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A developed country is one that enjoys a relatively high standard of living derived through an industrialised, diversified economy. Countries with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) are generally considered developed countries. This usually coincides with countries that have a high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita; however, some countries have achieved a (usually temporarily) high GDP through natural resource exploitation (e.g., Nauru through phosphate extraction and Equatorial Guinea) without developing the diverse industrial and service-based economy necessary for "developed" status.

Synonyms include industrialised countries, more economically developed countries (MEDC) and the First World. Other terms sometimes used to describe the developed/developing country dichotomy are First World/Third World (the term Second World refers to communist states during and since the Cold War); North/South; and industrialised countries/non-industrialised countries. The term Western countries has a similar meaning, but its connotations restrict its usage, especially in Asia.

Different observers and theorists often see different reasons for why certain countries (and not others) enjoy a high level of economic development. Many argue that economic development requires some combination of representative government (or democracy), a free market economic model, and a general lack of corruption. Some hold that rich countries grew wealthy by exploitation of poorer countries in the past, through imperialism and colonialism, or in the present, through the process of globalization.

According to the United Nations Statistics Division:

In the United Nations system there is no established convention for the designation of "developed" and "developing" countries or areas. In common practice, Japan in Asia, Canada and the United States in North 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; and countries of eastern Europe and the former U.S.S.R. countries in Europe are not included under either developed or developing regions.

The UN HDI is a statistical measure that gauges a country's level of human development. Countries with an HDI of 0.8 or more — largely corresponding to what the conventional definition of being a 'developed' country is — exhibit high development, and those with an HDI between 0.5 and 0.8 (including many of the former Soviet and Eastern Bloc states) exhibit moderate development.

Developed countries

Organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Intelligence Agency, generally agree that the group of developed countries include:

The following European Union member states:

The following non-EU European countries:

The following non-European countries:

Other cases

• Some organizations consider the remaining countries of the European Union — those which joined the body in 2004, especially Cyprus, Malta, and Slovenia — among the developed countries, but these mostly former-Communist countries are rather newly industrialised nations and some of them (such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) remain significantly less affluent than EU-15 countries. All European Union members, however, have a GDP per capita greater than the global average.

• Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau are considered developed by some organizations; however, the People's Republic of China, a developing country, claims the land of the first, and exercises sovereignty over the latter two.

• Mexico, while a part of NAFTA and a member of the OECD, remains much poorer than its northern neighbours. For this reason some authors consider Mexico a developing country rather than a developed one, though most properly Mexico lies between these two extremes as a NIC, with its HDI just above 0.8 and possessing a booming upper middle-income economy.

• South Africa and Turkey are considered developed by some sources; however their GDP per capita clearly places them among the developing countries (both have upper middle-income economies).

• Russia is also considered developed by some and belongs to the G8. This was mainly due to the fact it was once one of the world's leading superpowers, but it has recently faced many troubles such as rampant corruption. Like Turkey and South Africa their GDP per capita clearly places them among the developing countries and should not be considered developed.

• Despite their high per capita GDP, Brunei and the Middle Eastern countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are generally not considered developed countries because their economies depend overwhelmingly on oil production and export. Some of these countries, especially Bahrain, have begun to diversify their economies and democratize. Similarly, the Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, and Saint Kitts and Nevis enjoy a high per capita GDP, but these economies depend overwhelmingly on the tourist industry.

References

• World Bank
• The World Factbook
• United Nations Statistics Division (definition)
• United Nations Statistics Division (developed regions)
• IMF

See also

• List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita
• List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita
• UN Human Development Index
• Developing country
• Newly industrialized country
• Decolonisation
• Economic development
• Sustainable development
• Industrialisation
• G8
• World Bank

• Country classifications