A developing country is a sovereign state with a less developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index HDI relative to other countries. There is also no clear agreement on which countries fit this category. The World Bank classifies the world's economies into four groups, based on gross national income per capita: high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and low income countries.
Least developed countries , landlocked developing countries and small island developing states are all sub-groupings of developing countries. Countries on the other end of the spectrum are usually referred to as high-income countries or developed countries. There are controversies over the term's use, as some feel that it perpetuates an outdated concept of "us" and "them".
Instead, their reports will present data aggregations for regions and income groups. Developing countries tend to have some characteristics in common often due to their histories or geographies. For example, they commonly have: lower levels of access to safe drinking water , sanitation and hygiene , energy poverty , higher levels of pollution e.
In addition, there are also often high unemployment rates, widespread poverty , widespread hunger , extreme poverty , child labour , malnutrition , homelessness , substance abuse , prostitution , overpopulation , civil disorder , human capital flight , a large informal economy , high crime rates extortion , robbery , burglary , murder , homicide , arms trafficking , sex trafficking , drug trafficking , kidnapping , rape , low education levels, economic inequality , school desertion , inadequate access to family planning services, teenage pregnancy , many informal settlements and slums , corruption at all government levels, and political instability.
Unlike developed countries, developing countries lack rule of law. Access to healthcare is often low. The effects of climate change are expected to impact developing countries more than high-income countries, as most of them have a high climate vulnerability or low climate resilience.
