The poorest countries, typically ranked by GDP per capita, consistently include nations like South Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Central African Republic, Malawi, Madagascar, Sudan, Mozambique, DRC (Congo), and Niger, often with figures below $1,000-$2,000 USD annually per person, reflecting severe poverty, instability, and reliance on agriculture, with many in Sub-Saharan Africa. The specific order shifts slightly by source and year, but these countries are consistently at the bottom, alongside others like Somalia, Somalia, Eritrea, The Gambia, Liberia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Mali, and Sierra Leone.
South Sudan is the poorest country in the world in 2025, with a $251 GDP per capita. More startlingly, India makes the list as well. It's the 50th poorest by GDP per capita ($2,878), a rare case of a top-five economy by GDP having low levels of individual productivity.
The largest economy in Asia is China, with a nominal GDP of over $18,270 billion in 2025. Japan and India rank next to China in Asia"s GDP rankings. 4. What are the top 10 richest countries in the world?
Emerging markets (E7) could grow around twice as fast as advanced economies (G7) on average. As a result, six of the seven largest economies in the world are projected to be emerging economies in 2050 led by China (1st), India (2nd) and Indonesia (4th)
Top 30 Poorest country in the world 1960 2019 based on GDP per capita
Is India rich or poor?
It ranks 40th on the Global Competitiveness Index. As of 2025, India ranks third in the world in total number of billionaires. According to the World Bank, India's Gini index fell to 25.5 in 2022‑23, making it the fourth-most equal country globally, suggesting significant progress in income equality.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2025, the seven poorest countries in Africa are South Sudan, Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Malawi, Madagascar, Sudan, and Mozambique. Read more about the economy and daily life in each of them in this Altezza Travel article.
This is a list of the current 54 African countries sorted by population, also sorted by normalized demographic projections from the most recently available census or demographic data. Africa is the fastest growing continent in the world, currently increasing by 2.35% per year as of 2021.
Among other characteristics, developing or low and medium income countries (as defined by the World Bank) commonly have lower levels of access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, energy poverty, higher levels of pollution (e.g. , air pollution, littering, water pollution, open defecation); higher ...
China, India, and the United States will emerge as the world's three largest economies in 2050, with a total real U.S. dollar GDP of 70 percent more than the GDP of all the other G20 countries combined. In China and India alone, GDP is predicted to increase by nearly $60 trillion, the current size of the world economy.
CEBR estimates that UK GDP could expand from just under $4 trillion in the mid-2020s to approximately $6.8 trillion by 2040. This equates to average annual nominal growth of around 3.5 – 4%, supported by population growth, relatively high employment and modest productivity gains.
Sudan. Sudan stands at a tragic crossroads, a nation rich in history and potential but torn apart by war and economic collapse. Although geographically part of Africa, Sudan is a key member of the Arab League and frequently listed among the poorest Arab countries in the world.
China's life expectancy is 9 years longer than India's. Life expectancy at birth in India increased from 42 years in 1960 to 65 years in 2009, while life expectancy in China increased from 47 years in 1960 to 74 years in 2009.
United States. The United States of America is a North American nation that is the world's most dominant economic and military power. Likewise, its cultural imprint spans the world, led in large part by its popular culture expressed in music, movies and television.
