Countries by Income Group

Major international organizations classify countries by different factors. One criterion that is often used is gross national income (GNI) per capita – the dollar value of a country’s final income in a year, divided by its population



It reflects the average income of a country’s citizens. It also tends to be linked with other indicators that measure the social, economic, and environmental well being of the country and its people.

The latest World Bank’s classification of countries by income group is calculated using the World Bank Atlas method.

According to the World Bank, only Kyrgyzstan and South Sudan experienced a change of classification over the previous year.

Classification by income does not necessarily reflect development status and economies in one group aren’t all experiencing the same level of development. However, another useful way to classify countries is precisely by their development status – whether they are advanced economies or emerging and developing economies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), among other organizations, uses this system.


The United Nations (UN,) instead, relies on a more complex classification that includes geographic regions as well as such categories as least developed countries (like Afghanistan and Malawi,) landlocked developing countries (e.g., Botswana, Azerbaijan,) small island developing states (e.g., Bahamas, Mauritius,) transition countries (e.g., Belarus, Croatia), developed regions (Japan, Northern America,) and developing regions (Central America, Asia excluding Japan.)

The term “Newly industrialized country” (NIC) is also useful and is applied to countries whose economies have not yet reached “advanced” or “developed” status but have outpaced their developing counterparts. These are countries that are experiencing industrialization and rapid economic growth, such as China, India, Brazil, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

Finally, one system that used to be popular but has fallen out of favor is to divide the world into First-World, Second-World, Third-World and Fourth-World countries. This system was based more on a country’s position in the hierarchy of global power than on its economic status (although the two were often related.) First introduced by the United Nations, its use became widespread during the Cold War. Generally, it grouped countries aligned with the United States and NATO into the First World, the Soviet Union and its allies into the Second World, and non-aligned countries into the Third World. The term Fourth World was sometimes used to refer to extremely poor nations and, at other times, to mean marginal or “stateless” people such as aboriginal cultures within a nation.

World Bank List Of Economies By Income Group
(FY2015)

In this classification, countries are divided in the following income groups:

  • Group 1 | Low income: $1,045 or less
  • Group 2 | Lower middle income: $1,046 to $4,125
  • Group 3 | Upper middle income: $4,126 to $12,745
  • Group 4 | High income: $12,746 or more

Country
Classification
Group #
Afghanistan Low-income 1
Bangladesh Low-income 1
Benin Low-income 1
Burkina Faso Low-income 1
Burundi Low-income 1
Cambodia Low-income 1
Central African Republic Low-income 1
Chad Low-income 1
Comoros Low-income 1
Congo, Dem. Rep Low-income 1
Eritrea Low-income 1
Ethiopia Low-income 1
Guinea Low-income 1
Guinea-Bissau Low-income 1
Haiti Low-income 1
Kenya Low-income 1
Korea, Dem Rep. Low-income 1
Liberia Low-income 1
Madagascar Low-income 1
Malawi Low-income 1
Mali Low-income 1
Mozambique Low-income 1
Myanmar Low-income 1
Nepal Low-income 1
Niger Low-income 1
Rwanda Low-income 1
Sierra Leone Low-income 1
Somalia Low-income 1
Tajikistan Low-income 1
Tanzania Low-income 1
The Gambia Low-income 1
Togo Low-income 1
Uganda Low-income 1
Zimbabwe Low-income 1
Armenia Lower-middle-income 2
Bhutan Lower-middle-income 2
Bolivia Lower-middle-income 2
Cameroon Lower-middle-income 2
Cape Verde Lower-middle-income 2
Congo, Rep. Lower-middle-income 2
Côte d’Ivoire Lower-middle-income 2
Djibouti Lower-middle-income 2
Egypt, Arab Rep. Lower-middle-income 2
El Salvador Lower-middle-income 2
Georgia Lower-middle-income 2
Ghana Lower-middle-income 2
Guatemala Lower-middle-income 2
Guyana Lower-middle-income 2
Honduras Lower-middle-income 2
India Lower-middle-income 2
Indonesia Lower-middle-income 2
Kiribati Lower-middle-income 2
Kosovo Lower-middle-income 2
Kyrgyz Republic Lower-middle-income 2
Lao PDR Lower-middle-income 2
Lesotho Lower-middle-income 2
Mauritania Lower-middle-income 2
Micronesia, Fed. Sts. Lower-middle-income 2
Moldova Lower-middle-income 2
Mongolia Lower-middle-income 2
Morocco Lower-middle-income 2
Nicaragua Lower-middle-income 2
Nigeria Lower-middle-income 2
Pakistan Lower-middle-income 2
Papua New Guinea Lower-middle-income 2
Paraguay Lower-middle-income 2
Philippines Lower-middle-income 2
Samoa Lower-middle-income 2
São Tomé and Principe Lower-middle-income 2
Senegal Lower-middle-income 2
Solomon Islands Lower-middle-income 2
South Sudan Lower-middle-income 2
Sri Lanka Lower-middle-income 2
Sudan Lower-middle-income 2
Swaziland Lower-middle-income 2
Syrian Arab Republic Lower-middle-income 2
Timor-Leste Lower-middle-income 2
Ukraine Lower-middle-income 2
Uzbekistan Lower-middle-income 2
Vanuatu Lower-middle-income 2
Vietnam Lower-middle-income 2
West Bank and Gaza Lower-middle-income 2
Yemen, Rep. Lower-middle-income 2
Zambia Lower-middle-income 2
Albania Upper-middle-income 3
Algeria Upper-middle-income 3
Angola Upper-middle-income 3
Argentina Upper-middle-income 3
Azerbaijan Upper-middle-income 3
Belarus Upper-middle-income 3
Belize Upper-middle-income 3
Bosnia and Herzegovina Upper-middle-income 3
Botswana Upper-middle-income 3
Brazil Upper-middle-income 3
Bulgaria Upper-middle-income 3
China Upper-middle-income 3
Colombia Upper-middle-income 3
Costa Rica Upper-middle-income 3
Cuba Upper-middle-income 3
Dominica Upper-middle-income 3
Dominican Republic Upper-middle-income 3
Ecuador Upper-middle-income 3
Fiji Upper-middle-income 3
Gabon Upper-middle-income 3
Grenada Upper-middle-income 3
Hungary Upper-middle-income 3
Iran, Islamic Rep. Upper-middle-income 3
Iraq Upper-middle-income 3
Jamaica Upper-middle-income 3
Jordan Upper-middle-income 3
Kazakhstan Upper-middle-income 3
Lebanon Upper-middle-income 3
Libya Upper-middle-income 3
Macedonia, FYR Upper-middle-income 3
Malaysia Upper-middle-income 3
Maldives Upper-middle-income 3
Marshall Islands Upper-middle-income 3
Mauritius Upper-middle-income 3
Mexico Upper-middle-income 3
Montenegro Upper-middle-income 3
Namibia Upper-middle-income 3
Palau Upper-middle-income 3
Panama Upper-middle-income 3
Peru Upper-middle-income 3
Romania Upper-middle-income 3
Serbia Upper-middle-income 3
Seychelles Upper-middle-income 3
South Africa Upper-middle-income 3
St. Lucia Upper-middle-income 3
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Upper-middle-income 3
Suriname Upper-middle-income 3
Thailand Upper-middle-income 3
Tonga Upper-middle-income 3
Tunisia Upper-middle-income 3
Turkey Upper-middle-income 3
Turkmenistan Upper-middle-income 3
Tuvalu Upper-middle-income 3
Venezuela, RB Upper-middle-income 3
Andorra High-income  4
Antigua and Barbuda High-income  4
Aruba High-income  4
Australia High-income (OECD) 4
Austria High-income (OECD) 4
Bahamas, The High-income  4
Bahrain High-income  4
Barbados High-income  4
Belgium High-income (OECD) 4
Bermuda High-income  4
Brunei Darussalam High-income  4
Canada High-income (OECD) 4
Cayman Islands High-income  4
Chile High-income (OECD) 4
Croatia High-income  4
Cyprus High-income  4
Czech Republic High-income (OECD) 4
Denmark High-income (OECD) 4
Equatorial Guinea High-income  4
Estonia High-income (OECD) 4
Finland High-income (OECD) 4
France High-income (OECD) 4
Germany High-income (OECD) 4
Greece High-income (OECD) 4
Hong Kong SAR High-income  4
Iceland High-income (OECD) 4
Ireland High-income (OECD) 4
Israel High-income (OECD) 4
Italy High-income (OECD) 4
Japan High-income (OECD) 4
Korea, Rep. High-income (OECD) 4
Kuwait High-income  4
Latvia High-income  4
Liechtenstein High-income  4
Lithuania High-income  4
Luxembourg High-income (OECD) 4
Macao SAR High-income  4
Malta High-income  4
Monaco High-income  4
Netherlands High-income (OECD) 4
New Caledonia High-income  4
New Zealand High-income (OECD) 4
Norway High-income (OECD) 4
Oman High-income  4
Poland High-income (OECD) 4
Portugal High-income (OECD) 4
Puerto Rico High-income  4
Qatar High-income  4
Russian Federation High-income  4
San Marino High-income  4
Saudi Arabia High-income  4
Singapore High-income  4
Sint Maarten High-income  4
Slovak Republic High-income (OECD) 4
Slovenia High-income (OECD) 4
Spain High-income (OECD) 4
St. Kitts and Nevis High-income  4
St. Martin High-income  4
Sweden High-income (OECD) 4
Switzerland High-income (OECD) 4
Trinidad and Tobago High-income  4
Turks and Caicos Islands High-income  4
United Arab Emirates High-income  4
United Kingdom High-income (OECD) 4
United States High-income (OECD) 4
Uruguay High-income  4

arrow-chevron-right-redarrow-chevron-rightbutton-arrow-left-greybutton-arrow-left-red-400button-arrow-left-red-500button-arrow-left-red-600button-arrow-left-whitebutton-arrow-right-greybutton-arrow-right-red-400button-arrow-right-red-500button-arrow-right-red-600button-arrow-right-whitecaret-downcaret-rightclosecloseemailfacebook-square-holdfacebookhamburger-newhamburgerinstagramlinkedin-square-1linkedinpauseplaysearch-outlinesearchsubscribe-digitalsubscribe-printtwitter-square-holdtwitteryoutube