Developing countries list 2026: definition and classification
There is no single official list of developing countries in 2026: the World Bank classifies economies into four income groups, the UN tracks 44 least developed countries, and the Cold War term 'third world' is now considered dated.
The context
Why people search for a “third world countries” list
Queries like “third world countries”, “developing countries list” and “second world countries” add up to roughly 22,000 monthly English searches. Behind them sits a real question: how is the world divided economically, and which countries fall on which side of the line? The honest answer is that no single official list exists, and the terminology itself is contested.
The phrase “third world” was coined in 1952 by French demographer Alfred Sauvy and became a Cold War fixture: the first world was the capitalist West, the second world the Soviet bloc, and the third world the non-aligned rest. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the scheme lost its meaning, and institutions now favor neutral terms: developing countries, low- and middle-income countries, or the Global South. What remains is a set of measurable classifications maintained by the World Bank and the United Nations.
The classifications actually used in 2026
| Classification | Body | Criteria | 2026 snapshot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low income | World Bank | GNI per capita of roughly $1,175 or less | concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa and conflict states (e.g. Afghanistan, Yemen, South Sudan) |
| Lower-middle income | World Bank | about $1,176 to $4,635 | e.g. India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Vietnam |
| Upper-middle income | World Bank | about $4,636 to $14,000 | e.g. China, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia |
| High income | World Bank | above the upper-middle threshold | the “developed” economies: US, EU states, Japan, and, since FY2026, Costa Rica |
| Least developed countries (LDCs) | United Nations | income, human assets and vulnerability criteria | 44 countries, 32 of them in Africa |
The World Bank thresholds are recalibrated every July. In the FY2026 update (based on 2024 income data), Costa Rica joined the high-income group, Cabo Verde and Samoa moved up to upper-middle income, and Namibia slipped back to lower-middle income, a reminder that the “developing” label is a moving classification, not a fixed identity.
From lists to graduations
The sharpest category is the UN’s list of 44 least developed countries, reviewed every three years against income, education, health and vulnerability indicators. Graduation is possible and happens regularly: Botswana left the list in 1994, Bhutan in 2023, and Nepal is scheduled to follow in November 2026. At the other end of the spectrum, large emerging economies like the BRICS members (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and partners) sit between the developing and developed labels, which is why aggregate terms like the Global South now dominate diplomacy. For the complete baseline, our list of all countries in the world covers all 195 states these classifications draw on.