Poorest Country in the World 2025: Ranking and Facts

There’s a question that comes up every time global rankings are published: which country sits at the very bottom of the economic ladder? The answer, consistent across most major datasets, is South Sudan — a nation where decades of conflict and climate shocks have kept GDP per capita below $500.

Poorest country (GDP per capita): South Sudan (~$455) · Top 10 poorest region: All in Africa · Richest country: Luxembourg ($155,941) · Global wealth owned by richest 1%: Nearly 50%

Eight countries, one pattern: every entry on the poorest list faces protracted conflict, weak institutions, or climate vulnerability — or all three.

The implication: the concentration of extreme poverty in a single continent reflects systemic factors that go beyond income — conflict and weak governance reinforce one another.

What is the Poorest Country in the World?

In 2025, Global Finance Magazine’s ranking using GDP-PPP per capita places South Sudan at the very bottom, with a value of 716.249 current international dollars (Global Finance Magazine, financial data publisher). When translated to nominal GDP per capita — simpler dollar values — the figure is around $455, a number that has barely budged in years.

Why South Sudan ranks last

• Civil war and intercommunal violence have displaced millions and destroyed infrastructure.
• Oil dependence makes the economy vulnerable to price swings and pipeline blockages.
• Recurrent floods and droughts erode what little agricultural output remains.

The World Bank notes that in economies affected by conflict or instability, average GDP per capita is now about $1,500 a year — and since 2020 these economies have been shrinking by 1.8% annually (World Bank, international development institution). Meanwhile, other developing economies have grown 2.9% per year over the same period.

What this means: The “poorest country” label is not a static statistic — it’s a measure of how profoundly war and weak governance can trap an entire nation. Without a sustained peace deal, South Sudan will likely remain at the bottom for years.

What are the Top 10 Poorest Countries?

The ten poorest economies, all located in Africa, form a list where GDP-PPP per capita ranges from $716 to just over $2,000. Here they are, according to Global Finance Magazine’s 2025 data:

1. South Sudan – $716.25
2. Burundi – $1,015.17 (Global Finance Magazine, financial data publisher)
3. Central African Republic – $1,329.96
4. Yemen – $1,674.74
5. Mozambique – $1,728.85
6. Malawi – $1,777.95
7. Democratic Republic of the Congo – $1,884.15
8. Somalia – $1,915.71
9. Liberia – $2,005.76
10. Madagascar – $2,043.02

The IMF reports that the poorest 32 countries eligible for concessional lending grew only 3.3% from 2022 to 2024, compared with 5.3% for the more advanced low‑income group (IMF, global economic authority).

One pattern: all ten are scarred by either recent conflict (Yemen, Somalia, CAR) or governance failures that prevent basic services from reaching citizens.

What is the Second Poorest Country in the World?

Burundi consistently ranks second on the list of poorest countries, with a PPP‑adjusted GDP per capita of $1,015.17 (Global Finance Magazine, financial data publisher). Its economy, like South Sudan’s, is hammered by political instability and a lack of infrastructure. The difference: Burundi has not experienced full‑scale civil war in the past decade, yet its growth remains sluggish due to corruption and land pressure.

What this means: Being second poorest is not a consolation. It shows that peaceful but badly governed countries can also sink to the bottom. The trigger is not only war — weak institutions and aid dependency are equally potent traps.

Ten countries, one pattern: placing the poorest nations side by side with the richest underscores how dramatically economic output diverges across the planet.

The trade-off: Luxembourg’s wealth is built on a stable, service‑based economy; South Sudan’s poverty is a product of instability and resource curse. The gap is not just about natural resources but about the rule of law and peace.

Which is the Richest Country in the World?

Luxembourg leads the world with a GDP per capita of $155,941 (nominal), as reported by Global Finance Magazine. The country’s wealth is built on a robust financial services sector, high productivity, and a small population.

What this means: The poorest country in the world earns in a year what a Luxembourg resident earns in roughly two and a half days. That ratio — 350:1 — shows how extreme economic inequality has become between the richest and poorest nations.

How is Poverty Measured for Countries?

Three main frameworks are used to classify and rank poverty among nations:

The World Bank’s latest data point: 421 million people live on less than $3 a day in conflict‑affected economies (World Bank, international development institution). That is more than the entire population of the United States.

The catch: No single metric tells the full story. A country can have a low GDP per capita but still provide basic services (e.g., Malawi), while another may be fragile yet slightly richer (e.g., Yemen). That’s why analysts use both income and fragility measures.

Who Owns 50% of the World’s Wealth?

According to Oxfam and Credit Suisse data cited by Concern.net, the richest 1% of the global population controls nearly half of all household wealth. In contrast, the bottom 50% — about 4 billion people — own less than 1%.

What this means: Wealth inequality on a planetary scale means that progress in the poorest countries barely moves the global share. Even if South Sudan’s economy doubled, it would represent a tiny fraction of the wealth held by a single billionaire.

What is the Weakest Country in the World?

The Fragile States Index, produced by the Fund for Peace, consistently places Somalia at the top of the most fragile list. The index combines 12 indicators including security, state legitimacy, and human rights.

• Somalia shares many poverty drivers with South Sudan: long‑running conflict, weak government, and climate‑related shocks.
• But fragility and poverty are not identical: some fragile states (e.g., Syria) have higher GDP per capita than the poorest countries.

Why this matters: When you search for the “weakest” country, you get a different answer than the “poorest” — though the overlap is large. Understanding both concepts helps policymakers target different forms of aid.

Timeline: How the Poorest Country List Has Evolved

• 2011 – South Sudan gains independence, becomes one of the world’s poorest nations.
• 2020–2023 – Civil conflict and catastrophic flooding deepen poverty in South Sudan; GDP per capita falls further.
• 2024 – World Bank updates GDP per capita data, confirming South Sudan at the bottom (World Bank, international development institution).
• 2025 – Global Finance Magazine publishes its 2025 poorest‑countries list; IMF warns of widening gap between fragile and non‑fragile economies (IMF, global economic authority).

Clarity: What We Know vs. What We Don’t

Expert Perspectives

“Economies facing conflict or instability have GDP-per-capita levels of about $1,500 a year — and they’ve been shrinking by 1.8% annually since 2020, while other developing economies have grown.”

— World Bank, international development institution

“Among low-income countries eligible for concessional lending, the poorest 32 grew only 3.3% from 2022 to 2024, compared to 5.3% for the more advanced group.”

— IMF, global economic authority

For a country at the bottom of the list, the path out is not simply about receiving more aid — it requires ending conflict, building institutions, and diversifying the economy. For the wealthiest nations, the gap between $455 and $155,941 is a measure of global inequality that demands both moral and practical responses.

Related reading: poorest country in the world 2025 GDP per capita · IMF poorest countries fragile states falling behind

According to the latest IMF data, the poorest country ranking 2025 confirms South Sudan as the world’s poorest nation.

Frequently asked questions