Developed country

Most commonly, the criteria for evaluating the degree of economic development are the gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), the per capita income, level of industrialization, amount of widespread infrastructure and general standard of living.

Different definitions of developed countries are provided by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; moreover, HDI ranking is used to reflect the composite index of life expectancy, education, and income per capita.

Another economic criterion is industrialisation; countries in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate would thus be described as developed.

The index, however, does not take into account several factors, such as the net wealth per capita or the relative quality of goods in a country.

The term industrialized country may be somewhat ambiguous, as industrialisation is an ongoing process that is hard to define.

[14] Multinational corporations from these emerging markets present unique patterns of overseas expansion and knowledge acquisition from foreign countries.

[21] There are 22 permanent members in the Paris Club (French: Club de Paris), a group of officials from major creditor countries whose role is to find coordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experienced by debtor countries.

Developed countries ( IMF )
Developing countries (IMF)
Least developed countries ( UN )
Data unavailable

World map showing country classifications per the IMF [ 1 ] and the UN [ 2 ] (last updated April 2023). "Developed economies" according to this classification scheme are shown in blue. The map does not include classifications by the World Bank.
World map
The world map representing Human Development Index categories (based on 2022 data, published in 2024)
  • Very high
  • High
  • Medium
  • Low
  • No data
World map
World map of countries or territories by Human Development Index scores in increments of 0.050 (based on 2022 data, published in 2024)
  • ≥ 0.950
  • 0.900–0.950
  • 0.850–0.899
  • 0.800–0.849
  • 0.750–0.799
  • 0.700–0.749
  • 0.650–0.699
  • 0.600–0.649
  • 0.550–0.599
  • 0.500–0.549
  • 0.450–0.499
  • 0.400–0.449
  • ≤ 0.399
  • Data unavailable
High-income economies of the world as classified by the World Bank, 2023.
Member nations of the Development Assistance Committee
Countries described as Advanced Economies by the IMF
Permanent members of the Paris Club
A comparison among the developed countries in the world