New World Bank country classifications by income level: 2021-2022
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Updated country income classifications are available here.
The World Bank assigns the world’s economies to four income groups—low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high-income countries. The classifications are updated each year on July 1 and are based on GNI per capita in current USD (using the Atlas method exchange rates) of the previous year (i.e. 2020 in this case).
The classifications change for two reasons:
- In each country, factors such as economic growth, inflation, exchange rates, and population growth influence GNI per capita. Revisions to national accounts methods and data can also have an influence in specific cases. The updated data on GNI per capita data for 2020 can be accessed here.
- To keep the income classification thresholds fixed in real terms, they are adjusted annually for inflation. The Special Drawing Rights (SDR) deflator is used, which is a weighted average of the GDP deflators of China, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Euro Area. This year, the thresholds moved up in line with this inflation measure. The new thresholds (for GNI per capita in current USD, Atlas method) are as follows:
Group |
July 1, 2021 (new) |
July 1, 2020 (old) |
Low income |
< 1,045 |
< 1,035 |
Lower-middle income |
1,046 – 4,095 |
1,035 – 4,045 |
Upper-middle income |
4,096 -12,695 |
4,046 -12,535 |
High income |
> 12,695 |
> 12,535 |
Changes in classifications
The table below lists the ten economies that are moving to a different category this year. While the World Bank’s income classification reflects the impact of COVID-19 in 2020, three countries are moving to a higher category for different reasons: see comments below.
Economies moving to a higher category | ||||
Economy |
New group |
Old group |
2020 GNI/ capita |
2019 GNI/ capita |
Haiti |
Lower-middle income |
Low income |
1,250 |
790 |
Moldova |
Upper-middle income |
Lower-middle income |
4,570 |
4,560 |
Tajikistan |
Lower-middle income |
Low income |
1,060 |
1,030 |
Haiti has published an improved series of national accounts statistics in July 2020, with revised GDP substantially higher than previously published. Moldova's change in classification is due to the incorporation of improved population data reflecting the most recent census. In Tajikistan, although the Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted household consumption and investment, a large increase in exports of gold led to an increase in GDP and in Atlas GNI per capita.
Economies moving to a lower category | ||||
Economy |
New group |
Old group |
2020 GNI/ capita |
2019 GNI/ capita |
Belize |
Lower-middle income |
Upper-middle income |
3,970 |
4,450 |
Indonesia |
Lower-middle income |
Upper-middle Income |
3,870 |
4,050 |
Iran |
Lower-middle income |
Upper-middle Income |
2,870 |
5,240 |
Mauritius |
Upper-middle Income |
High income |
10,230 |
12,740 |
Panama |
Upper-middle Income |
High income |
11,880 |
14,950 |
Romania |
Upper-middle Income |
High income |
12,570 |
12,630 |
Samoa |
Lower-middle income |
Upper-middle Income |
4,070 |
4,180 |
In Belize, tourism was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, explaining the large decline in Atlas GNI per capita. For Iran, Atlas GNI per capita was updated to better account for multiple exchange rates in effect. Panama was highly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, restricting many activities (construction, retail, and tourism-related industries) for several months and leading to a sharp decline in real GDP and Atlas GNI per capita. Indonesia, Mauritius, Romania, and Samoa were very close to classification thresholds in 2019 and all experienced COVID-19 related decreases in Atlas GNI per capita, resulting in lower classifications in 2020.
Venezuela, previously classified as a an upper-middle income country, is now unclassified due to a lack of available data in the recent period.
More information
More detailed information on how the World Bank classifies countries is available here. The country and lending groups page provides a complete list of economies classified by income, region, and lending status and links to previous years’ classifications. The classification tables include all World Bank members, plus all other economies with populations of more than 30,000. The term country, used interchangeably with economy, does not imply political independence but refers to any territory for which authorities report separate social or economic statistics.
These classifications reflect preliminary GNI figures for 2020, which may be revised as countries publish their final estimates. To explore the world by income and region with interactive tables and maps, please visit the World Development Indicators website. For more information, please contact us at data@worldbank.org.
Join the Conversation
Question: Do foreign aid and defense assistance inputs into the economy count in the computation of GNI per capita? How about remittances? Jordan and Guatemala, both in the upper-middle income class in 2020-2021 (and apparently still there in 2021-22) stand out in that regard. From a demographic standpoint (I'm a demographer), it has been unusual for countries with a youthful population (median age less than 26 years, like Jordan and Guatemala) to reach the upper-middle income category and remain there unless they are among the least populous (less than 5 million residents, including small-island states and port city-states) or have a significant amount of oil and/or mineral resources (like Iraq).
I am a lecturer which I need new data of economic in the world to increase my knowledge and research. So, I compare to the others data and analysis too. No question at the moment, thank you.
Question: How can we convert country classification from GNI per capita in current USD (using the Atlas method exchange rates) of the previous year (which is already being classified by world bank) to GNI per capita, PPP (constant 2017 international $)
Thanks & Regards
QUESTION: ‘’GNI per capita in current USD’’ is mentioned, so would like to know is it GNI per capita at PPP or at Nominal?
The answer will be appreciated, thank you.
Why should the low income countries be measured with the same rate as that of high income countries to determine size of an economy ? why cant developing economies have their own rate of measurement? Paul from Zambia.
Question: I am looking for an updated data of world population classiffied according to the classification of the WB (high, middle, etc). Thankyou very much