Developed country

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The term developed country is used to describe countries that have a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue and there is fierce debate about this. Economic criteria have tended to dominate discussions. One such criteria is income per capita and countries with high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita being described as developed countries. Another economic criteria is industrialization. Countries in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate being described as developed. More recently another measure, the Human Development Index, which combines with an economic measure, national income, with other measures, indices for life expectancy and education has become prominent. Developed countries being those with a high (HDI) rating. However, many anomalies exist when determining "developed" status by whichever measure is used.

Countries not fitting such definitions may be referred to as developing countries or failed states.

[edit] Similar terms

Terms similar to developed country include advanced country, industrialized country, more developed country (MDC), more economically developed country (MEDC), Global North country, first world country, and post-industrial country. The term industrialized country may be somewhat ambiguous, as industrialization is an ongoing process that is hard to define. The term MEDC is one used by modern geographers to specifically describe the status of the countries referred to: more economically developed. The first industrialised country was England, followed by Germany, France, the remainder of the United Kingdom and other Western European countries. According to economists such as Jeffrey Sachs, however, the current divide between the developed and developing world is largely a phenomenon of the 20^th century.^[1]

[edit] Definition

Kofi Annan, former Secretrary General of the United Nations, defined a developed country as follows. "A developed country is one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment."^[2] But according to the United Nations Statistics Division,

There is no established convention for the designation of "developed" and "developing" countries or areas in the United Nations system.^[3]

And it notes that

The designations "developed" and developing" are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process.^[4]

The UN also notes

In common practice, Japan in Asia, Canada and the United States in northern America, Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, and Europe are considered "developed" regions or areas. In international trade statistics, the Southern African Customs Union is also treated as a developed region and Israel as a developed country; countries emerging from the former Yugoslavia are treated as developing countries; and countries of eastern Europe and of the Commonwealth of Independent States (code 172) in Europe are not included under either developed or developing regions.^[5]

According to the classification from IMF before April 2004, all the countries of Eastern Europe (including Central European countries which still belongs to "Eastern Europe Group" in the UN institutions) as well as the former Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) countries in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) and Mongolia, were not included under either developed or developing regions, but rather were referred to as "countries in transition"; however they are now widely regarded (in the international reports) as "developing countries". In the 21^st century, the original East Asian Tiger^[6] countries (Hong Kong,^[6][7] Singapore,^[6][7] South Korea,^[6][7][8][9] and the Taiwan^[6][7]) are considered "developed" region or areas, along with Cyprus,^[7] Israel,^[7] Malta,^[7] and Slovenia,^[7] are considered "newly developed countries".

[edit] Human Development Index

World map showing the Human Development Index as presented by the United Nations in 2007.

The UN HDI is a statistical measure that gauges a country's level of human development. While there is a strong correlation between having a high HDI score and a prosperous economy, the UN points out that the HDI accounts for more than income or productivity. Unlike GDP per capita or per capita income, the HDI takes into account how income is turned "into education and health opportunities and therefore into higher levels of human development." A few examples are Italy and the United States. Despite a relatively large difference in GDP per capita, both countries rank roughly equal in term of overall human development.^[10] Since 1980, Norway (2001-2006), Japan (1990-91 and 1993), Canada (1992 and 1994-2000) and Iceland (2007-08) have had the highest HDI score. Countries with a score of over 0.800 are considered to have a "high" standard of human development. The top 30 countries have scores ranging from 0.912 in Cyprus to 0.968 in Iceland. Several small countries, such as Andorra, Liechtenstein and Macau were not reviewed by the United Nations. Thus, these countries have not received an official HDI score.^[11]

Many countries listed by IMF or^[12] CIA as "advanced" (as of 2008), possess an HDI over 0.9 (as of 2006). Many countries^[13] possessing an HDI of 0.9 and over (as of 2004), are also listed by IMF or CIA as "advanced" (as of 2007). Thus, many "advanced economies" (as of 2008) are characterized by an HDI score of 0.9 or higher (as of 2006).

The latest index was released on December 18, 2008. This so-called "statistical update" covers the period up to 2006 and was published without an accompanying report on human development. The update is relevant due to newly released estimates of purchasing power parities (PPP), implying substantial adjustments for many countries, resulting in changes in HDI values and, in many cases, HDI ranks.^[14]

[edit] Other lists of Developed Countries

Only three institutions have produced lists of "developed countries". The three institutionsand their lists are the UN list (shown above), the CIA^[15] list and the FTSE Group's list, whose list is not included because its association of developed countries with countries with both high incomes and developed markets is not deemed as directly relevant here.^[16] However many institutions have created lists which are sometimes referred to when people are discussing developed countries. The IMF identifies 33 "advanced economies",^[7] The OECD, also widely known as the 'developed countries club' ^[17][18][19] has 30 members. The World Bank identifies 66 "high income countries". The EIU's Quality-of-life survey and a list of countries with welfare states are also included here. The criteria for using all these list and for countries inclusion on these lists is often not properly spelt out and several of these lists are based on old data.

[edit] IMF advanced economy list

     Countries described as Advanced Economies by the IMF.

According to the International Monetary Fund the following 33 countries are classified as "advanced economies":^[7]

•  Australia	•  Finland	•  Israel	•  Norway	•  Sweden
•  Austria	•  France	•  Italy	•  Portugal	•  Switzerland
•  Belgium	•  Germany	•  Japan	•  Singapore	•  Taiwan
•  Canada	•  Greece	•  Luxembourg	•  Slovakia	•  United Kingdom
•  Cyprus	•  Hong Kong	•  Malta	•  Slovenia	•  United States
•  Czech Republic	•  Iceland	•  Netherlands	•  South Korea
•  Denmark	•  Ireland	•  New Zealand	•  Spain

The CIA has a modified version of an old version of the IMF's list of Advanced Economies. The CIA notes that the IMF's Advanced Economies list "would presumably also cover"^[15] some smaller countries. They are:

•  Andorra

•  Faroe Islands

•  Monaco

•  Bermuda

•  Holy See

•  Liechtenstein

•  San Marino

The CIA list does not include Cyprus, Czech Republic, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia which have all been added to the IMF's list since the CIA's made its presumptions about the IMF list.

[edit] High-income OECD members

There are 27 High-income OECD members,^[20] although there are three other OECD members (Mexico, Poland and Turkey) that are not high-income members. The CIA, in its developed country list, implies that developed countries are the OECD members plus Bermuda, Israel, South Africa, and the European ministates. As of 2009, the High-income OECD membership is as follows:

21 countries in Europe:

•  Austria	•  Greece	•  Norway
•  Belgium	•  Hungary	•  Portugal
•  Czech Republic	•  Iceland	•  Slovakia
•  Denmark	•  Ireland	•  Spain
•  Finland	•  Italy	•  Sweden
•  France	•  Luxembourg	•  Switzerland
•  Germany	•  Netherlands	•  United Kingdom

2 countries in Asia:

•  Japan
•  South Korea

2 countries in North America:

•  Canada

•  United States

2 countries in Oceania:

•  Australia

•  New Zealand

[edit] World Bank high-income economies

     High income      Upper-middle income      Lower-middle income      Low income

"High income economies" are defined by the World Bank as countries with a Gross National Income per capita of $11,456 or more.^[21] According to the United Nations definition some high income countries may also be developing countries. Thus, a high income country may be classified as either developed or developing.^[22]

According to the World Bank, the following 66 countries and territories are classified as "high-income economies":^[23][24][25]

High-income economy not classified by World Bank:

• Holy See

[edit] Quality-of-life survey

Research about standards of living and quality of life by the Economist Intelligence Unit resulted in a quality-of-life index. As of 2005, the 30 countries with the highest index are:^[26]

[edit] Summary

Below is a "summary" table which has been produced by Wikipedia editors as a summary of the information on this page. It should be used with caution. Different data sources for the different lists are of different vintages and some of the lists are based on each other. Readers are warned that it is not intended that the "all" column should be used to indicate that those countries on more lists are more developed than those on less.

Countries	HIE OECD	CIA AE	IMF AE	WB HIE	HDI≥0.9	QoL Top 30	All
Australia	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Austria	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Belgium	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Canada	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Denmark	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Finland	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
France	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Germany	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Greece	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Iceland	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Ireland	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Italy	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Japan	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Korea, South	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Luxembourg	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Netherlands	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
New Zealand	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Norway	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Portugal	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Spain	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Sweden	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Switzerland	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
United Kingdom	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
United States	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	6
Hong Kong	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	5
Singapore	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	5
Taiwan	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	5
Cyprus	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	4
Israel	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	NO	4
Slovenia	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	4
Malta	NO	NO	YES	YES	YES	YES	4
Czech Republic	YES	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	3
Monaco	NO	YES	N/A	YES	YES	NO	3
Slovakia	YES	NO	YES	YES	NO	NO	3
Andorra	NO	YES	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	2
Bahrain	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	2
Bermuda	NO	YES	N/A	YES	N/A	N/A	2
Brunei	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	2
Faroe Islands	NO	YES	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	2
Greenland	NO	YES	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	2
Hungary	YES	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	2
Kuwait	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	2
Liechtenstein	NO	YES	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	2
Macau	NO	NO	N/A	YES	YES	NO	2
San Marino	NO	YES	N/A	YES	N/A	N/A	2
United Arab Emirates	NO	NO	NO	YES	YES	NO	2
Antigua and Barbuda	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	1
Aruba	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
Bahamas, The	NO	NO	NO	YES	N/A	NO	1
Barbados	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	1
Cayman Islands	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
Channel Islands	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
Estonia	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	1
Equatorial Guinea	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	1
French Polynesia	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
Guam	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
Holy See	NO	YES	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	1
Isle of Man	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
Netherlands Antilles	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
New Caledonia	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
Northern Mariana Islands	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1
Oman	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	1
Qatar	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	1
Saudi Arabia	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	1
Trinidad and Tobago	NO	NO	NO	YES	NO	NO	1
U.S. Virgin Islands	NO	NO	N/A	YES	N/A	NO	1

[edit] See also

• Developed market
• Emerging markets

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• IMF (advanced economies)
• The Economist (quality of life survey)
• The World Factbook (developed countries)
• United Nations Statistics Division (definition)
• United Nations Statistics Division (developed regions)
• World Bank (high-income economies)