The United States might have massive debt, but it’s still nowhere near being one of the poorest countries in the world – despite what it seems people are worried and writing about. There are still many, many countries with much less income than the US, and those countries are ranked using gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Read on to find out which 10 countries are the poorest in the world.
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Democratic Republic of Congo, $348
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been the poorest country in the world since 2010, and it doesn’t appear that the country has any hope of forgoing this title in the near future. With a population of 71 million people, the GDP is only $348. There is no million or billion after that; it’s just over three hundred dollars. It’s astonishing to realize that a country on profits what most of us spend on a pair of designer shoes on the sale rack.
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Liberia, $456
This African country was founded and established by freed slaves from the US. The civil war that arose after the president was overthrown in the 1980s is finally finished, and the country is slowly rebuilding. However, 85 percent of the people that call Liberia home live on less than $1 per day. Considering most people in the US live on two or three coffees a day that cost four or five times more than a Liberian family’s daily income, it’s a shocking number.
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Zimbabwe, $487
Zimbabwe residents have bigger problems than their poor lifestyle and country. More than 20 percent of the residents here suffer from HIV and/or AIDS. In addition, the life expectancy in Zimbabwe is the lowest in the world. Men are expected to live only 37 years and women only 34 years. There is no hope for the country as far as healthcare goes, and there doesn’t seem to be any foreseeable fix for the nation’s current financial crisis.
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Burundi, $615
After all is said and done, trades and imports and exports and bills are paid and taken in, this county has approximately $615 left over. The country has very little peace, with a civil and/or tribal war going on at virtually all times. More than 80 percent of the population lives well below the poverty line and almost 60 percent of the children in Burundi are malnourished.
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Eritrea, $735
This small country was colonized in the late 1800s, but it hasn’t seen much of an improvement in living conditions since. Its controlling force of the Suez Canal’s sea route made it difficult for the country in the early 1900s, when the British conquered the country to take control. Since 2005, the domestic product growth in Eritrea has only improved 1.2 percent.
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Central African Republic, $768
For a country with mass amounts of mineral resources, it’s still one of the poorest in the world. There are significant amounts of diamonds, gold, crude oil, hydropower and several other resources. However, the import and export business and the trade business do not make the country any wealthier. There has been a slight decline in the number of poverty stricken residents in the past few years, but 62 percent of residents still live below the $1 per day income level.
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Niger, $771
Political instability, gender inequality and serious financial strain in the government make this one of the poorest African countries. The people of Niger live on less than $1 per day and they have very few natural resources given that the country is 80 percent desert thanks to the Sahara. The newly elected government officials have a serious economic crisis to deal with in taking over, and it looks to be a long time before the country begins to make any money.
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Sierra Leone, $849
Diamond mining is big business in this African country, but it’s not enough to take it out of poverty. The country has unlimited natural wealth, but 70 percent of its population lives at or well below the national poverty line. In fact, the movie Blood Diamond was based off the lifestyle of the Sierra Leone residents, which should give anyone who has watched the movie an idea of what life is like in this poor country.
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Malawi, $860
It is famous for its malnourished children and its popularity among the rich for wanting to help. Malawi has more than 50 percent of its residents living beneath the poverty line, and most of its children are deeply malnourished. The country lost a significant amount of its income in early 2000 when it was suspected that much of the aid money being poured into the country was being used for personal gain by a corrupt government. This dropped the country’s gross income level more than 80 percent.
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Togo, $899
Cocoa and coffee provide nearly 40 percent of this Saharan country’s low income, and most residents are completely destitute. Surprisingly, however, the country is among the leading producers of phosphate in the world, but it’s not enough to help residents earn more than $1.25 per day to live on. The impressive number of agricultural jobs help most residents earn a living, but it’s not enough to help them earn a good one.
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