Underdeveloped countries of the world

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Modern economic science involves the division of countries into levels depending on the stage of development of their economy. Some states have remained at the same level for a long time, while others take a step forward - or backward, sinking to a lower level. These processes of the global economy, difficult for the perception of an individual, have a strong impact on the quality of life in a particular country. At the same time, residents of underdeveloped and developing countries in a number of cases can count on support from more powerful brethren. The economy asks questions about overcoming the backwardness of underdeveloped countries, a number of other significant problems, but to this day no answers have been found to them, as well as a uniform recipe for well-being applicable to all.

Then and now

While the USSR existed, the world could be divided into two parts - countries where capitalism was established, and states dominated by socialism. Many countries belonged to the capitalist, mostly they were underdeveloped states. This order of division into groups assumed rivalry, was based on idealistic ideas about the social system. The situation in the world was characterizedto represent socialism as a stage of the future, a necessary attribute of a developed society. At the same time, there was an opinion that socialism was achievable if feudalism and capitalism were overcome.

No such division scheme currently exists. To classify states, it is customary to single out the level of social and economic development, for which a whole complex of interrelated factors is subject to assessment. To understand which countries are the most underdeveloped, where the situation is better, and where life is very good, they evaluate the level of income of the population, the provision of different product groups, education and access to education. Be sure to pay attention to how long the citizens of this country live on average. The main numerical indicator is GDP.

Three groups

It is customary to distinguish three main groups. All countries are divided into these classes, assessing the social situation in society and the level of economic development of the state. The highest level is inherent in countries where the GDP indicator is $ 9,000 per inhabitant of the country or more. The list of these countries includes the main part of Western Europe, Japan, the states of North America.

Here are countries with a high level of development. This is the "Big Seven", leading in the world in terms of economic development. In all these countries, labor productivity is at a high level, scientific and technological progress is a priority. Up to 80% of the industries of highly developed countries are the "Big Seven". This includes France, Italy, England, Germany and the aboveAsian and American powers. Recently, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Israel have been trying to move into this category.

Second level

States of this category are characterized by an average level of economic and social development. GDP here varies between 750-8500 dollars per person. This group includes our country, as well as several other states where socialism previously reigned - the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. In addition, the average level is inherent in some European powers (Greece), a number of countries in South America.

Third level

The list of underdeveloped countries in the world is the most extensive, it has the most members. GDP per person is less than $750. Currently, more than six dozen states are included in this category. These are many Asian powers - North Korea, China, as well as African countries. The list of underdeveloped countries includes Pakistan, Ecuador, India. There is a division into subgroups - there are countries with a low level, and there are states that are characterized by the lowest level of development. Mostly such powers are characterized by a monocultural economy or a very narrow area of specialization. Most of the world's underdeveloped countries are heavily dependent on outside funding.

There are several criteria that allow a country to be included in this group of countries. In addition to calculating GDP, it is customary for each person to take into account the average age of the population at the time of death, as well as the price of products that pass through the industry of the state per year. Economyin underdeveloped countries is characterized by a GDP level of $350 or less, and industry handles only 10% of GDP. Predominantly in such states only 20% of the population or less are taught to read as adults. These very underdeveloped countries are predominantly located in Asia and Africa. These include Somalia, Bangladesh and Chad. Mozambique and Ethiopia join the list of underdeveloped countries.

Division: Is it so obvious?

From the point of view of some experts, the division into developed, developing and underdeveloped countries is incorrect, only two groups are enough. At the same time, the powers where market forms dominate in economic activity should be attributed to the first. It should also include countries with GDP per capita of at least US$6,000 for 12 months.

The states that fall into this category are heterogeneous, so we have to introduce an additional subdivision into two groups inside. The Big Seven belongs to one circle, and the second includes all the others. According to a number of economists, a third subgroup can also be distinguished here, which includes countries that have only recently received the title of developed.

Development of the world economy after World War II

The period when the world was recovering after the Second World War turned out to be extremely important for the development of the economy, at the same time the foundations of the current situation were laid. In many countries, business has been restructured: from the method of obtaining money for themselves, entrepreneurs have decided to raise the national industry. As a result, a number of statesimmediately after the war, were on the list of underdeveloped countries, now enjoys all the benefits of a developing or developed power. The most striking example is Japan, currently one of the leaders in terms of living standards and economic development on the planet. A similar situation has developed in South Korea.

When the war ended, Japan was the classic representative of the underdeveloped countries. Many economists agreed that there would be no positive future for this power in the near future, especially given the unofficial occupation by American troops. Nevertheless, the high level of national pride and the desire to raise the standard of living in society played a role - today this country is among the leaders. According to experts, the phenomenon of Japan is due to the peculiarity of the national spirit inherent in the inhabitants of this country only. Nevertheless, the world economy can use this fact as clear evidence of the possibility of moving from group to group in a fairly short period of time.

Features of underdeveloped countries

Analysts, economists, sociologists have been talking about how underdeveloped countries can break the vicious circle of poverty for a decade now - but the answer has never been found. These countries are characterized by high levels of corruption, the press here cannot enjoy the right to freedom of speech, and people live suffering from harassment. Many underdeveloped countries are characterized by a situation where dishonest citizens receive from the authorities through machinations large tracts of land or largeamounts for personal use, and are not accounted for in any way. Of course, this deals an even greater blow to the economies of underdeveloped countries, and the country as a whole loses quite a lot by enriching a small group of citizens, including the opportunity to improve its situation in the future.

As experts say, one of the urgent problems of underdeveloped countries is poverty. But this problem is not a simple understanding of the lack of money in one particular family. Poverty has its roots deep in the social structure, it depends on the laws that govern relationships in society. Much depends on the moral level. It is impossible to defeat poverty at the state level if it is not possible to instill in all citizens of the state sufficiently high moral principles that do not allow them to use the opportunity to profit at the expense of another, including at the expense of the country, as soon as one arises.

Trends of recent years

As can be seen from the processes that characterize the development of the economy at the international level in recent decades, the level of education plays an increasingly important role. This applies both to the level of individual people and to the life of the people as a whole. At the same time, many experts say that the world is faced with a crisis in the educational system, primarily noticeable in underdeveloped countries. The case is connected both with a lack of opportunities to learn, and with an insufficient level of quality.

In most cases, education is closed to the broad masses because of the high cost within this state. This allows us to say that the leveleconomic development can be partially identified by analyzing the budgetary expenditures on the education system.

Problems: solutions needed

Economically underdeveloped countries are characterized by such classic problems as:

• voluminous, complex bureaucracy;
• low industrial activity;
• underdeveloped infrastructure.

Mostly such states have underdeveloped transport systems, which greatly affects the level of development of communications. At the same time, economically underdeveloped countries do not have a high level of quality of service in the he alth sector. At a low level and education. Many underdeveloped countries are directly dependent on a specific product or partner, on the interaction with which the economy of the state is built.

What does it look like?

A classic demonstration of commodity or product dependency is well illustrated by the Cuban and Colombian economies: the former export sugar, the latter sell coffee. The dependence of the budget of these countries on agriculture is almost absolute. As soon as demand, supply, climate, productivity changes, the nation as a whole suffers. It is not always possible to assess all the possible risks that a state faces by allowing itself such a primitive level of development. As soon as the price of a commodity goes down, the state's income rapidly decreases. Transformations of a political, economic nature affect firms operating in the field of export due tocausing tariffs and other barriers to fluctuate, and as a result an entire nation may be cut off from some important industrial commodity.

Present and future

The formation, formation, development of economically weak countries is a process that is influenced by a wide range of factors. If entrepreneurs from abroad see that there are no real trends to improve the situation in the present, they do not believe in the progressive future of the state, which means they are not ready to invest their money in this country. This greatly undermines the possibility of planning long-term projects, which in theory could improve the situation in the state. The resulting vicious circle is quite difficult to break in conditions where everyone primarily cares about themselves and their well-being.

Underdeveloped countries can implement projects that require impressive money only with the attraction of foreign capital, and often this is assistance under a credit program that increases public debt. How these funds will be used cannot always be predicted, as the quality of distribution channels varies greatly from country to country. Often this task falls on small intermediaries, which ultimately leads to the loss of impressive funds.

Get out of the vicious circle

As the well-known statement says, states remain poor because they are poor. The fact is that with a low level of income, the population has very low purchasing power, there are no savings. In suchIn the country, no one invests in capital - not only physical, but also human. This entails a minimum level of labor productivity. With the growth of the GDP indicator, poverty remains an equally urgent problem, since it is associated with population growth - and the growth rate is often greater than the increase in GDP. This leads to the formation of a vicious circle, from which it is very difficult to escape.

Economic development within a country with a low-level economy involves fundamental changes in the established economic structure of the state. This means that it is necessary to radically transform the economy, only then can real success be achieved. A good example of the possibility of implementing such an approach is the previously mentioned Japan, a previously closed country focused on agriculture, and today a power that imports its goods to all countries of the world, one of the leaders in the field of economy at the world level.

The past belongs to the past

As can be seen from the analytics, most of the underdeveloped countries live off agriculture. There is a weak industry or it does not exist at all, and the population lives in villages and towns. Economic development within such a country involves the creation of an industry from scratch, work on the formation of a convenient, productive infrastructure. In addition, it is important to educate the population, since mostly illiterate people live in underdeveloped countries. With a low level of literacy, with a weak education system, one should not even count on improving the standard of living at the national level.level - for this there are simply no human resources capable of translating the necessary from the projects of economists into reality. In addition, people should not just follow a predetermined program, but be aware of what they are working for, what benefits they will receive if they approach the task responsibly.

At present, the underdeveloped powers are not alone, international structures created specifically to help them and support weaker peoples are ready to come to the rescue. Specialized structures are ready to send impressive financial resources to help with the development of the economy and society, while specialists from these structures are also sent to the country to monitor the intended use of the allocated funds. But this approach also causes a lot of controversy, because, as you know, not the one who was given the fish will not be hungry, but the one who was given a fishing rod and taught how to use it.