World Bank high-income economy

World map of high-income economies.

A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a country with a gross national income per capita above US$12,475 in 2015, calculated using the Atlas method.[1] While the term "high-income" is often used interchangeably with "First World" and "developed country", the technical definitions of these terms differ. The term "first world" commonly refers to countries that aligned themselves with the U.S. and NATO during the cold war. Several institutions, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or International Monetary Fund (IMF), take factors other than high per capita income into account when classifying countries as "developed" or "advanced economies". According to the United Nations, for example, some high-income countries may also be developing countries. The GCC countries, for example, are classified as developing high-income countries. Thus, a high-income country may be classified as either developed or developing.[2] Although the Holy See is a sovereign state, it is not classified by the World Bank under this definition.

List of high-income economies (as of July 1, 2016)

According to the World Bank the following 79 countries (including territories) are classified as "high-income economies".[1] In parenthesis the year(s) during which they held such classification.[3]

Former high-income economies

a Dissolved on 10 October 2010. Succeeded by Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
b Between 1994 and 2009, as part of the  Netherlands Antilles.

Historical thresholds

The high-income threshold was originally set in 1989 at US$6,000 in 1987 prices. Thresholds for subsequent years were adjusted taking into account the average inflation in the G-5 countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France), and from 2001, that of Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the eurozone.[4] Thus, the thresholds remain constant in real terms over time.[3] To ensure no country falls right on the threshold, country data are rounded to the nearest 10 and income thresholds are rounded to the nearest 5.[5]

The following table shows the high-income threshold from 1987 onwards. Countries with a GNI per capita (calculated using the Atlas method) above this threshold are classified by the World Bank as "high-income economies".[3]

Year Threshold
US$ 		Date of
classification
1987 6,000 October 2, 1988
1988 6,000 September 13, 1989
1989 6,000 August 29, 1990
1990 7,620 September 11, 1991
1991 7,910 August 24, 1992
1992 8,355 September 9, 1993
1993 8,625 September 2, 1994
1994 8,955 June 8, 1995
1995 9,385 June 3, 1996
1996 9,645 July 1, 1997
1997 9,655 July 1, 1998
1998 9,360 July 1, 1999
1999 9,265 July 1, 2000
2000 9,265 July 1, 2001
2001 9,205 July 1, 2002
2002 9,075 July 1, 2003
2003 9,385 July 1, 2004
2004 10,065 July 1, 2005
2005 10,725 July 1, 2006
2006 11,115 July 1, 2007
2007 11,455 July 1, 2008
2008 11,905 July 1, 2009
2009 12,195 July 1, 2010
2010 12,275 July 1, 2011
2011 12,475 July 1, 2012
2012 12,615 July 1, 2013
2013 12,745 July 1, 2014
2014 12,735 July 1, 2015
2015 12,475 July 1, 2016

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Country and Lending Groups. World Bank. Accessed on July 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ "UN. (2005). UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics." (PDF). Retrieved 2007-07-09.
  3. 1 2 3 "How does the World Bank classify countries?". World Bank. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  4. ↑ The Atlas Method, World Bank.
  5. ↑ "The Interim Measure for calculating financial contributions: review of cut-off points defining capacity-to-pay groups" (PDF). Agenda item 4. 2008-06-04.
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