Developing country

A developing country is a country with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) compared to developed countries. However, there is no clear agreement on which countries are considered developing. The World Bank groups countries based on their gross national income per capita into high-, upper-middle-, lower-middle-, and low-income groups. Some smaller or less developed areas are called least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, or small island developing states.

Developing countries often share certain challenges. They may have less access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene. Many people live with higher pollution levels, such as air pollution and water pollution. There can also be more diseases, accidents, and poorer quality infrastructure.

People in developing countries may face difficulties like unemployment, hunger, and poverty. Access to healthcare is often limited, leading to shorter life expectancies and higher rates of illnesses and deaths among mothers, children, and babies. The effects of climate change are also expected to impact these countries more strongly.

Development aid is support given by other countries and organizations to help improve economic, environmental, and social conditions. The United Nations created the Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030, aiming to solve many of these problems.

Terms used to classify countries

Countries can be grouped in different ways based on how developed they are. The World Bank, for example, sorts countries into four groups using their income. These groups are high-income countries, upper-middle income countries, lower-middle income countries, and low-income countries. Countries that are not high-income are often called "low and middle income countries."

Countries can also be grouped by how their economies are growing or by their location. Some are called "newly industrialized countries" because their economies are growing quickly. Others might be small island nations or landlocked countries, which can face special challenges. Some countries even choose to call themselves "developing" even if they are quite wealthy, because this label gives them certain benefits in international trade.

Measure and concept of development

Development can be measured by looking at how strong a country’s economy or people are. Developing countries are usually places that haven’t built up many factories or big businesses compared to their number of people, and many people there don’t have a very high standard of living.

The United Nations created the Human Development Index (HDI) to help compare how well countries are doing by looking at things like how much money people make, how long people live, and how many adults can read and write. This helps see how well people are doing in each country.

Associated theories

The term "developing countries" is linked to several ideas that researchers have studied over time.

• Modernization theory explains how societies change and become more modern.
• Dependency theory suggests that resources move from poorer countries to wealthier ones, which can make the poorer countries stay that way.
• Development theory is a group of theories about the best ways to create positive change in societies.
• Postdevelopment theory argues that the idea of development mostly shows the power that wealthier countries have over others.

Criticisms of the term

Further information: Development aid

Some people criticize the term "developing country." They say it might make these countries seem worse than others. It also assumes that every country wants to grow in the same way as some Western countries, which is not always true. For example, places like Cuba and Bhutan choose not to follow that path.

Experts say there is no clear way to decide which countries are "developing." Some believe the idea of separating countries into "developed" and "developing" is old-fashioned. They point out that many countries today are in the middle, not very rich and not very poor. These experts say all countries share the same natural laws but each has its own special features.

Some organizations now use the term less economically developed country to describe the poorest nations, showing that living conditions can vary a lot even among these countries. In 2015, the World Bank said the old way of separating countries into "developed" and "developing" was no longer useful. Since then, the World Bank no longer uses these labels in its reports. Instead, it groups data by regions and income levels.

Related terms

The term "low and middle-income country" (LMIC) is often used to mean "developing country," but it only talks about the economy of those countries. Least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, and small island developing states are all types of developing countries. Countries that are richer are usually called high-income countries or developed countries.

In healthcare, phrases like "resource poor setting" or "low-resource setting" are used to describe healthcare in developing countries. These places often have poor healthcare buildings, not enough money, few trained workers, old healthcare tools, and problems with getting supplies when they are needed. They may also face challenges because of where they are located, the weather, or cultural differences that affect how people understand health information.

Global South

Main article: Global South

The term "Global South" started being used more around 2004. It can also talk about poorer areas in wealthy countries. The Global South talks about these countries' shared histories of colonialism, neo-imperialism, and different economic and social changes that keep big differences in how people live, how long they live, and access to things they need.

Common characteristics

Many developing countries became independent and started their own governments only in the second half of the 20th century. Most of them were once ruled by European powers before gaining freedom. Today, many of these countries have democratic governments, though they face challenges in making sure everyone can fully use their rights.

After independence, many developing countries needed help to build their economies and infrastructure. They often relied on money and support from other countries. However, this help sometimes led to unfair treatment, where wealthier nations took advantage of their resources and labor. This situation is sometimes called neocolonialism, where developed countries benefit more than the developing ones. International groups like the United Nations work to support these countries in areas like poverty, health, and education, especially in parts of Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Common challenges

Global issues often discussed by developing countries include globalization, global health governance, health, and prevention needs. This is different from issues developed nations address, such as innovations in science and technology.

Most developing countries share these criteria:

• High levels of poverty – measured based on GNI per capita averaged over three years. For example, if the GNI per capita is less than US$1,025 (as of 2018) the country is regarded as a least developed country.
• Human resource weakness (based on indicators of nutrition, health, education and adult literacy).
• 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). Among other challenges, developing countries have a higher risk of suffering a balance of payments crisis.

Urban slums

Around 33% of the urban population in the developing world in 2012, or about 863 million people, lived in slums. In 2012, the proportion of urban population living in slums was highest in Sub-Saharan Africa (62%), followed by South Asia (35%), Southeast Asia (31%) and East Asia (28%).

Slums form and grow in different parts of the world for many reasons. Causes include rapid rural-to-urban migration, economic stagnation and depression, high unemployment, poverty, informal economy, forced or manipulated ghettoization, poor planning, politics, natural disasters and social conflicts. For example, as populations expand in poorer countries, rural people move to cities in extensive urban migration that results in the creation of slums.

In some cities, especially in countries in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, slums are not just marginalized neighborhoods holding a small population; slums are widespread, and are home to a large part of urban population. These are sometimes called "slum cities".

Healthcare and public health

The status of healthcare that the general public can access is substantially different between developing countries and developed countries. People in developing countries usually have a lower life expectancy than people in developed countries, reflecting both lower income levels and poorer public health. The burden of infectious diseases, maternal mortality, child mortality and infant mortality are typically substantially higher in those countries. Developing countries also have less access to medical health services generally, and are less likely to have the resources to purchase, produce and administer vaccines, even though vaccine equity worldwide is important to combatting pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Undernutrition is more common in developing countries. Certain groups have higher rates of undernutrition, including women – in particular while pregnant or breastfeeding – children under five years of age, and the elderly. Malnutrition in children and stunted growth of children is the cause for more than 200 million children under five years of age in developing countries not reaching their developmental potential. About 165 million children were estimated to have stunted growth from malnutrition in 2013. In some developing countries, overnutrition in the form of obesity is beginning to present within the same communities as undernutrition.

Water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH)

Access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services is at very low levels in many developing countries. In 2015 the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that "1 in 3 people, or 2.4 billion, are still without sanitation facilities" while 663 million people still lack access to safe and clean drinking water. The estimate in 2017 by JMP states that 4.5 billion people currently do not have safely managed sanitation. The majority of these people live in developing countries.

About 892 million people or 12 percent of the global population, practiced open defecation instead of using toilets in 2016. Seventy-six percent (678 million) of the 892 million people practicing open defecation in the world live in just seven countries. Countries with a high number of people openly defecating are India (348 million), followed by Nigeria (38.1 million), Indonesia (26.4 million), Ethiopia (23.1 million), Pakistan (19.7 million), Niger (14.6 million) and Sudan (9.7 million).

Sustainable Development Goal 6 is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the UN in 2015. It calls for clean water and sanitation for all people. This is particularly relevant for people in developing countries.

Energy

In 2009, about 1.4 billion of people in the world lived without electricity. 2.7 billion relied on wood, charcoal, and dung for home energy requirements. This lack of access to modern energy technology limits income generation, blunts efforts to escape poverty, affects people's health due to indoor air pollution, and contributes to global deforestation and climate change. Small-scale renewable energy technologies and distributed energy options, such as onsite solar power and improved cookstoves, offer rural households modern energy services.

Renewable energy can be particularly suitable for developing countries. In rural and remote areas, transmission and distribution of energy generated from fossil fuels can be difficult and expensive. Producing renewable energy locally can offer a viable alternative.

Renewable energy can directly contribute to poverty alleviation by providing the energy needed for creating businesses and employment. Renewable energy technologies can also make indirect contributions to alleviating poverty by providing energy for cooking, space heating, and lighting.

Kenya is the world leader in the number of solar power systems installed per capita.

Climate change

The effects of climate change will be felt around the globe and will result in events such as extreme weather events, droughts, floods, biodiversity loss, disease and sea level rise, which are dangerous for societies and the environment.

Although developed countries produce most carbon emissions, developing countries are more at risk from the effects of climate change and may face challenges in adapting to climate change due to high climate vulnerability, low economic status, restricted access to technology, failing infrastructure and limited access to financial resources. Climate vulnerability in developing countries occurs in four key areas: health, extreme weather, habitat loss, and economic stress.

Climate change causes economic burdens. The economies in Least Developed Countries have lost an average of 7% of their gross domestic product for the year 2010, mainly due to reduced labor productivity. Rising sea levels cost 1% of GDP to the least developed countries in 2010 – 4% in the Pacific – with 65 billion dollars annually lost from the world economy. Another example is the effect on fisheries: approximately 40 countries are acutely vulnerable to the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on fisheries. Developing countries with large fisheries sectors are particularly affected.

Tackling climate change will only be possible if the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are met, in particular Sustainable Development Goal 13 on climate action.

Population growth

Over the last few decades, global population growth has largely been driven by developing countries, which often have higher birth rates than developed countries. According to the United Nations, family planning can help to slow population growth and decrease poverty in these countries.

Poor governance

Many developing countries are considered flawed democracies or authoritarian regimes. Following decolonization and independence, elites have often had oligarchic control of the government.

The establishment of a healthy democratic state has often been challenged by widespread corruption and nepotism and a low confidence and participation in democratic process. Political instability and political corruption are common problems. To fully reach the goal of a low level of corruption, developing countries are usually using special steps for different establishments inside their territories, such as development or creation of a fair public administration system that is not partially based on corruption and is entirely based on the values and laws of the country, better investigation towards the sources of the corruption and probable causes of that particular action, publicly informing the residents about the source of corruption and negative influence on the country's economy, regulation of the official positions of an individual to not be the source of abuse for corruption, creation of special laws dedicated to the corruption itself for specific establishments.

Others

Other common challenges include: Increased and intensified industrial and agricultural production and emission of toxic chemicals directly into the soil, air, and water, unsustainable use of energy resources; high dependency on natural resources for livelihood, leading to unsustainable exploitation or depletion of those resources; indebtedness (see Debt of developing countries) and underperforming civil service (see Civil service reform in developing countries), food insecurity, illiteracy and unemployment. The economies of many developing nations are tied to primary products and a majority of their exports go to advanced nations. When advanced nations encounter economic downturns, they can quickly transmit to their developing country trading partners as seen in global economic downturn of 2008–2009.

Opportunities

Developing countries can grow and improve by focusing on several key areas. Investing in people through education and health helps build strong human capital. Open and fair trade policies also encourage growth, as countries with restrictive trade rules often grow more slowly.

Support from other nations, known as aid for trade, plays an important role. This aid, part of the Sustainable Development Goal 8, helps countries improve their trade abilities, focus on trade opportunities, and reduce poverty. Additionally, a global partnership, as outlined in Sustainable Development Goal 17, encourages international investment and support. This partnership helps developing countries access new technologies, markets, and fair trade practices.

Country lists

Emerging and developing economies according to the International Monetary Fund

The following are considered emerging and developing economies according to the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook Database, April 2023^[update].

Countries not listed by IMF

High income countries by World Bank (developing only)

Upper middle income countries by World Bank

Lower middle income countries by World Bank

Low income countries by World Bank

Countries and regions that are graduated developed economies

In December 1979, the International Monetary Fund revised its classification of "industrial countries" to include the following "more developed primary producing countries": Australia, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, the Republic of Ireland and Spain. Previously, its list of industrial countries had been limited to the G7 major economies (Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and West Germany) and Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Greece and Portugal were reclassified as industrial countries in October 1989, and the group was renamed the "advanced economies" with the inclusion of the Four Asian Tigers and Israel in May 1997, "in recognition of the declining share of employment in manufacturing common to all of these economies". The following is a list of countries and regions that were historically considered to be developing, but are now listed as advanced economies (developed countries and regions) by the IMF:

Five economies lack data regarding their development status before being listed as advanced economies:

Newly industrialized countries

Ten countries belong to the "newly industrialized country" classification. They are countries whose economies have not yet reached a developed country's status but have, in a macroeconomic sense, outpaced their developing counterparts:

BRICS countries

Ten countries belong to the "emerging markets" groups and together form the BRICS organisation:

Society and culture

Media coverage

Western media often shows a simplified view of developing countries. Many news reports focus mainly on poverty and other challenges, which can create a one-sided image. This can make it seem like developing countries, sometimes called the "Global South," are behind compared to Western nations, called the "Global North."

Media also affects what people in developing countries learn about the world. News often highlights events in developed countries, leaving people in developing countries with less information about others in similar situations. This creates an uneven flow of information.