What is the poorest country in the world?

Question

I'm just wondering, because I keep hearing the term "one of the poorest nations in the world." So what's the poorest one? And how is it defined? Thanks.

Answer 1

Chad is the poorest at this moment in time.

The UN classifies countries as “least developed” based on three criteria: (1) annual gross domestic product (GDP) below $900 per capita; (2) quality of life, based on life expectancy at birth, per capita calorie intake, primary and secondary school enrollment rates, and adult literacy; and (3) economic vulnerability, based on instability of agricultural productions and exports, inadequate diversification, and economic smallness. Half or more of the population in the 50 least developed countries listed are estimated to live at or below the absolute poverty line of U.S. $1 per day.

Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, East Timor, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen, Zambia.

Trends among the world's poorest countries
In the second half of the 1990s the average per capita income in the world's poorest countries, when measured in terms of current prices and official exchange rates, was $0.72 a day and the average per capita consumption was $0.57 a day. This implies that on average there was only $0.15 a day per person to spend on private capital formation, public investment in infrastructure, and the running of vital public services, including health, education, administration, and law and order.

In 2001, 34% of the population aged between 15 and 24 was illiterate in the poorest countries.

About 60% of the poorest countries experienced civil conflict of varying intensity and duration.

Answer 2

Somalia has an estimated GDP per capital of $600 and in Ethiopia it is $900. The US for comparison had $41,000 GDP per capital in 2005. These estimates are from the CIA World Factbook.

Answer 3

Ethiopia is the poorest nation on earth and her problems are borne of poverty

Answer 4

What do you consider poor? People who have nothing, or people who are sad, or people who can be poor in the same country as someone who is so filthy rich? I have been to the poorest countries on the planet and they are still happy and thankful for what they have. Poor is defined in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 5

Ethiopia