Countries with the lowest per capita GNP

The following table lists the 42 lowest-ranked countries in terms of per capita Gross National Product (GNP), and for each country gives figures for

• per capita GNP in US dollars
• educational spending per child in US dollars, and
• literacy rates as a percentage of the population.

The table shows how low literacy rates frequently correlate with poverty as measured by per capita GNP. Since countries with few resources tend to have limited educational systems, it is not surprising that literacy rates for these countries tend to be low.

Be careful, however, in asserting a causative effective between literacy and low income. There are some counter examples such as

• some oil rich countries with high income but low-to-modest rates of literacy, and
• some socialist countries with modest income but high literacy rates.

The countries are listed by per capita GNP in ascending order.

• Fact module: Countries with the lowest per capita GNP
• In overview module: General literacy statistics, by Stephen L. Walter
• In overview module: The big picture in literacy, by Stephen L. Walter
• In modular book: Prepare for a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter, Mary Morgan, and Leah B. Walter
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 1 October 1999

© 1999 SIL International