The Briefing
- Global GDP per capita continues to grow every year, and is projected to sit at $13,920 for 2023 (current prices)
- There are as many as 123 countries whose per capita GDP is below the global average
- Burundi is the poorest country in the world with a per capita GDP of about $308
Ranked: Which Are the World’s Poorest Countries?
There are different ways to measure economic activity and wealth of a country, and for this article on the world’s least-wealthy nations, we’ve used GDP per capita projections for this year from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Nominal world GDP per capita is expected to go from $13,400 in 2022 to $13,920 in 2023, but in contrast to the rest of the world, per capita economic output in Africa is much lower than in continents such as North America or Europe.
Here are the countries with the lowest per capita GDP, all below the global average.
| Country | GDP per capita (USD) |
|---|---|
| Burundi | $308 |
| Sierra Leone | $472 |
| Malawi | $483 |
| Central African Republic | $516 |
| Madagascar | $540 |
| Somalia | $562 |
| South Sudan | $570 |
| Niger | $574 |
| Mozambique | $579 |
| Eritrea | $700 |
| Congo | $704 |
| Chad | $755 |
| Liberia | $770 |
| Burkina Faso | $832 |
| Yemen | $872 |
| Guinea-Bissau | $874 |
| Mali | $877 |
| Gambia, The | $883 |
| Sudan | $930 |
| Rwanda | $968 |
| Togo | $1,008 |
| Tajikistan | $1,050 |
| Uganda | $1,164 |
| Myanmar | $1,173 |
| Lesotho | $1,209 |
| Ethiopia | $1,227 |
| Comoros | $1,303 |
| Tanzania | $1,341 |
| Nepal | $1,372 |
| Benin | $1,383 |
| Zambia | $1,396 |
| Guinea | $1,446 |
| Timor-Leste | $1,495 |
| Kyrgyz Republic | $1,570 |
| Cameroon | $1,609 |
| Senegal | $1,640 |
| Kiribati | $1,732 |
| Haiti | $1,792 |
| Cambodia | $1,902 |
| Lao P.D.R. | $1,985 |
| Ghana | $2,131 |
| Kenya | $2,259 |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | $2,302 |
| Zimbabwe | $2,308 |
| Solomon Islands | $2,330 |
| Mauritania | $2,366 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | $2,497 |
| Nicaragua | $2,541 |
| Uzbekistan | $2,555 |
| Nigeria | $2,585 |
| India | $2,692 |
| Congo | $2,844 |
| Bangladesh | $2,847 |
| Honduras | $3,080 |
| Vanuatu | $3,115 |
| Venezuela | $3,267 |
| West Bank and Gaza | $3,544 |
| Papua New Guinea | $3,570 |
| Cabo Verde | $3,709 |
| Tunisia | $3,762 |
| Philippines | $3,764 |
| Bolivia | $3,792 |
| Bhutan | $3,856 |
| Djibouti | $3,870 |
| Angola | $3,998 |
| Morocco | $4,068 |
| Samoa | $4,126 |
| Algeria | $4,163 |
| Eswatini | $4,189 |
| Micronesia | $4,309 |
| Egypt | $4,438 |
| Vietnam | $4,683 |
| Mongolia | $4,726 |
| Jordan | $4,930 |
| Indonesia | $5,006 |
| Guatemala | $5,007 |
| Suriname | $5,037 |
| Namibia | $5,053 |
| El Salvador | $5,076 |
| Marshall Islands | $5,087 |
| Tonga | $5,368 |
| Kosovo | $5,560 |
| Moldova | $5,744 |
| Fiji | $5,869 |
| Paraguay | $5,907 |
| Jamaica | $5,985 |
| Tuvalu | $6,215 |
| Iraq | $6,320 |
| Belize | $6,382 |
| Libya | $6,392 |
| Armenia | $6,568 |
| Ecuador | $6,588 |
| Albania | $6,592 |
| South Africa | $6,813 |
| Azerbaijan | $6,872 |
| Colombia | $6,940 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | $7,082 |
| North Macedonia | $7,263 |
| Georgia | $7,270 |
| Peru | $7,354 |
| Botswana | $7,463 |
| Thailand | $8,274 |
| Dominica | $8,840 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | $9,432 |
| Brazil | $9,572 |
| Mauritius | $9,832 |
| Gabon | $9,850 |
| Belarus | $9,938 |
| Serbia | $10,076 |
| Equatorial Guinea | $10,087 |
| Nauru | $10,097 |
| Montenegro | $10,722 |
| Türkiye | $10,864 |
| Grenada | $11,156 |
| Mexico | $11,251 |
| Dominican Republic | $11,406 |
| Saint Lucia | $11,679 |
| Kazakhstan | $12,433 |
| Turkmenistan | $13,021 |
| Bulgaria | $13,221 |
| China | $13,630 |
| Argentina | $13,768 |
| Costa Rica | $13,806 |
Burundi, with a population of nearly 13 million people, is one of the smallest countries in Africa by physical size. The country has the lowest per capita GDP at $308. Burundi gained independence in 1962 after being first a German, then Belgian colony, since the latter half of the 19th century.
It has struggled over the last 50 years with recurring civil strife and high levels of corruption. However, the IMF projects positive trends for the country’s economy, citing the impact of more recent economic reforms.
As a comparison point for global wealth disparity, the richest country in the world, Luxembourg, has a per capita GDP that is nearly 415 times that of Burundi.
Meanwhile, the second and third lowest per capita GDPs belong to Sierra Leone and Malawi, also from Africa, both nearly $200 more than Burundi.
All 20 of the world’s poorest countries, except for Yemen, are located on the African continent. This data points to the potential impacts of colonization, and later on globalization, that continue to have long-lasting implications on most African economies today.
» See a ranking of the richest countries in the world
Source: International Monetary Fund.
Data note: The IMF dataset does not include data for all countries, and those with missing data for 2023 have not been included in this visualization. Some of the countries not included are: Afghanistan, Bermuda, Cuba, Monaco, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria. For a full list of countries not included, refer to the IMF site. Furthermore, the GDP per capita dataset often updates as currency rates fluctuate, which may lead to slight differences in figures at the time of publishing.
