We recently compiled a report on the 30 Least Developed Countries in the World: 2024 Rankings and in this article we will look at the least developed country in the world.
World Economic Outlook
The global financial position has remained stable since the April 2024 world economic outlook update from the IMF. According to the IMF July 2024 update, global economic growth is expected to be at 3.2% in 2024 and 3.3% in 2025 being broadly the same as the April 2024 update. The regional outlooks have changed slightly mainly due to the upward revisions in commodity prices, the rise in non-fuel prices, and the slowdown of global disinflation.
The projections for the United States have been revised down 0.1% lower than the April 2024 update and the economy is now expected to grow at 2.6% in 2024. The growth is expected to slow down further to 1.9% in 2025 as the labor market is expected to cool down along with the commodity prices, and the fiscal policy is likely to tighten up next year. On the other hand, the forecast for the Euro Area has modestly increased by 0.1% since the April 2024 update. The strong services sector and higher-than-expected net exports during the first half of the year contribute to the upward revision. To read more about the emerging economies of the world, you can look at the 50 Biggest Economies in the World by the End of 2024.
The emerging and developing economies, especially those in Asia have witnessed an increase in the projections. For instance, in China the growth has been revised upwards to 5% in 2024, mainly owing to a rebound in private sector consumption and a strong export market during the year. The forecasts for India have also been revised upwards to 7.0% this year due to its improved prospects of growth, private consumption and development in rural areas.
The regions that remain under financial headwinds and for which growth has been revised down are Latin America and the Caribbean, East and Central Asia (Including the Middle East) and Sub-Saharan Africa. For the Latin American and Caribbean region, the floods in Brazil and the moderation in consumer demand in Mexico are the main contributing factors to the growth slowdown. The Middle Eastern oil-producing countries have also witnessed a decrease in growth rates mainly due to regional conflicts and oil production cuts. Lastly, Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth has been revised downward because of a 0.2% decline in the outlook of Nigeria due to its weaker-than-expected economic activity in the first quarter of 2024.
Economic Outlook of Africa
Africa is the world’s second-largest and most populous continent, yet a majority of least developed countries in the world belong to Africa. Despite the strong economic performance, the continent’s structural transformation to meet the growing development needs has been slow and uneven. According to the African Development Bank, the real GDP of Africa dropped from 4.1% in 2022 to 3.1% in 2023. The challenging economic environment arising from heightened food and energy prices, geo-political conflicts, and climate change issues has resulted in the economic slowdown during the past year. Moving ahead, the financial outlook of the continent is positive, and the economy is expected to grow at 3.7% in 2024 and 4.3% in 2025. However, these expectations are heavily reliant on the expected structural improvements in the global economy and effective policy implementation. If the economy grows as it is expected the region will continue to hold its position as the second-fastest growing region in the world. To read more about the African economy you can look at the 30 Least Developed Countries in Africa in 2024.
Companies Contributing to the African Economy
Companies like MTN Group (JSE:MTN) are contributing to economic growth in the region through building its digital infrastructure, creating job opportunities, and supporting and investing in small and medium enterprises. MTN Group (JSE:MTN) is a leading communication services provider in Africa and the Middle East. The company provides various mobile services including data, voice, SMS, and digital financial services to over 295 million customers across 19 global markets. The company also invests heavily in building the digital infrastructure across the continent. Moreover, for businesses around the continent, the group manages cloud communications, and security solutions, and provides network as a service and IoT platforms to support digital transformation for small and medium businesses.
As per the company’s annual report in 2023, the MTN Group (JSE:MTN) grew its revenue across all business segments. The group services revenue grew 6.9%, the group data services revenue grew 14.0%, and lastly, the fintech services revenue grew 21.8% year over year in 2023. The group has also been growing its subscribers throughout the year, total subscribers of MTN Group grew 2% to reach 294.8 million, whereas active data subscribers of the company grew 9.3% throughout the year in 2023.
In addition, the company contributes to the economy of Africa through tax payments. MTN Group (JSE:MTN) reported that its total tax payments in 2023 increased by 12% amounting to approximately R61.7 billion ($3.40 billion). In a press release on July 08, the group’s chief financial officer stated that the amount of taxes paid by the company is equivalent to building more than 500 high-quality schools.
Our Methodology
To compile the list of 30 least developed countries in the world, we relied on GDP per capita (2024) and Human Development Index Score (2022), sourced from IMF and UNDP respectively. The Human Development Index score is calculated after taking into account several key indicators including, life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling, mean year of schooling and gross national income per capita. The final score is recorded in values from 0 to 1, where 1 indicates a highly developed country. For this article we have ranked the countries using GDP per capita (2024), primarily and included Human Development Index Scores as a secondary metric. The list is ranked in ascending order of the GDP per capita.
Moreover, we have also included GDP, population, and other relevant indicators in our descriptions, sourced from the IMF’s data mapper.
The Least Developed Country in the World in 2024
1. Burundi
GDP Per Capita (2024): $230.04
Human Development Index Score (2022): 0.420
Burundi is the least developed country in the world according to our 2024 ranking. It has a GDP per capita of only $230 with a population of 13.37 million people. Moreover, the country has a GDP of $3.08 billion, which is growing at 4.3% during the year. However, Burundi also faces a negative current account balance standing at a staggering -17.3% of its GDP in 2024.
Curious to learn about other least developed countries in the world in 2024? Check out our detailed report on the 30 Least Developed Countries in the World: 2024 Rankings.
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