The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) have reported on each of the 48 countries classified as least developed countries (LDCs) in 2015, illustrating the gaps in progress towards the LDC graduation threshold.
The report, titled 'Least Developed Country Category: 2015 Country Snapshots,' also compares individual country outcomes with corresponding results for all LDCs and developing countries.
January 2016: The Committee for Development Policy (CDP) of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) have reported on each of the 48 countries classified as least developed countries (LDCs) in 2015, illustrating the gaps in progress towards the LDC graduation threshold. The report, titled ‘Least Developed Country Category: 2015 Country Snapshots,’ also compares individual country outcomes with corresponding results for all LDCs and developing countries.
Since the LDC triennial review in 2012, Samoa graduated from the LDC category, while South Sudan was added as an LDC.
To identify LDCs, the CDP uses three criteria: gross national income (GNI) per capita; human assets index (HAI); and economic vulnerability index (EVI). The human asset index (HAI) measures the level of human capital, using four indicators: under-five mortality rate; percentage of population undernourished; gross secondary school enrollment ratio; and adult literacy rate. The economic vulnerability index (EVI) measures the structural vulnerability of countries to exogenous economic and environmental shocks. Its indicators include size, location, economic structure, environment, trade shock and natural shock.
The threshold for inclusion in the LDCs category is based on a three-year average of the level of GNI. In the 2015 review, the threshold is US$1,035 (up from US$992 in 2012).
The threshold for graduation is set at 20% above the inclusion threshold, which was US$1,242 in 2015 (up from US$1,190 in 2012).
The income-only graduation threshold enables a country to be eligible for graduation even if none of the other two criteria is met, and is twice the normal graduation threshold. In 2015, this was US$2,484.
Based on these criteria, LDC countries that have the highest chance of meeting the graduating criteria in the near future include: Angola, Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Sao Tome and Principe, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. [Publication: Least Developed Country Category: 2015 Country Snapshots] [CPD-DESA Website] [LDC Criteria – DESA Website] [Publication: The Least Developed Countries Report 2012]