Arguably the single most influential factor in determining the quality of life in a given country is its economic health. The World Bank, a global organization dedicated to ending extreme poverty all over the world, divides countries into four categories, known as World Bank Country and Lending Groups, based upon theirGross National Income (GNI) per capita. For the 2024 financial year, the WBC Lending Group boundaries are as follows:

• Low-income economies — GNI per capita of up to $1,135 (in USD)
• Lower-middle-income economies — GNI per capita of $1,136 to $4,465
• Upper-middle-income economies — GNI per capita of $4,466 to $13,845
• High-income economies — GNI per capita of $13,846 or more

For the 2024 financial year, the World Bank placed 86 countries and territories in the high-income category. Many countries, such as the United States, have consistently ranked as high income since the 1980s, and others have moved in. For instance, the 2024 group sees the addition of American Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands.

GNI per Capita Explained

GNI per capita is essentially a measure of a nation’s total income divided by the number of people in that country. A country’s overallgross national income (GNI) is very similar togross national product (GNP), an older metric GNI has largely replaced. GNI is calculated by starting with a country’sgross domestic product (GDP), then adding money its citizens and businesses have brought in from other countries and subtracting money taken out of the economy by businesses and investors based in other countries. Once a country’s GNI has been calculated, it is divided by that country’s population to determine its GNI per capita. GNI offers little insight into a country’sincome inequality but is nonetheless considered one of the most important at-a-glance assessments of a country’s economic health.

The Relationship between Income and Development

While World Bank classifies countries by income, theUnited Nations groups countries by their level of overall development. There is, however, a high degree of correlation between the two systems, as development often runs parallel to income. As a rule, countries classified as high income by World Bank correspond to those deemeddeveloped countries by the United Nations. Upper-middle- and lower-middle-income countries roughly correspond to the United Nations’developing countries, and World Bank’s low-income countries list includes many of what the United Nations would consider theleast-developed or (less commonly)underdeveloped countries.