On the opposite end from Luxembourg and Monaco, the poorest countries in the world by GDP per capita are heavily concentrated in a small number of regions that share overlapping economic and historical challenges.
Countries with the Lowest GDP Per Capita
- Burundi — consistently ranked among the lowest GDP-per-capita economies in the world
- South Sudan — the world’s newest country, still recovering from decades of conflict
- Somalia — decades of instability have severely limited economic development
- Central African Republic — rich in natural resources but among the poorest economies per person
- Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Niger, Malawi, and Madagascar also regularly appear near the bottom of GDP-per-capita rankings
See exact GDP figures for every country we track on our Rankings page.
What Drives Low GDP Per Capita
Countries at the bottom of this ranking typically share several overlapping challenges: limited infrastructure, restricted access to global trade routes (many are also landlocked), a history of political instability or conflict, heavy reliance on subsistence agriculture rather than higher-value industries, and rapid population growth that can outpace economic development, discussed further in our piece on the fastest growing populations by country.
GDP Isn’t the Whole Story
Economists increasingly caution against relying on GDP per capita alone to judge quality of life, since it doesn’t capture income distribution, informal economic activity, access to healthcare and education, or non-monetary measures of wellbeing. Still, it remains the most widely available, comparable measure of relative economic development across nearly every country in the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the poorest country in the world by GDP per capita?
Burundi and South Sudan are consistently among the countries with the lowest GDP per capita in the world.
Why are so many of the world’s poorest countries in Africa?
A combination of historical factors including colonial-era borders, decades of conflict in some regions, limited infrastructure investment, and restricted access to global trade routes has contributed to slower economic development across parts of Sub-Saharan Africa specifically.
Is GDP per capita a good measure of quality of life?
It’s a useful but incomplete measure — it doesn’t account for income inequality, informal economic activity, or access to healthcare and education, which is why it’s often paired with other indicators.
Compare GDP figures for any countries using our Compare tool.
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