African nations dominate the ranking of the poorest countries in the world based on the latest data from the World Bank

We all have preconceptions about places. Take Ethiopia for example. As children of the eighties, Kia and I were only too aware of the struggles Ethiopia has faced historically: political unrest, civil war and, of course, famine.

It was easy then to imagine a vast desolate dust bowl ahead of our visit in 2017.

Ethiopia is perceived by many as a representation of wider Africa: still developing, still struggling. In reality, it is a land of lush mountains, dazzling architecture and jaw-dropping natural wonders.

There is poverty, but there is also hope.

Our visit prompted us to ask if Ethiopia still ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world. Data from the World Bank shows that it ranks at number 18.

Soberingly, 13 of the very poorest countries are located in Africa. The first non-African country on the list is Haiti, ranked 14th.

The World Bank is able to rank the poorest countries in the world using GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP).

The actual purchasing power of any currency is the quantity of that currency needed to buy a specified unit of a good or a basket of common goods and services. PPP is determined in each country based on its relative cost of living and inflation rates.

Therefore, using GDP PPP, it is possible to compare disparate regions and rank the poorest countries in the world. International dollars are used as a global currency for comparison.

Poorest countries in the world

The world’s poorest countries are located in Africa with Burundi, Central African Republic, the DRC, Niger and Liberia ranking as the very poorest.

The richest countries or states are Qatar, Macao, Luxembourg, Singapore and Ireland.

The World Bank does not have sufficient data for Andorra, Cuba, Liechtenstein, Monaco, North Korea, Somalia and Syria, but otherwise ranks the poorest countries in the world as below, based on 2018 data unless stated otherwise.

POOREST COUNTRY NAME INTERNATIONAL $ 1 Burundi 743 2 Central African Republic 872 3 Congo, Dem. Rep. 931 4 Niger 1,048 5 Liberia 1,306 6 Malawi 1,309 7 Mozambique 1,328 8 Sierra Leone 1,604 9 Madagascar 1,634 10 Gambia 1,706 11 Togo 1,761 12 Guinea-Bissau 1,796 13 South Sudan** 1,812 14 Haiti 1,863 15 Afghanistan 1,952 16 Chad 1,965 17 Burkina Faso 1,975 18 Ethiopia 2,019 19 Uganda 2,033 20 Eritrea**** 2,103 21 Rwanda 2,254 22 Kiribati 2,290 23 Mali 2,313 24 Solomon Islands 2,409 25 Benin 2,420 26 Yemen, Rep. 2,571 27 Guinea 2,630 28 Djibouti**** 2,744 29 Comoros 2,828 30 Zimbabwe 3,024 31 Nepal 3,064 32 Vanuatu 3,202 33 Lesotho 3,223 34 Tanzania 3,227 35 Sao Tome and Principe 3,413 36 Tajikistan 3,444 37 Kenya 3,461 38 Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 3,596 39 Cameroon 3,771 40 Senegal 3,776 41 Kyrgyz Republic 3,878 42 Tuvalu 4,042 43 Marshall Islands 4,048 44 Mauritania 4,190 45 Cote d'Ivoire 4,200 46 Zambia 4,216 47 Papua New Guinea 4,299 48 Cambodia 4,354 49 Bangladesh 4,364 50 Ghana 4,738 51 Sudan 4,759 52 Honduras 5,130 53 West Bank and Gaza 5,148 54 Nicaragua 5,524 55 Pakistan 5,544 56 Congo, Rep. 5,652 57 Nigeria 5,980 58 Tonga 6,408 59 Angola 6,441 60 Myanmar 6,662 61 Samoa 6,850 62 Uzbekistan 7,020 63 South Asia 7,080 64 Moldova 7,301 65 Vietnam 7,435 66 Lao PDR 7,441 67 Cabo Verde 7,495 68 Timor-Leste 7,645 69 India 7,762 70 Bolivia 7,859 71 El Salvador 8,317 72 Guatemala 8,447 73 Guyana 8,569 74 Morocco 8,587 75 Belize 8,786 76 Philippines 8,935 77 Ukraine 9,233 78 Jamaica 9,299 79 Jordan 9,348 80 Armenia 10,325 81 Bhutan 10,516 82 Dominica 10,650 83 Eswatini 10,722 84 Fiji 11,004 85 Namibia 11,135 86 Kosovo 11,368 87 Georgia 11,421 88 Ecuador 11,714 89 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 12,307 90 Egypt, Arab Rep. 12,390 91 Tunisia 12,484 92 Albania* 12,930 93 Indonesia 13,057 94 Lebanon 13,058 95 Sri Lanka 13,450 96 Paraguay 13,571 97 South Africa 13,661 98 Bosnia and Herzegovina* 13,735 99 Mongolia 13,735 100 St. Lucia 13,887 101 Peru 14,393 102 Colombia 14,999 103 Nauru 15,045 104 North Macedonia* 15,299 105 Maldives 15,312 106 Suriname 15,498 107 Algeria 15,622 108 Grenada 15,717 109 Brazil 16,068 110 Serbia* 16,433 111 Iraq 17,510 112 Costa Rica 17,645 113 Dominican Republic 17,799 114 Gabon 17,912 115 Azerbaijan 18,012 116 Venezuela*** 18,102 117 China 18,210 118 Barbados* 18,526 119 Botswana 18,583 120 Thailand 19,018 121 Turkmenistan 19,270 122 Palau 19,353 123 Montenegro* 19,355 124 Belarus 19,960 125 Mexico 19,969 126 Argentina 20,567 127 Libya 20,706 128 Bulgaria* 20,948 129 Iran, Islamic Rep.* 21,011 130 Equatorial Guinea 23,473 131 Uruguay 23,531 132 Mauritius 23,709 133 Chile 25,284 134 Turks and Caicos Islands 25,326 135 Panama 25,509 136 Croatia* 26,296 137 Romania* 26,595 138 Antigua and Barbuda 26,739 139 Russian Federation 27,147 140 Kazakhstan 27,831 141 Latvia* 28,362 142 Turkey 28,816 143 Greece 29,874 144 Seychelles 30,503 145 Hungary 30,979 146 Bahamas* 31,581 147 Malaysia 31,698 148 St. Kitts and Nevis 31,831 149 Trinidad and Tobago 32,228 150 Poland 32,357 151 Lithuania* 33,253 152 Portugal 34,065 153 Slovak Republic 34,329 154 Estonia 35,747 155 Cyprus* 36,155 156 Slovenia 38,674 157 Aruba* 39,455 158 Puerto Rico 39,471 159 Czech Republic 39,998 160 Korea, Rep. 40,479 161 Israel 40,786 162 Spain 40,855 163 Oman 41,435 164 Malta* 41,549 165 New Zealand 41,703 166 Italy 42,080 167 Japan 43,349 168 France 45,877 169 United Kingdom 46,240 170 Bahrain 47,220 171 Canada 47,871 172 Finland 48,636 173 Belgium 50,775 175 Australia 51,545 176 Sweden 53,120 177 Germany 54,327 178 Saudi Arabia 55,120 179 Denmark 56,120 180 Austria 56,253 181 Netherlands 56,772 182 Iceland 57,597 184 United States 62,641 185 San Marino* 63,037 186 Norway 63,756 187 Hong Kong SAR, China 64,488 188 Switzerland 68,943 189 Cayman Islands* 72,608 190 Kuwait 73,705 191 United Arab Emirates 74,943 192 Brunei Darussalam 80,778 193 Ireland 84,069 194 Singapore 101,353 195 Luxembourg 111,908 196 Macao SAR, China 122,435 197 Qatar 126,598

* 2017 data

** 2016 data

*** 2014 data

**** 2011 data

Source: World Development Indicators from the World Bank; GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP); data last updated on 10/07/19.

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Lead image: Atlas & Boots