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A developed country or "more developed country" (MDC), is a sovereign state that has a highly developed economy and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less developed nations. Most commonly the criteria for evaluating the degree of economic development are gross domestic product (GDP), the per capita income, level of industrialization, amount of widespread infrastructure and general standard of living.^[1] Which criteria are to be used and which countries can be classified as being developed are subjects of debate.

Developed countries have post-industrial economies, meaning the service sector provides more wealth than the industrial sector. They are contrasted with developing countries, which are in the process of industrialization, or undeveloped countries, which are pre-industrial and almost entirely agrarian. According to the International Monetary Fund, advanced economies comprise 65.8% of global nominal GDP and 52.1% of global GDP (PPP) in 2010.^[2] In 2011, the ten largest advanced economies by either nominal GDP or GDP (PPP) are the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, Canada, Spain and South Korea.^[3][4]

Similar terms [edit]

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 industrialized country was the United Kingdom, followed by Belgium. Later it spread further to Germany, United States, France and other Western European countries. According to some economists such as Jeffrey Sachs, however, the current divide between the developed and developing world is largely a phenomenon of the 20th century.^[5]

Definition and criteria [edit]

Economic criteria have tended to dominate discussions. One such criterion is income per capita; countries with high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita would thus be described as developed countries. Another economic criterion is industrialization; countries in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate would thus be described as developed. More recently another measure, the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines an economic measure, national income, with other measures, indices for life expectancy and education has become prominent. This criterion would define developed countries as those with a very high (HDI) rating. However, many anomalies exist when determining "developed" status by whichever measure is used.^{[examples needed]}

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."^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8]

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 Central Europe and of the Commonwealth of Independent States (Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, and Central Asia; code 172) in Europe are not included under either developed or developing regions."^[9]

Human Development Index (HDI) [edit]

World map by quartiles of Human Development Index in 2011.

  Very High

  High

  Medium

  Low

  Data unavailable

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."

Since 1990, Norway (2001–2006, 2009–2011), Japan (1990–91 and 1993), Canada (1992 and 1994–2000) and Iceland (2007–08) have had the highest HDI score. The top 47 countries have scores ranging from 0.793 in Barbados to 0.955 in Norway.

Many countries listed by IMF or^[10] CIA as "advanced" (as of 2009), possess an HDI over 0.788 (as of 2010). Many countries^[11] possessing an HDI of 0.788 and over (as of 2010), 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 14 March 2013 and covers the period up to 2012. The following are the 47 countries in the top quartile - having an HDI above 0.8, and classified as possessing a "Very high human development".

Note: The green arrows (), red arrows (), and blue dashes () represent changes in rank when compared to the 2011 data – published in the 2011 report.

Average disposable wage of OECD members [edit]

While GDP per capita is often used to measure how developed a country is, it includes components that do not contribute to a citizen's standard of living. GDP per capita may increase while real incomes for the majority decline. However, measuring only wages and salaries gives a more accurate picture of a country's standard of living. Unlike the gross wage, which can be a misleading indicator of the well-being of a citizen since it does not represent the full amount of money the worker will be left to consume on goods or services, the disposable wage excludes compulsory deductions such as income tax, municipal tax, provincial/state income tax, social security (pension plan, medicare) and compulsory insurance. The list below has compulsory deductions applied with rates obtained from the OECD Tax Database, which assumes that the citizen is single with no children, with an income level 100% of the average wage.^[12] All monetary values are based on the OECD's purchasing power parity exchange rates. Note that the OECD does not publish data for some countries and hence they are not listed.

Rank	Country	Disposable $ 2011[13]	Disposable $ growth[14]	Compulsory deduction[15][16]	Gross $ 2011[17]
1	United States	42,050	242	22.8%	54,450
2	Ireland	41,170	531	18.9%	50,764
3	Luxembourg	37,997	-1,477	28.1%	52,847
4	Switzerland	35,471	-57	29.4%	50,242
5	Australia	34,952	835	22.3%	44,983
6	United Kingdom	33,513	-1,272	25.1%	44,743
7	Canada	32,662	-648	22.7%	42,253
8	Norway	31,101	913	29.3%	43,990
9	South Korea	31,051	1,341	12.3%	35,406
10	Netherlands	29,269	-544	37.8%	47,056
11	Austria	29,008	-177	33.4%	43,555
12	Sweden	28,301	480	25.0%	37,734
13	Denmark	27,974	-335	38.6%	45,560
14	Japan	27,763	724	21.0%	35,143
15	France	27,452	93	28.0%	38,128
16	Spain	26,856	-466	21.9%	34,387
17	Finland	25,747	146	29.8%	36,676
18	Belgium	25,642	25	42.2%	44,364
19	Israel	24,225	147	18.9%	28,804
20	Germany	24,174	379	39.9%	40,223
21	Italy	23,194	-562	30.8%	33,517
22	Greece	21,352	-2,039	18.8%	26,295
23	Portugal	17,170	-2,044	24.5%	22,742
24	Czech Republic	15,115	-191	23.0%	19,630
25	Slovakia	14,701	-328	22.9%	19,068
26	Poland	14,390	116	28.3%	20,069
27	Estonia	13,737	-444	20.7%	17,323
28	Hungary	12,843	52	35.0%	19,437

Other lists of developed countries [edit]

Only three institutions have produced lists of "developed countries". The three institutions and their lists are the UN list (shown above), the CIA^[18] 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.^[19] However many institutions have created lists which are sometimes referred to when people are discussing developed countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) identifies 35 "advanced economies",^[20][21] The OECD, also widely known as the "developed countries club"^[22][23][24] has 34 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 lists and for countries' inclusion on these lists are often not properly spelt out, and several of these lists are based on old data.

IMF advanced economies [edit]

  Countries described as Advanced Economies by the IMF.

According to the IMF the following 35 economies are classified as "advanced economies":^[20]

The CIA has modified an older version of the IMF's list of Advanced Economies, noting that the IMF's Advanced Economies list "would presumably also cover"^[18] some smaller countries. These include:

•  Andorra

•  Bermuda

•  Faroe Islands

•  Holy See

• Liechtenstein

•  Monaco

Development Assistance Committee members [edit]

Member nations of the Development Assistance Committee.

There are 26 members — 25 selected OECD member countries and the European Commission—in the Development Assistance Committee (DAC),^[25] a group of the world's major donor countries that discuss issues surrounding development aid and poverty reduction in developing countries.^[26] The following OECD member countries are DAC members:

19 countries in Europe:

2 countries in Asia:

•  Japan (since 1961)
•  South Korea (since 2010)

2 countries in North America:

•  Canada (since 1961)
•  United States (since 1961)

2 countries in Oceania:

•  Australia (since 1966)
•  New Zealand (since 1973)

¹ Joined the DAC in 1961, withdrew in 1974 and re-joined in 1991.

World Bank high-income economies [edit]

According to the World Bank there are 71 "high-income economies".^[27]

High-income OECD members [edit]

There are 31 members in the High-income OECD category, as determined by the World Bank.^[28] Some countries apply this category - regulatorily, e.g. Germany (the only one in the European Union), which - permits foreigners (coming from outside the Schengen zone and the European Union) to apply for residence permits (also for stays of more than 3 months) after entering Germany without a visa - if and only if that foreigner is a national of a High-income OECD country (while residents of the Schengen zone or the European Union - do not need residence premits).^[29]

The High-income OECD membership is as follows:

24 countries in Europe:

3 countries in Asia:

•  Israel
•  Japan
•  South Korea

2 countries in North America:

•  Canada
•  United States

2 countries in Oceania:

•  Australia
•  New Zealand

Economist's quality-of-life survey of 2005 [edit]

Research about standard of living and quality of life by the Economist Intelligence Unit resulted in a quality-of-life index, covering 111 countries. As of 2005, the top 30 countries are:^[30]

Newsweek's the world's best countries Index of 2010 [edit]

Newsweek published in 2010 the "world's best countries" index, measuring "education, health, quality of life, economic dynamism, and political environment" in 100 countries. As of 2010, the top 30 countries are:^[31]

The top 30 countries in terms of quality of life are:

See also [edit]

• Developing country
• Least developed country
• North–South divide

References [edit]

External links [edit]

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