How we Classify Countries

For operational and analytical purposes, the World Banks main criterion for classifying economies is gross national income (GNI) per capita. In pre ious editions of our pu!lications, this term "as referred to as gross national product, or GN#. ($earn more a!out this change in terminology.) Based on its GNI per capita, e ery economy is classified as lo" income, middle income (su!di ided into lo"er middle and upper middle), or high income. %ther analytical groups !ased on geographic regions are also used.

A short history
&he Bank's analytical income categories (lo", middle, high income) are !ased on the Bank's operational lending categories (ci il "orks preferences, I() eligi!ility, etc.). $earn a!out the history of operational guidelines.

Group definitions
&hese ta!les classify all World Bank mem!er countries (*++), and all other economies "ith populations of more than ,-,--- (.*/ total). Geographic region: 0lassifications and data reported for geographic regions are for lo"1income and middle1income economies only. $o"1income and middle1income economies are sometimes referred to as de eloping economies. &he use of the term is con enient2 it is not intended to imply that all economies in the group are e3periencing similar de elopment or that other economies ha e reached a preferred or final stage of de elopment. 0lassification !y income does not necessarily reflect de elopment status. Income group: 4conomies are di ided according to .-*. GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank )tlas method. &he groups are5 lo" income, 6*,-,7 or less2 lo"er middle income, 6*,-,8 1 6/,-+72 upper middle income, 6/,-+8 1 6*.,8*72 and high income,6*.,8*8 or more. Lending category: I() countries are those that had a per capita income in .-*. of less than 6*,.-7 and lack the financial a!ility to !orro" from IB9(. I() loans are deeply concessional:interest1free loans and grants for programs aimed at !oosting economic gro"th and impro ing li ing conditions. IB9( loans are noncessional. Blend countries are eligi!le for I() loans !ecause of their lo" per capita incomes !ut are also eligi!le for IB9( loans !ecause they are financially credit"orthy. Notes: Income classifications are set each year on ;uly *. &hese official analytical classifications are fi3ed during the World Bank's fiscal year (ending on ;une ,-), thus countries remain in the categories in "hich they are classified irrespecti e of any re isions to their per capita income data. &ai"an, 0hina, is also included in high income.

<o" does the World Bank classify countries !y income=

&he World Bank classifies countries according to Gross National Income (GNI, formerly GN#) per capita, into the categories of5 (*) (.) (,) (/) $o" income, $o"er middle income, >pper middle income and <igh income.

>se of this classification system does not imply a ?udgment concerning the de elopment status of any country or territory. &he commonly used term @de eloping countries@ corresponds to our lo"1income and middle1income categories. &o find more information a!out these classifications and their current cutoff figures, please see A<o" "e classify economiesB on the World Banks data We! site. &o ie" information a!out the World Bank's listing of @hea ily inde!ted poor countries@ (the closest category "e ha e to @least de eloped economies@), please consult our <I#0 pages.

4ach year on ;uly *, &he World Bank re ises the classification of the "orlds economies !ased on estimates of gross national income (GNI) per capita for the pre ious year. &he updated GNI per capita estimates are also used as input to the Banks operational classification of economies, "hich determines their lending eligi!ility. )s of * ;uly .-*,, the World Bank income classifications !y GNI per capita are as follo"s5
$o" income5 6*,-,7 or less $o"er middle income5 6*,-,8 to 6/,-+7 >pper middle income5 6/,-+8 to 6*.,8*7 <igh income5 6*.,8*8 or more

$o"1 and middle1income economies are sometimes referred to as de eloping economies. &he term is used for con enience2 it is not intended to imply that all economies in the group are e3periencing similar de elopment or that other economies ha e reached a preferred or final stage of de elopment.
Changes in classification

&he classification ta!les include all World Bank mem!ers, plus all other economies "ith populations of more than ,-,---. &he ma?or change for .-*, classification (FC*/) is 9ussian Federation mo ing to high income. 0hile, $ithuania, and >ruguay also !ecome high income for the first time ($at ia had pre iously !een high income in FC**2 and )ntigua and Bar!uda in FC*-), "hile <ungary slips !ack to upper middle income after !eing high income since FC-D. It is also note"orthy that a ma?or re ision to IraE's data mo es them up to upper middle income. &he follo"ing ta!le summariFes the changes in income classification of countries from last year5
Economy

Old group )l!ania )ntigua and Bar!uda BeliFe 0hile Fi?i <ungary IraE $at ia

New group

$o"er middle>pper middle >pper middle<igh $o"er middle>pper middle >pper middle<igh $o"er middle>pper middle <igh >pper middle

$o"er middle>pper middle >pper middle<igh

$ithuania Garshall Islands Gauritania 9ussian Federation Houth Hudan &onga >ruguay

>pper middle<igh $o"er middle>pper middle $o" $o"er middle

>pper middle<igh $o"er middle$o" $o"er middle>pper middle >pper middle<igh

Bordering 0ountries G(# as compared to India= Indias G(#5 ,I-Nepal Bangladesh5 *,-- $ess !y .+/8 *I-- $ess !y .*I8 Burma *,-- $ess !y .+/8 0hina +7-- Greater than ,I--