Ahigh-income economy is defined by theWorld Bank as a country with agross national income per capita of US$13,935 or more in 2024, calculated using theAtlas method.^[1] 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 theU.S. andNATO during theCold War. Several institutions, such as theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) orInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), take factors other than highper capita income into account when classifying countries as "developed" or "advanced economies". According to theUnited Nations, for example, some high-income countries may also be developing countries. TheGCC countries, for example, are classified as developing high-income countries. Thus, a high-income country may be classified as either developed ordeveloping.^[2] AlthoughVatican City is asovereign state, it is not classified by the World Bank under this definition.

According to the World Bank the following 87 countries (including territories) are classified as "high-income economies".^[1] In brackets are the year(s) during which they held such classification; classifying began in 1987.As of the 2026 fiscal year, high-income economies are those that had a GNI per capita of $13,935 or more in 2024.^[1]

The year(s) during which they held such classification is/are shown in parentheses.^[3]

^aBetween 1994 and 2009, as a part of theNetherlands Antilles.^bDissolved on 10 October 2010. Succeeded byCuraçao andSint Maarten.

The high-income threshold was originally set in 1989 atUS$6,000 in 1987 prices. Thresholds for subsequent years were adjusted taking into account the averageinflation in theG-5 countries (the United States,the United Kingdom,Japan,Germany, andFrance), and from 2001, that ofJapan, theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States, and theeurozone.^[4] Thus, the thresholds remain constant in real terms over time.^[3] 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.^[5]

The following table shows the high-income threshold from 1987 onwards. Countries with aGNI per capita (calculated using the Atlas method) above this threshold are classified by the World Bank as "high-income economies".^[3]

• Developed country
• Developing country
• Least developed countries
• Global North and Global South

• Economic country classifications
• Politics by region

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