These Are The 50 Poorest Countries By GDP Per Capita In 2025

GDP per capita offers a quick litmus test of how wealth is generated per person within a country. By dividing total economic output by population, it levels the playing field between nations of very different sizes.

The infographic, via Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao, highlights the 50 poorest countries in the world by this measure, based on 2025 estimates from the International Monetary Fund.

All values are in 2025 U.S. dollars. Data is missing for Afghanistan, Eritrea, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Palestine.

GDP per capita doesn’t account for: local prices, currency exchange rates, or distribution variance within the country. There’s also a more existential question of whether economic output can be equated to wealth.

Measuring Relative Economic Productivity

South Sudan is the poorest country in the world in 2025, with a $251 GDP per capita.

More startlingly, India makes the list as well. It’s the 50th poorest by GDP per capita ($2,878), a rare case of a top-five economy by GDP having low levels of individual productivity.

Rank	Country	Region	GDP Per Capita (2025)
1	South Sudan	Africa	$251
2	Yemen	Middle East	$417
3	Burundi	Africa	$490
4	Central African Republic	Africa	$532
5	Malawi	Africa	$580
6	Madagascar	Africa	$595
7	Sudan	Africa	$625
8	Mozambique	Africa	$663
9	DRC	Africa	$743
10	Niger	Africa	$751
11	Somalia	Africa	$766
12	Nigeria	Africa	$807
13	Liberia	Africa	$908
14	Sierra Leone	Africa	$916
15	Mali	Africa	$936
16	Gambia	Africa	$988
17	Chad	Africa	$991
18	Rwanda	Africa	$1,043
19	Togo	Africa	$1,053
20	Ethiopia	Africa	$1,066
21	Lesotho	Africa	$1,098
22	Burkina Faso	Africa	$1,107
23	Guinea-Bissau	Africa	$1,126
24	Myanmar	Asia	$1,177
25	Tanzania	Africa	$1,280
26	Zambia	Africa	$1,332
27	Uganda	Africa	$1,338
28	Tajikistan	Asia	$1,432
29	Nepal	Asia	$1,458
30	Timor-Leste	Asia	$1,491
31	Benin	Africa	$1,532
32	Comoros	Africa	$1,702
33	Senegal	Africa	$1,811
34	Cameroon	Africa	$1,865
35	Guinea	Africa	$1,904
36	Laos	Asia	$2,096
37	Zimbabwe	Africa	$2,199
38	Congo	Africa	$2,356
39	Solomon Islands	Oceania	$2,379
40	Kiribati	Oceania	$2,414
41	Kenya	Africa	$2,468
42	Mauritania	Africa	$2,478
43	Ghana	Africa	$2,519
44	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	$2,565
45	Haiti	Americas	$2,672
46	Bangladesh	Asia	$2,689
47	Kyrgyz Republic	Asia	$2,747
48	Cambodia	Asia	$2,870
49	Côte d’Ivoire	Africa	$2,872
50	India	Asia	$2,878
N/A	World	World	$14,213

Nigeria (8th poorest, $807) is another less dramatic example of large economy whose population brings down its GDP per capita.

However, the gap between the poorest and even moderately poor countries is vast. South Sudan at $251 per capita has roughly one-eleventh the GDP per capita of India at $2,878, despite both making this list.

Some Pacific island nations also appear on the list (Solomon Islands, Kiribati). These small, isolated economies face unique economic challenges with limited diversification opportunities.

This seems counterintuitive, since other small islands (especially in the Caribbean) tend to be some of the richest territories in the world.

However there is difference between the two groups. The latter have historical colonial relationships that provide institutional advantages—like sophisticated legal and financial infrastructure.

Regional Trends Amongst the World’s Poorest Countries

Noticeably, most of these economies are clustered in Sub‑Saharan Africa, with a handful from South Asia and the Pacific.

Chronic conflict, fragile institutions, and limited industrial bases continue to suppress income growth in many of them, even as the global economy rebounds after the pandemic.

Africa in particular is heavily underrepresented on the world stage. It accounts for 19% of the global population and only 3% of the $113 trillion world economy.

Want to see how the other half lives? Check out: 50 Richest Countries by GDP Per Capita in 2025 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.