Developed country

The term developed country, or advanced country, is used to categorize countries with developed economies in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate.

This level of economic development usually translates into a high income per capita and a high Human Development Index (HDI). Countries with high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita often fit the above description of a developed economy. However, anomalies exist when determining "developed" status by the factor GDP per capita alone.

Synonyms

Modern terms synonymous with the term developed/advanced country include industrialized countries, more developed countries (MDC) more economically developed countries(MEDC), advanced country or post-industrial country. The term industrialized country may be somewhat ambigious, as industrialization is an ongoing process that is hard to define. The term MEDC is one used by modern geographers to specifically describe the status of the countries referred to: more economically developed. The first industrialised country was England, followed by Germany, France, the remainder of the United Kingdom and other Western European countries. According to economists such as Jeffrey Sachs, however, the current divide between the developed and developing world is largely a phenomenon of the 20^th century.^[1]

Definition

In common practice, Japan and South Korea in Asia, Canada and the United States in North America, Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, and Western Europe are considered "developed countries." In international trade statistics, Israel is also treated as a developed country; and countries of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) countries in Europe are not included under either developed or developing regions. A more comprehensive group of "developed countries" also covers the East Asian Tigers Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and the Republic of China (Taiwan). Hong Kong has long been considered developed by the IMF. Although Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China which is a developing country, it is still considered internationally as separate economic entity.(Hong Kong has its own currency and custom controls).

High income countries

"High income countries" are defined by the World Bank as countries with a Gross National Income per capita of $11,116 or more.^[2] According to the United Nations definition some high income countries may also be developing countries. Thus, a high income country may be classified as either developed or developing.^[3]

When using GDP/cap to define "developed" status, one must take into account how some countries have achieved a (usually temporarily) high GDP/cap 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 — similarly, the Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis depend overwhelmingly on the tourist industry.^{[citation needed]}

Despite their high per capita GDP, the GCC countries in the Middle East, are generally not considered developed countries because their economies depend overwhelmingly on oil production and export; in many cases (notably Saudi Arabia), per capita GDP is also skewed by an unequal distribution of wealth.

Human Development Index

The UN HDI is a statistical measure that gauges a country's level of human development. While there is a strong correlation between having a high HDI score and a prosperous economy, the UN points out that the HDI accounts for more than income or productivity. Unlike GDP per capita or per capita income, the HDI takes into account how income is turned "into education and health opportunities and therefore into higher levels of human development." A few examples are Italy and the United States. Despite a relatively large difference in GDP per capita, both countries rank roughly equal in term of overall human development^[4]. Since 1980, Norway (2001-present), Japan (1991 & 1993), Canada (1985, 1992, 1994-2000) and Switzerland, (1980) have had the highest HDI score. Countries with a score of over 0.800 are considered to have a "high" standard of human development. The top 30 countries have scores ranging from 0.885 in the Czech Republic to 0.965 in Norway. All countries included in the UN study on the IMF list had a high HDI. Several small countries, such as Andorra, Liechtenstein and Macau were not reviewed by the United Nations. Thus, these countries have not received an official HDI score^[5].

All countries listed by IMF or^[6] CIA as "advanced" (as of 2007) - possess an HDI over 0.9 (as of 2004). All countries^[7] possessing an HDI of 0.9 and over (as of 2004) - are also listed by IMF or CIA as "advanced" (as of 2007). Thus, all "advanced economies" (as of 2007) are characterized by an HDI score of 0.9 or higher (as of 2004).

Lists of prosperous economies

While there is no official guideline for which country may or may not be considered developed, different institutions have created certain categories for the economically most prosperous countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) identifies 31 "advanced economies," while the CIA identifies 34 advanced economies. The World Bank identifies 60 "high income countries," which are classified either as developed or developing by the UN. The criteria used to create these lists differ across these organizations as does the placement of certain countries. The Economist Intelligence Unit has crafted a list of the thirty countries with the highest quality of life.

CIA developed country list

The CIA classifies 34 economic entities as "developed countries (DCs):"^[8]

the top group in the hierarchy of developed countries (DCs), former USSR/Eastern Europe (former USSR/EE), and less developed countries (LDCs); includes the market-oriented economies of the mainly democratic nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Bermuda, Israel, South Africa, and the European ministates; also known as the First World, high-income countries, the North, industrial countries; generally have a per capita GDP in excess of $10,000 although four OECD countries and South Africa have figures well under $10,000 and two of the excluded OPEC countries have figures of more than $10,000; the 34 DCs are: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holy See, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, NZ, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, US; note - similar to the new International Monetary Fund (IMF) term "advanced economies" that adds Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan but drops Malta, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey

• Andorra	• Faroe Islands	• Ireland	• Monaco	• Spain
• Australia	• Finland	• Israel	• Netherlands	• Sweden
• Austria	• France	• Italy	• New Zealand	• Switzerland
• Belgium	• Germany	• Japan	• Norway	• Turkey
• Bermuda	• Greece	• Liechtenstein	• Portugal	• United Kingdom
• Canada	• Holy See	• Luxembourg	• San Marino	• United States
• Denmark	• Iceland	• Malta	• South Africa	South Korea

CIA advanced economy list

The official classification of "advanced countries" is originally made by the IMF. The CIA intends to follow the IMF but adds also the non-IMF members. Thus, until March 2001 - the CIA list had been more comprehensive than the IMF list. Since 2001, however, Cyprus, and more recently Slovenia, were added to the IMF yet not to the CIA advanced economy list. Below is the current CIA advanced country list, consisting of 35 countries:

• Andorra	• Faroe Islands	• Iceland	• Monaco	• South Korea
• Australia	• Finland	• Ireland	• Netherlands	• Spain
• Austria	• France	• Israel	• New Zealand	• Sweden
• Belgium	• Germany	• Italy	• Norway	• Switzerland
• Bermuda	• Greece	• Japan	• Portugal	• Taiwan
• Canada	• Holy See	• Liechtenstein	• San Marino	• United Kingdom
• Denmark	• Hong Kong	• Luxembourg	• Singapore	• United States

IMF advanced economy list

According to the International Monetary Fund the following 31 countries are classified as "advanced economies:"^[9]

• Australia	• Iceland	• San Marino
• Austria	• Ireland	• Singapore
• Belgium	• Israel	• Slovenia
• Canada	• Italy	• South Korea
• Cyprus	• Japan	• Spain
• Denmark	• Luxembourg	• Sweden
• Finland	• Netherlands	• Switzerland
• France	• New Zealand	• Taiwan
• Germany	• Norway	• United Kingdom
• Greece	• Portugal	• United States
• Hong Kong	• Turkey

Quality-of-life Survey

Research about standard of living and quality of life by the Economist Intelligence Unit resulted in a Quality-of-life index, which lists the top 30 countries as:

References

^ Sachs, Jeffrey (2005). The End of Poverty. The Penguin Press. 1-59420-045-9. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |tlocation= ignored (help)
^ "World Bank. (2007). Data & Statistics: Country Groups". Retrieved 2007-06-20.
^ "UN. (2005). UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-07-09.
^ "UN. (2006). Human Development Report". Retrieved 2007-07-07.
^ "UN. (2006). Human Development Report: Summary" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-07-07.
^ The official classification of "advanced countries" is originally made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF list doesn't deal with non-IMF memebrs. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intends to follow IMF list but adds few countries which aren't dealt with by IMF due to their not being IMF members. By May 2001, the advanced country list of the CIA was more comprehensive than the original IMF list; However, since May 2001 - two additional countries (Cyprus and Slovenia) have been added to the original IMF list, thus leaving the CIA list not updated.
^ Namely sovereign states, i.e. excluding Macau: In 2003 the government of Macau calculated its HDI as being 0.909 (the UN does not calculate Macau's HDI); In January 2007, the People's Daily reported (from China Modernization Report 2007): "In 2004...Macau...had reached the level of developed countries". However, Macau is not recognized by any international organisation as a developed/advanced territory, while the UNCTAD organisaion (of the UN), as well as the CIA, classify Macao as a "developing" territory. The World Bank classifies Macau as a high income economy (along with developed economies as well as with few developing economies).
^ "CIA. (19 June, 2007). International Organizations and Groups. World Factbook". Retrieved 2007-07-07.
^ "IMF. (April 2007). World Economic Outlook". Retrieved 2007-07-06.

External links

World Bank (high-income economies)
The World Factbook (developed countries)
United Nations Statistics Division (definition)
United Nations Statistics Division (developed regions)
IMF (advanced economies)
The Economist (quality of life survey)

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