I recently looked at data from 2025 and was a bit shocked by the GDP per capita rankings of the world's poorest countries. South Sudan is only $251, Yemen $417, Burundi $490... The per capita incomes in these countries are truly an extreme contrast.

Carefully examining the list, most of the countries are in Africa, which is no coincidence. Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger—these places are all near the top of the list. There are also countries from Asia like Myanmar, Nepal, and Laos. India ranks last, but at only $2,878, it's still relatively low.

Interestingly, the data from these poorest countries reflect the current state of global economic inequality. Meanwhile, developed countries have per capita GDPs above $50,000, and the gap is almost unimaginable. Many factors contribute to this extreme disparity—geopolitics, resource endowments, historical legacy issues, and more.