Ranked: The Most and Least Developed Countries in the World, 2024

Katherina DavisSpecial ReportsJanuary 22, 2024January 22, 2024

In 2023, various stories with contrasting narratives emerged, including ongoing international tensions and local humanitarian crises. A recent report suggests that global economic growth will slow to 2.4 percent in 2024 from 2.6 percent in 2023. The decline in development can be attributed to strict monetary policies, weak international trade, and fragile financial conditions. The short-term economic forecasts present mixed prospects, with major economies experiencing a slowdown while emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) display signs of improvement.

According to a United Nations report, global inflation is expected to decline to 3.9 percent in 2024, compared to an estimated 5.7 percent in 2023. Developed countries have witnessed a noticeable decline in inflation. However, core inflation rates are relatively high due to increasing service sector prices and restricted labor markets. In most developing countries, inflation peaked in 2023 and is expected to moderate in 2024.

Switzerland has been ranked as the world’s most prosperous and developed country for the year 2024. Despite global uncertainties, the Swiss economy is known for its resilience and is expected to continue growing at a slower pace. The country maintains a balance between growth and sustainability, ensuring its economy thrives in the long term. This report aims to explore the most and least developed countries in the world in 2024.

Most and Least Developed Countries in the World, 2024

Rank	Country	Region	Population	GDP (USD million)	GDP Per Capita	Human Development Index (HDI)
1	Switzerland	Western Europe	8,931,306	905,684	102,865	0.525
2	Norway	Northern Europe	5,533,582	546,768	99,266	0.662
3	Iceland	Northern Europe	396,960	30,570	78,837	0.773
4	Hong Kong (China)	Eastern Asia	7,498,100	385,546	51,168	0.777
5	Australia	Australasia	26,461,912	1,687,713	63,487	0.942
6	Denmark	Northern Europe	5,959,464	420,800	71,402	0.842
7	Sweden	Northern Europe	10,558,012	597,110	55,216	0.534
8	Ireland	Western Europe	5,281,600	589,569	112,248	0.767
9	Germany	Central Europe	84,607,016	4,429,838	52,824	0.802
10	Netherlands	Western Europe	17,590,000	1,092,748	61,770	0.685
11	Finland	Northern Europe	5,572,545	305,689	54,507	0.808
12	Singapore	Southeastern Asia	5,917,600	497,347	87,884	0.564
13	Belgium	Western Europe	11,801,722	627,511	53,657	0.930
14	New Zealand	Australasia	5,223,100	249,415	48,072	0.683
15	Canada	North America	40,528,396	2,117,805	53,247	0.889
16	Liechtenstein	Central Europe	39,724	6,608	184,083	0.730
17	Luxembourg	Western Europe	660,809	89,095	135,605	0.720
18	United Kingdom	Western Europe	67,026,292	3,332,059	48,912	0.465
19	Japan	West Asia	124,240,000	4,230,862	33,950	0.758
20	South Korea	Eastern Asia	51,439,038	1,709,232	33,147	0.745
21	United States	North America	335,893,238	26,949,643	80,412	0.455
22	Israel	West Asia	9,827,000	521,688	53,196	0.764
23	Malta	Southern Europe	519,562	20,311	38,715	0.714
24	Slovenia	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	2,120,937	68,394	32,350	0.558
25	Austria	Central Europe	9,154,514	526,182	58,013	0.941
26	United Arab Emirates	West Asia	9,282,410	509,179	50,602	0.477
27	Spain	Southern Europe	48,345,223	1,582,054	33,090	0.544
28	France	Western Europe	68,373,000	3,049,016	46,315	0.805
29	Cyprus	West Asia	918,100	32,032	34,791	0.848
30	Italy	Southern Europe	58,919,345	2,186,082	37,146	0.762
31	Estonia	Northern Europe	1,365,884	41,799	30,998	0.811
32	Czech Republic	Central Europe	10,882,235	335,243	30,475	0.846
33	Greece	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	10,413,982	242,385	23,173	0.796
34	Poland	Central Europe	37,667,000	842,172	22,393	0.618
35	Bahrain	West Asia	1,577,059	44,994	28,464	0.937
36	Lithuania	Northern Europe	2,869,660	79,427	28,482	0.727
37	Saudi Arabia	West Asia	32,175,224	1,069,437	32,586	0.577
38	Portugal	Southern Europe	10,467,366	276,432	26,879	0.615
39	Latvia	Northern Europe	1,874,700	46,668	24,929	0.740
40	Andorra	Southern Europe	83,523	3,692	44,107	0.952
41	Croatia	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	3,855,641	80,185	20,877	0.855
42	Chile	South America	19,960,889	344,400	17,254	0.875
43	Qatar	West Asia	2,656,032	235,500	81,968	0.607
44	San Marino	Southern Europe	33,889	1,998	58,541	0.586
45	Slovakia	Central Europe	5,426,468	133,044	24,471	0.558
46	Hungary	Central Europe	9,597,085	203,829	21,075	0.774
47	Argentina	South America	46,654,581	621,833	13,297	0.947
48	Turkey	West Asia	85,279,553	1,154,600	13,384	0.492
49	Montenegro	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	616,695	7,058	11,338	0.699
50	Kuwait	West Asia	4,670,713	159,687	32,215	0.745
51	Brunei	Southeastern Asia	445,400	15,153	34,384	0.916
52	Russia	Eastern Europe	146,424,729	1,862,470	13,006	0.607
53	Romania	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	19,051,562	350,414	18,413	0.607
54	Oman	West Asia	5,113,071	108,282	21,266	0.661
55	Bahamas	Caribbean	397,360	13,876	34,371	0.939
56	Kazakhstan	Central Asia	20,000,000	259,292	12,968	0.752
57	Trinidad and Tobago	Caribbean	1,365,805	27,887	19,622	0.500
58	Costa Rica	Central America	5,262,225	85,590	16,213	0.858
59	Uruguay	South America	3,444,263	76,244	21,378	0.449
60	Belarus	Eastern Europe	9,200,617	68,864	7,477	0.935
61	Panama	Central America	4,337,406	82,348	18,493	0.632
62	Malaysia	Southeastern Asia	33,379,500	430,895	13,034	0.717
63	Georgia	Eastern Europe	3,736,400	30,023	8,165	0.802
64	Mauritius	Eastern Africa	1,261,041	14,819	11,752	0.707
65	Serbia	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	6,641,197	75,015	11,301	0.575
66	Thailand	Southeastern Asia	68,263,022	512,193	7,298	0.511
67	Albania	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	2,761,785	23,032	8,057	0.961
68	Bulgaria	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	6,447,710	103,099	16,087	0.911
69	Grenada	Caribbean	112,579	1,306	11,437	0.795
70	Barbados	Caribbean	267,800	6,220	21,442	0.936
71	Antigua and Barbuda	Caribbean	100,772	1,949	19,068	0.948
72	Seychelles	Eastern Africa	100,447	2,085	20,890	0.571
73	Sri Lanka	Southern Asia	22,037,000	88,309	3,342	0.539
74	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	3,277,082	26,945	7,778	0.919
75	Saint Kitts and Nevis	Caribbean	47,195	1,069	18,082	0.597
76	Iran	West Asia	84,038,000	366,438	4,234	0.767
77	Ukraine	Eastern Europe	41,130,432	173,413	5,225	0.478
78	North Macedonia	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)				0.666
79	China	Eastern Asia	1,409,670,000	17,700,899	12,541	0.875
80	Dominican Republic	Caribbean	10,760,028	120,629	11,249	0.831
81	Moldova	Southeastern Europe (Balkans)	2,512,758	16,000	6,411	0.705
82	Palau	Micronesia	16,733	267	15,113	0.639
83	Cuba	Caribbean	11,089,511	107,528	56,495	0.853
84	Peru	South America	33,396,698	264,636	7,669	0.624
85	Armenia	West Asia	2,981,200	24,540	8,283	0.945
86	Mexico	North America	129,406,736	1,811,468	13,804	0.706
87	Brazil	South America	203,062,512	2,126,809	10,413	0.918
88	Colombia	South America	52,215,503	363,835	6,976	0.875
89	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Caribbean	110,872	1,039	9,360	0.593
90	Maldives	Southern Asia	382,751	6,977	17,559	0.715
91	Algeria	Northern Africa	45,400,000	224,107	4,875	0.959
92	Azerbaijan	West Asia	10,151,517	77,392	7,530	0.940
93	Tonga	Polynesia	100,179	547	5,488	0.501
94	Turkmenistan	Central Asia	7,057,841	81,822	12,934	0.483
95	Ecuador	South America	16,938,986	118,686	6,500	0.829
96	Mongolia	Eastern Asia	3,457,548	18,782	5,348	0.703
97	Egypt	Northern Africa	104,462,545	398,397	3,770	0.822
98	Tunisia	Northern Africa	11,850,232	51,271	4,191	0.498
99	Fiji	Melanesia	893,468	5,511	6,025	0.809
100	Suriname	South America	616,500	3,539	5,667	0.535
101	Uzbekistan	Central Asia	36,599,764	90,392	2,509	0.446
102	Dominica	Caribbean	67,408	697	9,356	0.832
103	Jordan	West Asia	11,302,000	50,022	4,851	0.754
104	Libya	Northern Africa	6,931,061	40,194	5,872	0.730
105	Paraguay	South America	6,109,644	44,142	5,843	0.627
106	Palestine	West Asia	5,483,450	18,109	3,464	0.633
107	Saint Lucia	Caribbean	178,696	2,469	13,572	0.596
108	Guyana	South America	743,699	16,329	20,565	0.785
109	South Africa	Southern Africa	62,027,503	380,906	6,191	0.550
110	Jamaica	Eastern Asia	2,825,544	18,761	6,831	0.759
111	Samoa	Polynesia	205,557	939	4,638	0.593
112	Gabon	Central Africa	2,233,272	19,319	8,832	0.803
113	Lebanon	West Asia	5,490,000	37,945	3,283	0.739
114	Indonesia	Southeastern Asia	279,118,866	1,417,387	5,109	0.768
115	Vietnam	Southeastern Asia	100,300,000	433,356	4,316	0.404
116	Philippines	Southeastern Asia	112,892,781	435,675	3,859	0.621
117	Botswana	Southern Africa	2,410,338	20,756	7,758	0.918
118	Bolivia	South America	12,006,031	46,796	3,858	0.921
119	Kyrgyzstan	Central Asia	7,100,000	12,681	1,830	0.745
120	Venezuela	South America	28,302,000	92,210	3,474	0.426
121	Iraq	West Asia	43,324,000	297,695	5,883	0.767
122	Tajikistan	Central Asia	10,077,600	11,816	1,180	0.514
123	Belize	Central America	441,471	3,218	7,142	0.929
124	Morocco	Northern Africa	37,022,000	147,343	3,980	0.693
125	El Salvador	Central America	6,884,888	35,339	5,558	0.821
126	Nicaragua	Central America	6,733,763	17,353	2,599	0.683
127	Bhutan	Southern Asia	770,276	2,686	3,500	0.925
128	Cape Verde	Western Africa	491,233	2,598	4,503	0.896
129	Bangladesh	Southern Asia	169,828,911	446,349	2,621	0.937
130	Tuvalu	Polynesia	10,679	63	5,773	0.481
132	India	Southern Asia	1,392,329,000	3,732,224	2,612	0.770
133	Ghana	Western Africa	30,832,019	76,628	2,329	0.800
134	Micronesia	Micronesia	105,754	458	4,358	0.706
135	Guatemala	Central America	17,602,431	102,765	5,407	0.795
137	Honduras	Central America	9,745,149	33,992	3,245	0.780
138	São Tomé and Príncipe	Central Africa	214,610	674	2,905	0.585
139	Namibia	Southern Africa	2,641,857	12,647	4,786	0.691
140	Laos	Southeastern Asia	7,443,000	14,244	1,879	0.745
141	East Timor	Southeastern Asia	1,354,662	2,023	1,497	0.509
142	Vanuatu	Melanesia	301,295	1,166	3,492	0.428
143	Nepal	Southern Asia	29,164,578	41,339	1,353	0.686
144	Eswatini	Southern Africa	1,223,362	4,648	3,995	0.810
145	Equatorial Guinea	Central Africa	1,558,160	10,041	6,502	0.816
146	Cambodia	Southeastern Asia	17,091,464	30,943	1,916	0.895
147	Zimbabwe	Eastern Africa	15,178,979	32,424	2,006	0.385
148	Angola	Central Africa	33,086,278	93,796	2,550	0.951
149	Myanmar	Southeastern Asia	55,770,232	74,861	1,381	0.692
150	Syria	West Asia	22,923,000	11,800	537	0.525
151	Cameroon	Central Africa	28,088,845	49,262	1,722	0.890
152	Kenya	Eastern Africa	51,526,000	112,749	2,188	0.751
153	Congo Rep	Central Africa	6,106,869	14,407	2,858	0.863
154	Zambia	Eastern Africa	19,610,769	29,536	1,486	0.394
155	Solomon Islands	Melanesia	734,887	1,690	2,285	0.556
156	Comoros	Eastern Africa	758,316	1,364	1,377	0.866
157	Papua New Guinea	Melanesia	11,781,559	31,692	2,581	0.628
158	Mauritania	Western Africa	4,475,683	10,357	2,338	0.709
159	Ivory Coast	Caribbean	29,389,150	79,430	2,728	0.855
160	Tanzania	Eastern Africa	61,741,120	84,033	1,327	0.512
161	Pakistan	Southern Asia	241,499,431	340,636	1,471	0.641
162	Togo	Western Africa	8,095,498	9,111	1,004	0.508
163	Haiti	Caribbean	11,743,017	25,986	2,125	0.782
164	Nigeria	Western Africa	216,783,400	390,002	1,755	0.667
165	Rwanda	Eastern Africa	13,246,394	13,927	1,032	0.602
166	Benin	Western Africa	12,606,998	19,940	1,449	0.925
167	Uganda	Eastern Africa	45,562,000	52,390	1,163	0.479
168	Lesotho	Southern Africa	2,306,000	2,373	1,110	0.731
169	Malawi	Eastern Africa	21,507,723	13,176	580	0.718
170	Senegal	Western Africa	18,275,743	31,141	1,715	0.576
171	Djibouti	Eastern Africa	1,001,454	3,873	3,761	0.838
172	Sudan	Northern Africa	41,984,500	25,569	534	0.535
173	Madagascar	Eastern Africa	26,923,353	15,763	530	0.720
174	Gambia	Western Africa	2,417,471	2,388	903	0.802
175	Ethiopia	Eastern Africa	107,334,000	155,804	1,473	0.809
176	Eritrea	Eastern Africa	3,748,902	2,255	644	0.812
177	Guinea-Bissau	Western Africa	1,781,308	1,991	1,028	0.788
178	Liberia	Western Africa	5,248,621	4,347	800	0.731
179	DR Congo	Central Africa	95,370,000	67,512	675	0.858
180	Afghanistan	Southern Asia	34,262,840	14,939	443	0.962
181	Sierra Leone	Western Africa	8,494,260	3,519	415	0.565
182	Guinea	Western Africa	13,261,638	23,205	1,543	0.790
183	Yemen	West Asia	31,888,698	21,045	618	0.400
184	Burkina Faso	Western Africa	22,185,654	20,785	888	0.905
185	Mozambique	Eastern Africa	32,419,747	21,936	647	0.692
186	Mali	Western Africa	22,395,489	21,309	913	0.715
187	Burundi	Eastern Africa	12,837,740	3,190	246	0.903
188	Central African Republic	Central Africa	5,633,412	2,760	539	0.887
189	Niger	Western Africa	25,369,415	17,073	631	0.675
190	Chad	Central Africa	17,414,717	12,596	703	0.876
191	South Sudan	Eastern Africa	13,249,924	6,267	417	0.549

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Katherina Davis

Deputy News Editor at CEOWORLD Magazine. Covering money, work, and lifestyle stories. Covering issues of importance to public company nominating and corporate governance committees, including new director recruitment, board evaluations, onboarding, director compensation and overall corporate governance. More recently, I have joined the newsletters team, writing and editing some of the CEOWORLD Magazine's key reader emails.

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