Austria Guam Norway Bahamas, The Hong Kong, China Portugal Barbados Iceland Qatar Belgium Ireland San Marino Bermuda Israel Singapore Brunei Italy Slovenia Canada Japan Spain Cayman Islands Kuwait Sweden Channel Islands Liechtenstein Switzerland Cyprus Luxembourg United Arab Emirates Denmark Macao, China United Kingdom Faeroe Islands Malta United States Finland Monaco Virgin Islands (U.S.) France Netherlands French Polynesia Netherlands Antilles
High-income OECD members ( 23)
Australia Greece Norway Austria Iceland Portugal Belgium Ireland Spain Canada Italy Sweden Denmark Japan Switzerland Finland Luxembourg United Kingdom France Netherlands United States Germany New Zealand
Afghanistan Ethiopia Nicaragua Angola Gabon Niger Argentina Guinea Nigeria Benin Guinea-Bissau Pakistan Bolivia Guyana Peru Bosnia and Herzegovina Indonesia Rwanda Brazil Iraq Sao Tome and Principe Bulgaria Jordan Sierra Leone Burundi Kyrgyz Republic Somalia Cameroon Lao PDR Sudan Central African Republic Liberia Syrian Arab Republic Comoros Madagascar Tanzania Congo, Dem. Rep. Malawi Uganda Congo, Rep. Mali Zambia Cote d'Ivoire Mauritania Cuba Myanmar
Algeria Honduras Samoa Armenia Hungary Senegal Bangladesh Jamaica St. Vincent and the Grenadines Belize Kenya Thailand Burkina Faso Lebanon Togo Cambodia Malaysia Tunisia Chad Mauritius Turkey Chile Moldova Turkmenistan Colombia Mongolia Uruguay Ecuador Morocco Venezuela, RB Estonia Mozambique Vietnam Gambia, The Panama Yemen, Rep. Georgia Papua New Guinea Zimbabwe Ghana Philippines Haiti Russian Federation
Albania Fiji Paraguay Antigua and Barbuda Grenada Poland Azerbaijan Guatemala Romania Bahrain India Saudi Arabia Belarus Iran, Islamic Rep. Seychelles Bhutan Kazakhstan Slovak Republic Botswana Kiribati Solomon Islands Cape Verde Korea, Dem. Rep. South Africa China Korea, Rep. Sri Lanka Costa Rica Latvia St. Kitts and Nevis Croatia Lesotho St. Lucia Czech Republic Libya Suriname Djibouti Lithuania Swaziland Dominica Macedonia, FYR Tajikistan Dominican Republic Maldives Tonga Egypt, Arab Rep. Mexico Trinidad and Tobago El Salvador Namibia Ukraine Equatorial Guinea Nepal Vanuatu Eritrea Oman Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep.
Not classified by indebtedness (61)
American Samoa Greenland New Zealand Andorra Guam Northern Mariana Islands Aruba Hong Kong, China Norway Australia Iceland Palau Austria Ireland Portugal Bahamas, The Isle of Man Puerto Rico Barbados Israel Qatar Belgium Italy San Marino Bermuda Japan Singapore Brunei Kuwait Slovenia Canada Liechtenstein Spain Cayman Islands Luxembourg Sweden Channel Islands Macao, China Switzerland Cyprus Malta United Arab Emirates Denmark Marshall Islands United Kingdom Faeroe Islands Mayotte United States Finland Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Uzbekistan France Monaco Virgin Islands (U.S.) French Polynesia Netherlands West Bank and Gaza Germany Netherlands Antilles Greece New Caledonia
