Top 30 Poorest Countries in the World

Barbara Tasch

The ranking of the world’s poorest countries is once again dominated by African countries, according to an analysis by Global Finance Magazine.

The ranking was published in February 2017 and based on data from the International Monetary Fund.

The magazine ranked the world’s countries according to their gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita.

The PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of the countries to compare living standards among the different nations.

Most of the countries populating the top of this ranking are under authoritarian regimes where corruption is rampant. This a big deterrent to foreign investors, even if some of those countries have huge amounts of natural resources.

The GDP per capita listed represents the amount of wealth produced in 2016 and is expressed in international dollars.

Here are the bottom 25 (and here’s the full study):

View As: One Page Slides

30. Senegal — GDP per capita: $2,578 (£2,102)

REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

29. Yemen — GDP per capita: $2,521 (£2,056)

Khaled Abdullah/Reuters

28. Nepal — GDP per capita: $2,480 (£2,022)

PHANUPONG CHUATAEW/Shutterstock

27. Mali — GDP per capita: $2,264 (£1,846)

Wikimedia Commons/Arensond

26. Benin — GDP per capita: $2,184 (£1,781)

Wikimedia/CC/Babylas

25. Uganda — GDP per capita: £2,066 (£1,685)

Sarine Arslanian / Shutterstock

24. Solomon Islands — GDP per capita: $1,995 (£1,627)

Jenny Scott/Flickr

23. Afghanistan — GDP per capita: $1,957 (£1,596)

Ahmad Masood/REUTERS

22. Zimbabwe — $1,953 (£1,593)

Pixabay/toubibe

21. Ethiopia — GDP per capita: $1,916 (£1,562)

Reuters

20. Rwanda — GDP per capita: $1,905 (£1,553)

Flickr/CC/Alex Niragira

19. Kiribati — GDP per capita: $1,820 (£1,484)

REUTERS/David Gray

18. Burkina Faso — GDP per capita: $1,790 (£1,460)

Joe Penney/Reuters

17. Haiti — GDP per capita: $1,784 (£1,455)

US Navy Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Spike Call

16. South Sudan — $1,670 (£1,362)

Reuters

15. The Gambia — GDP per capita: $1,664 (£1,357)

AP/Jason Florio

14. Sierra Leone — GDP per capita: $1,651 (£1,346)

Reuters

13. Guinea-Bissau — GDP per capita: $1,568 (£1,279)

Wikimedia Commons/Nammarci

12. Togo — GDP per capita: $1,545 ($1,260)

Reuters

11. Comoros — GDP per capita: $1,529 (£1,247)

Flickr/CC/Woodlouse

10. Madagascar — GDP per capita: $1,504 (£1,226)

Reuters

9. Eritrea — GDP per capita: $1,321 (£1,077)

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

8. Guinea — GDP per capita: $1,271 (£1,036)

REUTERS/Luc Gnago

7. Mozambique — GDP per capita: $1,228 (£1,001)

REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

6. Malawi — GDP per capita: $1,139 (£929)

Wikimedia/Brian Dell

5. Niger — GDP per capita: $1,113 (£907)

jeanot/Flickr

4. Liberia — GDP per capita: $882 (£719)

Wikimedia/CC/Erik (HASH) Hershman

3. Burundi — GDP per capita: $818 (£667)

Reuters

2. Democratic Republic of Congo — GDP per capita: $784 (£639)

mtcurado / Getty Images

1. Central African Republic — GDP per capita: $656 (£535)

REUTERS/Siegfried Modola