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. A country can be classified among the least developed countries when it meets the three following criteria:
Poverty – adjustable criterion based on the gross national income (GNI) per capita averaged over three years. As of 2024, a country must have GNI per capita less than US$1,088 to be included on the list, and over $1,306 to graduate from it ($3,918 under income-only threshold). Low levels of human assets (based on indicators of nutrition, health, education and adult literacy). A country must have human assets index (HAI) score less than 60 to be included on the list, and over 66 to graduate from it. 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). A country must have Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) score over 36 to be included on the list, and less than 32 to graduate from it. As of December 2024, 44 countries were still classified as LDC, while eight graduated between 1994 and 2024. 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."
Overview
LDC 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 December 2024) applies to 44 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 already satisfying all criteria in 2018. No country presently meets the criteria and there are three 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 (no longer meets criteria as of 2018).
Usage and abbreviations
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.
UN conferences
There have been 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. The Fifth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC-V) was split in two parts almost a year apart, between UN Headquarters in New York on 17 March 2022 and Doha on 5–9 March 2023.
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