World Bank high-income economy


A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a country with a gross national income per capita of US$12,535 or more in 2019, calculated using the Atlas method. 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 or International Monetary Fund, 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. 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 2021 fiscal year)

According to the World Bank the following 80 countries are classified as "high-income economies". In brackets the year during which they held such classification.
As of the 2021 fiscal year, high-income economies are those that had a GNI per capita of $12,535 or more in 2019.

High income UN members

The year during which they held such classification is/are shown in paranthesis.
a Between 1994 and 2009, as a part of the.
b Dissolved on 10 October 2010. Succeeded by Curaçao and Sint Maarten.

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, and from 2001, that of Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the eurozone. Thus, the thresholds remain constant in real terms over time. 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.
The following table shows the high-income threshold from 1987 onwards. Countries with a GNI per capita above this threshold are classified by the World Bank as "high-income economies".
YearGNI per capita Date of
classification
19876,000
19886,000
19896,000
19907,620
19917,910
19928,355
19938,625
19948,955
19959,385
19969,645
19979,655
19989,360
19999,265
20009,265
20019,205
20029,075
20039,385
200410,065
200510,725
200611,115
200711,455
200811,905
200912,195
201012,275
201112,475
201212,615
201312,745
201412,735
201512,475
201612,236
201712,056
201812,376
201912,536