A developing nation has a low degree of industrial and/or economic development, which leads directly or indirectly to social, political, economic, and environmental difficulties that considerably impair the quality of life in that country.
Those classed as developing are less industrially advanced than countries classified as high-income or developed.
Developing countries are often referred to as low-income, undeveloped, and/or middle-income countries. The least developed nations are often the ones that have the greatest problems.

Is there a way to define a developing country?
The HDI is a statistic devised by the United Nations that is used to classify countries as either developed or developing. The HDI takes into account a wide variety of indicators, such as GDP growth, longevity, health, education, and quality of life.
The maximum Human Development Index score is 1. A developing nation is one with a score of less than 0.80.
Nominal gross national income (GNI) per capita is a handy quick measure of a country’s economic prosperity and a widely used indicator of whether or not a country is considered developed.
It is generally agreed that a country is deemed developed if its nominal gross national income (GNI) is over a particular level (which varies somewhat from year to year), while countries whose GNI is below this threshold are still regarded to be in the development stage.
Countries and territories with a per capita gross national income of $12,696 or above in 2022 are considered High-Income economies by the World Bank.
If a country’s GDP per capita is less than that threshold, it is termed a developing country (though World Bank prefers the terms Upper-Middle Income, Lower-Middle Income, and Low Income).
Eighty of the 217 nations and territories followed by the World Bank in 2022 met the criteria for High Income, while 137 met the criteria for emerging economies/countries.

It’s important to keep in mind that there might be discrepancies between the two approaches. Argentina, which has an HDI of.830 in 2019, is considered a developed nation by the United Nations since it is higher than the criterion of.800.
Argentina’s GNI in 2020, at $9,070, is much less than the $12,695 threshold at which the World Bank changes its classification to “Upper-Middle Income and still developing.”
Difficulties faced by developing countries
Income disparity and/or widespread poverty, poor education and literacy levels, insufficient infrastructure, & government corruption are all problems that a large number of developing nations face.
They may have a greater incidence of violence against women and inadequate energy production.
Also See: Developed Countries List 2022
They may also be at risk for health problems due to a lack of access to clean water and sewage systems, pollution, and a rise in the prevalence of contagious illnesses.
To assist developing nations in meeting these and other social, political, economic, & environmental difficulties, the United Nations and several other assistance organisations have launched programmes.
Country | Human Development Index (2019) | GNI Per Capita (2020) | 2022 Population |
---|---|---|---|
Trinidad and Tobago | 0.7960 | 1531.0440 | |
Seychelles | 0.7960 | 107.1180 | |
Albania | 0.7950 | 5210 | 2842.3210 |
Iran | 0.7830 | 2870 | 88550.5700 |
Cuba | 0.7830 | 7480 | 11212.1910 |
Sri Lanka | 0.7820 | 3720 | 21832.1430 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 0.7800 | 6090 | 3233.5260 |
Mexico | 0.7790 | 8480 | 127504.1250 |
Ukraine | 0.7790 | 3540 | 39701.7390 |
Grenada | 0.7790 | 8740 | 125.4380 |
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0.7790 | 47.6570 | |
Antigua and Barbuda | 0.7780 | 93.7630 | |
Thailand | 0.7770 | 7050 | 71697.0300 |
Peru | 0.7770 | 6010 | 34049.5880 |
Armenia | 0.7760 | 4220 | 2780.4690 |
North Macedonia | 0.7740 | 5720 | 2093.5990 |
Colombia | 0.7670 | 5780 | 51874.0240 |
Brazil | 0.7650 | 7850 | 215313.4980 |
China | 0.7610 | 10610 | 1425887.3370 |
Ecuador | 0.7590 | 5530 | 18001 |
Saint Lucia | 0.7590 | 8790 | 179.8570 |
Dominican Republic | 0.7560 | 7260 | 11228.8210 |
Azerbaijan | 0.7560 | 4450 | 10358.0740 |
Moldova | 0.7500 | 4570 | 3272.9960 |
Algeria | 0.7480 | 3550 | 44903.2250 |
Lebanon | 0.7440 | 5510 | 5489.7390 |
Fiji | 0.7430 | 4720 | 929.7660 |
Dominica | 0.7420 | 6870 | 72.7370 |
Tunisia | 0.7400 | 3100 | 12356.1170 |
Maldives | 0.7400 | 6830 | 523.7870 |
Suriname | 0.7380 | 5510 | 618.0400 |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 0.7380 | 7340 | 103.9480 |
Mongolia | 0.7370 | 3670 | 3398.3660 |
Botswana | 0.7350 | 6640 | 2630.2960 |
Jamaica | 0.7340 | 4620 | 2827.3770 |
Jordan | 0.7290 | 4310 | 11285.8690 |
Paraguay | 0.7280 | 5140 | 6780.7440 |
Tonga | 0.7250 | 5000 | 106.8580 |
Libya | 0.7240 | 4850 | 6812.3410 |
Uzbekistan | 0.7200 | 1670 | 34627.6520 |
Indonesia | 0.7180 | 3870 | 275501.3390 |
Philippines | 0.7180 | 3430 | 115559.0090 |
Bolivia | 0.7180 | 3200 | 12224.1100 |
Belize | 0.7160 | 3970 | 405.2720 |
Turkmenistan | 0.7150 | 7220 | 6430.7700 |
Samoa | 0.7150 | 4070 | 222.3820 |
Venezuela | 0.7110 | 28301.6960 | |
South Africa | 0.7090 | 5410 | 59893.8850 |
Palestine | 0.7080 | 3710 | 5250.0720 |
Egypt | 0.7070 | 3586 | 110990.1030 |
Vietnam | 0.7040 | 2660 | 98186.8560 |
Marshall Islands | 0.7040 | 5010 | 41.5690 |
Gabon | 0.7030 | 6970 | 2388.9920 |
Kyrgyzstan | 0.6970 | 1160 | 6630.6230 |
Morocco | 0.6860 | 3158 | 37457.9710 |
Guyana | 0.6820 | 6600 | 808.7260 |
Iraq | 0.6740 | 4660 | 44496.1220 |
El Salvador | 0.6730 | 3650 | 6336.3920 |
Tajikistan | 0.6680 | 1060 | 9952.7870 |
Guatemala | 0.6630 | 4490 | 17843.9080 |
Nicaragua | 0.6600 | 1850 | 6948.3920 |
Bhutan | 0.6540 | 2860 | 782.4550 |
Namibia | 0.6460 | 4520 | 2567.0120 |
India | 0.6450 | 1900 | 1417173.1730 |
Honduras | 0.6340 | 2200 | 10432.8600 |
Bangladesh | 0.6320 | 2010 | 171186.3720 |
Kiribati | 0.6300 | 3010 | 131.2320 |
Sao Tome and Principe | 0.6250 | 227.3800 | |
Micronesia | 0.6200 | 4010 | 114.1640 |
Laos | 0.6130 | 2480 | 7529.4750 |
Ghana | 0.6110 | 2230 | 33475.8700 |
Eswatini | 0.6110 | 3580 | 1201.6700 |
Vanuatu | 0.6090 | 2780 | 326.7400 |
Timor-Leste | 0.6060 | 1341.2960 | |
Nepal | 0.6020 | 30547.5800 | |
Kenya | 0.6010 | 1760 | 54027.4870 |
Cambodia | 0.5940 | 1490 | 16767.8420 |
Equatorial Guinea | 0.5920 | 5810 | 1674.9080 |
Zambia | 0.5840 | 1190 | 20017.6750 |
Myanmar | 0.5830 | 1260 | 54179.3060 |
Angola | 0.5810 | 2230 | 35588.9870 |
Zimbabwe | 0.5710 | 1090 | 16320.5370 |
Syria | 0.5670 | 1820 | 22125.2490 |
Solomon Islands | 0.5670 | 2300 | 724.2730 |
Cameroon | 0.5630 | 1500 | 27914.5360 |
Pakistan | 0.5570 | 1280 | 235824.8620 |
Papua New Guinea | 0.5550 | 2660 | 10142.6190 |
Comoros | 0.5540 | 1450 | 836.7740 |
Mauritania | 0.5460 | 1640 | 4736.1390 |
Benin | 0.5450 | 1280 | 13352.8640 |
Uganda | 0.5440 | 800 | 47249.5850 |
Rwanda | 0.5430 | 780 | 13776.6980 |
Nigeria | 0.5390 | 2000 | 218541.2120 |
Ivory Coast | 0.5380 | 2280 | 28160.5420 |
Tanzania | 0.5290 | 1080 | 65497.7480 |
Madagascar | 0.5280 | 480 | 29611.7140 |
Lesotho | 0.5270 | 1100 | 2305.8250 |
Djibouti | 0.5240 | 3320 | 1120.8490 |
Togo | 0.5150 | 920 | 8848.6990 |
Senegal | 0.5120 | 1430 | 17316.4490 |
Afghanistan | 0.5110 | 500 | 41128.7710 |
Sudan | 0.5100 | 650 | 46874.2040 |
Haiti | 0.5100 | 1250 | 11584.9960 |
Gambia | 0.4960 | 750 | 2705.9920 |
Ethiopia | 0.4850 | 890 | 123379.9240 |
Malawi | 0.4830 | 580 | 20405.3170 |
DR Congo | 0.4800 | 99010.2120 | |
Liberia | 0.4800 | 530 | 5302.6810 |
Guinea-Bissau | 0.4800 | 760 | 2105.5660 |
Guinea | 0.4770 | 1020 | 13859.3410 |
Yemen | 0.4700 | 940 | 33696.6140 |
Eritrea | 0.4590 | 600 | 3684.0320 |
Mozambique | 0.4560 | 460 | 32969.5180 |
Burkina Faso | 0.4520 | 790 | 22673.7620 |
Sierra Leone | 0.4520 | 490 | 8605.7180 |
Mali | 0.4340 | 830 | 22593.5900 |
Burundi | 0.4330 | 270 | 12889.5760 |
South Sudan | 0.4330 | 1090 | 10913.1640 |
Chad | 0.3980 | 660 | 17723.3150 |
Central African Republic | 0.3970 | 510 | 5579.1440 |
Niger | 0.3940 | 540 | 26207.9770 |