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 criterion is income per capita and countries with high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita being described as developed countries. Another economic criterion 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 are classified as developing countries.

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 Belgium (Wallonia), Germany, United States, 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.

Definition

Kofi Annan, former Secretary 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." But according to the United Nations Statistics Division,

And it notes that

The UN also notes

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 Four Asian Tigershttp://www.businesspme.com/uk/articles/economics/78/East-Asian-Tigers-.html countries (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) are considered "developed" region or areas, along with Cyprus, Israel, and Slovenia, considered "newly developed countries".

Human Development Index

thumb|right|320px|World map showing the [[Human Development Index as presented by the United Nations in 2008.]]

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. Since 1980, Norway (2001-2006 and 2009), 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 38 countries have scores ranging from 0.902 in Malta to 0.971 in Norway.
Many countries listed by IMF or CIA as "advanced" (as of 2009), possess an HDI over 0.9 (as of 2007). Many countries possessing an HDI of 0.9 and over (as of 2007), are also listed by IMF or CIA as "advanced" (as of 2009). Thus, many "advanced economies" (as of 2009) are characterized by an HDI score of 0.9 or higher (as of 2007).

The latest index was released on October 5, 2009 and covers the period up to 2007. The following are the 38 countries classified as possessing a "Very high human development" with an HDI at or above 0.900.

1. 0.971 ()
2. 0.970 ()
3. 0.969 ()
4. 0.966 ()
5. 0.965 ()
6. 0.964 ( 1)
7. 0.963 ( 1)
8. 0.961 ( 3)
9. 0.960 ()
10. 0.960 ()
11. 0.960 ( 3)
12. 0.959 ( 1)
13. 0.956 ( 1)

14. 0.955 ( 2)
15. 0.955 ()
16. 0.955 ( 2)
17. 0.953 ()
18. 0.951 ( 1)
19. 0.951 ( 1)
20. 0.950 ()
21. 0.947 ()
22. 0.947 ()
23. 0.944 ( 1)
24. 0.944 ( 1)
25. 0.942 ()
26. 0.937 ()

27. 0.935 ( 1)
28. 0.934 ( 1)
29. 0.929 ()
30. 0.920 ()
31. 0.916 ()
32. 0.914 ()
33. 0.910 ( 1)
34. 0.909 ( 1)
35. 0.903 ( 2)
36. 0.903 ()
37. 0.903 ( 2)
38. 0.902 ( 3)

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 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. However many institutions have created lists which are sometimes referred to when people are discussing developed countries. The IMF identifies 34 "advanced economies", The OECD, also widely known as the 'developed countries club'
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.

IMF advanced economy list

According to the International Monetary Fund the following 34 countries are classified as "advanced economies":

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" some smaller countries. They are:

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.

High-income OECD members

There are 27 High-income OECD members, 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:

2 countries in Asia:

2 countries in North America:

2 countries in Oceania:

World Bank high-income economies

"High income economies" are defined by the World Bank as countries with a Gross National Income per capita of $11,906 or more in 2008. 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.
According to the World Bank, the following 67 countries and territories are classified as "high-income economies": Accessed on July 11, 2009 Accessed on October 12, 2008, last paragraph, line 4., World Bank. Accessed on line December 22, 2008.

• 
  
  • Channel Islands
  • 
    
    • 
      
      • 
        
        • 
          
          • 
            
            • 
              
              High-income economy not classified by World Bank:
              
              • Holy See

              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 highest ranked countries are:
              
              
              
              
              1. Ireland
              2. Switzerland
              3. Norway
              4. Luxembourg
              5. Sweden
              6. Australia
                 
                 
                 
                 7. Iceland
                 8. Italy
                 9. Denmark
                 10. Spain
                 11. Singapore
                 12. Finland
                     
                     
                     
                     13. United States
                     14. Canada
                     15. New Zealand
                     16. Netherlands
                     17. Japan
                     18. Hong Kong
                         
                         
                         
                         19. Portugal
                         20. Austria
                         21. Taiwan
                         22. Greece
                         23. Cyprus
                         24. Belgium
                             
                             
                             
                             25. France
                             26. Germany
                             27. Slovenia
                             28. Malta
                             29. United Kingdom
                             30. South Korea

                             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.

                             See also

                             • Developed market
                             • Emerging markets