This document discusses three groups of developing countries - least developed countries (LDCs), landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), and small island developing states (SIDS) - that face unique development challenges. It provides details on the UN criteria for classifying a country as an LDC and explains how LDCs have very low incomes and vulnerable economies. It outlines the development hurdles faced by LLDCs due to high transport costs and lack of direct sea access. Finally, it discusses how SIDS face difficulties developing social and technical infrastructure due to their small, remote and scattered locations and vulnerability to climate change effects.

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Data on Least
Developed
Countries
Data on Least Developed Countries
The three country groups of Least Developed
Countries (LDCs), Land-locked Developing
Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing
States (SIDS) are recognized by the United
Nations as special categories of countries that
face specific development challenges and,
accord­ingly,
need special attention and support
from the international community.
Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
The United Nations created the category of LDCs in
1971. Currently 48 developing countries from Africa
(34 countries) Asia (13 countries) and Latin America
(1 country) are classified as least developed. These
countries have small and low-productive domestic
economies that generate only very low per capita
incomes. In 2010, the average annual gross domestic
product (GDP) per capita for LDCs amounted to $684.
Hence, a large share of their populations lives in
absolute poverty. In addition, LDCs possess of weak
human assets, which are manifest in high levels of
undernourishment and child mortality, as well as low
school enrolment and literacy rates. Moreover, the
small and undiversified economies of LDCs make these
countries vulnerable to the vagaries of global markets
and to natural shocks and disasters.
The United Nations classifies a country as an LDC
on the basis of three criteria:
◆ Low income threshold: Based on a three-year
average estimate of the gross national income (GNI)
per capita, currently thresholds are set at $905 for
possible cases of addition to the list, and at $1,086
for graduation from LDC status;
◆ Human development levels, as measured through a
composite Human Assets Index, based on indicators
of nutrition, health, secondary school enrolment and
adult literacy;
◆ Economic vulnerability, as measured through a
composite Economic Vulnerability Index, including
indicators of natural and trade shocks and the
country’s exposure to them, economic smallness and
economic remoteness.
Bilateral and multilateral development partners of
LDCs have adopted special support measures in
recognition of the particular problems. The develop­ment
challenges of LDCs are also on the agenda of
major international United Nations conferences and
gatherings. The Fourth United Nations Conference
on the Least Developed Countries, held in 2011 in
Istanbul, Turkey, took stock of the current economic
and social situation in the LDCs and adopted a set of
develop­ment
measures and strategies for these coun­tries
for the decade 2011-2020. The 10-year Istanbul
Programme of Action (IPoA) lists eight priority areas of
action: productive capacity; agriculture, food security
and rural development; trade; commodities; human
and social development; multiple crises and other
emerging challenges; mobilizing financial resources for
develop­ment
and capacity-building; and good
governance at all levels.
The LDCs also benefit from special and differential
treatment in international economic and financial
relations, such as non-reciprocal market access prefer­ences.
Bilateral, regional and multilateral donors and
financial institutions accord LDCs concessionary terms
in their decisions on development financing. In the
area of technical assistance, priority is given to LDCs in
cooperation programmes of the United Nations, and
bilateral and other multilateral development partners
are encouraged to follow similar preferential policies.
These measures are designed to overcome the struc­tural
disadvantages that these countries face in an ever
more complex and competitive world economy, to
support the development of their physical infrastructure,
to develop their human resources, and to strengthen
their national institutional capacities.
However, the overarching goal of the national
efforts by LDC governments and the international
support measures in favour of LDCs is to eradicate
poverty, achieve internationally agreed development
goals and enable graduation from the least developed
country category. So far, three countries have gradu­ated
from LDC status: Botswana in 1994, Cape Verde in 2007
and Maldives in 2011. The Istanbul Programme of
Action stipulates the aim of enabling half the number
of least developed countries to meet the criteria for
graduation by 2020.

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Merchandise exports and imports of LLDCs, other
than in the case of costly airfreight, are bound to pass
through at least one transit country. Although the
Convention of the Law of Sea stipulates that land-locked
countries “shall have the right of access to
and from the sea” and “shall enjoy freedom of
transit through the territory of transit States by all
means of transport”, transit traffic operations come
at a cost in terms of money and time. These additional
charges are particularly burdensome for developing
countries. In addition, LLDCs often have only a limited
choice of transit neighbours. For example, Lesotho is
completely surrounded by South Africa, Mongolia has
only two transit neighbours. Uzbekistan is double land-locked,
ie. the country is surrounded only by other
landlocked countries.
The lack of territorial access to the sea bears heavily
on the development options of these countries. It is
therefore no surprise that LLDCs are among the
poorest developing nations. Nearly all LLDCs have a
low per capita GDP, reflecting low income levels,
With a view to making graduation irreversible and
sustainable, the graduating country is granted a three-year
grace period before graduation effectively takes
place. The graduating country and its development
and trade partners are given this grace period to agree
on a “smooth transition” strategy, so that the possible
loss of LDC-specific concessions at the time of
graduation will not disrupt the socio-economic
development of the country.
Land-locked developing countries (LLDCs)
A land-locked country is a country which has no sea-coast.
Thirty-one developing countries and countries in
transition that share this geographical particularity
have joined the Group of Land-locked Developing
Countries (LLDCs). Fifteen of these countries are
located in Africa, 12 in Asia, two in Latin America and
two in Central and Eastern Europe. Despite their
location on four continents, all LLDCs share common
problems of high transaction costs in international
trade operations and remoteness from major markets.
below
A hillside slum in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti,
where living con­ditions
have not
improved since the
earthquake in 2010
and most of the
country’s 10 million
people live on less
than $2 a day.

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Data on Least
Developed
Countries
land-linked rather than landlocked are measures to
mitigate the adverse effects of land-lockedness.
In addition, economic modernization and
re-specialization, focusing on low bulk, but high
value trade products and services, such as tourism,
can help to reduce transport costs. Finally, the advent
of modern communication technologies provides a
new range of trade options to these countries by
promoting the provision of IT-based export services,
where transport costs and transport distance are
of less significance.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
The United Nations has been recognizing the particular
problems of Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
since 1994. The development challenges of these
countries are enormous: SIDS are 33% more vulner­able
to external shocks with economic consequences
than non-SIDS developing countries. They are more
than 12 times more exposed to oil price-related shocks
than non-SIDS; and SIDS are structurally more vulner­able,
by at least 8%, to climate change effects than
non-SIDS developing countries.
The small size of these countries – seven SIDS
(Kiribati, Maldives, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe,
Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) have a total
population of less than 500,000 people – also their
often remote location and widely scattered geography
pose formidable obstacles to national and international
development efforts. For example, the costs of pro­viding
basic social and technical infra­structure,
from
schools to hospitals and domestic transport to tele­communication,
are proportionally significantly higher
than in most other developing countries and often
exceed the capacity of the small economic base of
these countries.
In addition, fragile eco-systems on and around SIDS
are highly vulnerable to domestic pollution and the
effects of climate change. In fact, globally induced
phenomena such as sea level rise pose a very concrete
threat to the long-term existence and survival of
several SIDS.
International support measures in favour of SIDS
are grounded in the Mauritius Strategy for the Further
limited domestic savings capacity and a low level of
economic development. In fact, 16 LLDCs are also
classified as LDCs. The high transaction cost incurred in
international trade reduces the international competi­tive­ness
of these countries, hampers their beneficial
integration in global value chains and limits the range
of potential exports and markets in which goods could
by competitively traded.
In 2003, the United Nations adopted the Almaty
Programme of Action which provides a framework
for cooperation among LLDCs, their transit neigh-bours
and bilateral and multilateral donors to
address the specific development hurdles related
to land-lockedness.”
Geography may pose severe constraints on econo­mic
growth and development; however it need not
spell doom. The examples of developed land-locked
countries, such as Austria and Switzerland, show that
the development constraints resulting from land-lockedness
can successfully be addressed.
Trade facilitation measures at border crossings and
modern transport infrastructure in both land-locked
and transit countries, as well as policies aimed at
turning LLDCs into hubs of regional integration and
cooperation arrangements making these countries
above
Advancing education
in LDCs such as
Timor-Leste will aid
the development of
future generations.

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promote action at national, regional and international
levels to support their development, enhance their
participation in the world economy and achieve
internationally agreed development goals.
Through its Division for Africa, LDCs and Special
Programmes, UNCTAD provides timely, targeted
research and analysis of development challenges faced
by these countries, designs innovative policy
recommendations, delivers tailor-made technical
assistance and supports intergovernmental processes
which seek to address their specific problems. The
division also draws on, applies and articulates the work
of other UNCTAD divisions in relation to trade,
finance, investment, enterprise, technology and
logistics in order to maximize its relevance to the target
countries and their development partners.
Implementation of the Programme of Action for the
Sustainable Development of SIDS, which was adopted
in 2005. The Mauritius Strategy recognizes the serious­ness
of the disadvantages most SIDS suffer from in the
global economy and calls on the inter­national
commu­nity
to find a range of answers for these problems.
UNCTAD and its work on LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS
Since its inception in 1964, UNCTAD focuses on the
world’s poorest and most vulnerable developing
countries. Specifically, it aims to increase understanding
and awareness of the development problems of least
developed countries, as well as countries with specific
geographical handicaps. Most notably, land-locked
developing countries and small island developing states
are impacted by geography. UNCTAD also works to
List of LDCs
Afghanistan
Angola
Bangladesh
Benin
Bhutan
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Congo (Democratic
Republic of the)
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gambia
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti
Kiribati
Lao People’s Democratic
Republic
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mozambique
Myanmar
Nepal
Niger
Rwanda
Samoa
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Sudan
Sudan
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Republic of
Tanzania
Vanuatu
Yemen
Zambia
List of
Landlocked
Developing
Countries
(LLDCs)
Afghanistan
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bhutan
Bolivia
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Central African Republic
Chad
Ethiopia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People’s Democratic
Republic
Lesotho
Macedonia
Malawi
Mali
Moldova
Mongolia
Nepal
Niger
Paraguay
Rwanda
Swaziland
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Uzbekistan
Zambia
Zimbabwe
List of Small
Island
Developing
States (SIDS)*
Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Cape Verde
Comoros
Dominica
Fiji
Grenada
Jamaica
Kiribati
Maldives
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Mauritius
Nauru
Palau
Papua New Guinea
São Tomé and Príncipe
Seychelles
Solomon Islands
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent and the
Grenadines
Timor-Leste
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
* The UN has never established criteria
to determine an official list of SIDS. This
unofficial list is used by UNCTAD for
analytical purposes only.