Mapped: How the World’s Income Map Changed in 30 Years

Mapped: How the World’s Income Map Changed in 30 Years

Over the past three decades, countries across Asia, Eastern Europe, and other regions have climbed the global income ladder.

This visualization compares World Bank income classifications by country in 1995 and 2025. The data comes from the World Bank Group.

Countries are classified into four income groups based on gross national income (GNI) per capita.

For 2025, the thresholds are: low income ($1,175 or less), lower-middle income ($1,176–$4,635), upper-middle income ($4,636–$14,375), and high income (above $14,375).

For 1995, the thresholds were: low income ($725 or less), lower-middle income ($726–$2,895), upper-middle income ($2,896–$8,955), and high income (above $8,955).

Eastern Europe’s Economic Transformation

Eastern Europe recorded one of the most dramatic shifts over the 30-year period.

Market reforms, European Union integration, and rising investment helped many countries advance into the high-income category.

Country / Economy	Income group (1995)	Income group (2025)
Afghanistan	Low income	Low income
Albania	Low income	Upper-middle income
Algeria	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
American Samoa	Upper-middle income	High income
Andorra	High income	High income
Angola	Low income	Lower-middle income
Antigua and Barbuda	Upper-middle income	High income
Argentina	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
Armenia	Low income	Upper-middle income
Aruba	High income	High income
Australia	High income	High income
Austria	High income	High income
Azerbaijan	Low income	Upper-middle income
Bahamas, The	High income	High income
Bahrain	Upper-middle income	High income
Bangladesh	Low income	Lower-middle income
Barbados	Upper-middle income	High income
Belarus	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Belgium	High income	High income
Belize	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Benin	Low income	Lower-middle income
Bermuda	High income	High income
Bhutan	Low income	Lower-middle income
Bolivia	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Low income	Upper-middle income
Botswana	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Brazil	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
British Virgin Islands	Not classified	High income
Brunei Darussalam	High income	High income
Bulgaria	Lower-middle income	High income
Burkina Faso	Low income	Low income
Burundi	Low income	Low income
Cabo Verde	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Cambodia	Low income	Lower-middle income
Cameroon	Low income	Lower-middle income
Canada	High income	High income
Cayman Islands	High income	High income
Central African Republic	Low income	Low income
Chad	Low income	Low income
Channel Islands	High income	High income
Chile	Upper-middle income	High income
China	Low income	Upper-middle income
Colombia	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Comoros	Low income	Lower-middle income
Congo, Dem. Rep.	Low income	Low income
Congo, Rep.	Low income	Lower-middle income
Costa Rica	Lower-middle income	High income
Côte d’Ivoire	Low income	Lower-middle income
Croatia	Upper-middle income	High income
Cuba	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Curaçao	Not classified	High income
Cyprus	High income	High income
Czechia	Upper-middle income	High income
Denmark	High income	High income
Djibouti	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Dominica	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Dominican Republic	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Ecuador	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Egypt, Arab Rep.	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
El Salvador	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Equatorial Guinea	Low income	Upper-middle income
Eritrea	Low income	Low income
Estonia	Lower-middle income	High income
Eswatini	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Ethiopia	Low income	Low income
Faeroe Islands	High income	High income
Fiji	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Finland	High income	High income
France	High income	High income
French Polynesia	High income	High income
Gabon	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
Gambia, The	Low income	Low income
Georgia	Low income	Upper-middle income
Germany	High income	High income
Ghana	Low income	Lower-middle income
Gibraltar	Not classified	High income
Greece	Upper-middle income	High income
Greenland	High income	High income
Grenada	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Guam	High income	High income
Guatemala	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Guinea	Low income	Lower-middle income
Guinea-Bissau	Low income	Low income
Guyana	Low income	High income
Haiti	Low income	Lower-middle income
Honduras	Low income	Lower-middle income
Hong Kong SAR, China	High income	High income
Hungary	Upper-middle income	High income
Iceland	High income	High income
India	Low income	Lower-middle income
Indonesia	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Iran, Islamic Rep.	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Iraq	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Ireland	High income	High income
Isle of Man	Upper-middle income	High income
Israel	High income	High income
Italy	High income	High income
Jamaica	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Japan	High income	High income
Jordan	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Kazakhstan	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Kenya	Low income	Lower-middle income
Kiribati	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Korea, Dem. Rep.	Lower-middle income	Low income
Korea, Rep.	High income	High income
Kosovo	Not classified	Upper-middle income
Kuwait	High income	High income
Kyrgyz Republic	Low income	Lower-middle income
Lao PDR	Low income	Lower-middle income
Latvia	Lower-middle income	High income
Lebanon	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Lesotho	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Liberia	Low income	Low income
Libya	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
Liechtenstein	High income	High income
Lithuania	Lower-middle income	High income
Luxembourg	High income	High income
Macao SAR, China	High income	High income
Madagascar	Low income	Low income
Malawi	Low income	Low income
Malaysia	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
Maldives	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Mali	Low income	Low income
Malta	Upper-middle income	High income
Marshall Islands	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Mauritania	Low income	Lower-middle income
Mauritius	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
Mexico	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Moldova	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Monaco	High income	High income
Mongolia	Low income	Upper-middle income
Montenegro	Not classified	Upper-middle income
Morocco	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Mozambique	Low income	Low income
Myanmar	Low income	Lower-middle income
Namibia	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Nauru	Not classified	High income
Nepal	Low income	Lower-middle income
Netherlands	High income	High income
New Caledonia	High income	High income
New Zealand	High income	High income
Nicaragua	Low income	Lower-middle income
Niger	Low income	Low income
Nigeria	Low income	Lower-middle income
North Macedonia	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Northern Mariana Islands	High income	High income
Norway	High income	High income
Oman	Upper-middle income	High income
Pakistan	Low income	Lower-middle income
Palau	Not classified	High income
Panama	Lower-middle income	High income
Papua New Guinea	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Paraguay	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Peru	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Philippines	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Poland	Lower-middle income	High income
Portugal	High income	High income
Puerto Rico (U.S.)	Upper-middle income	High income
Qatar	High income	High income
Romania	Lower-middle income	High income
Russian Federation	Lower-middle income	High income
Rwanda	Low income	Low income
Samoa	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
San Marino	Not classified	High income
São Tomé and Príncipe	Low income	Lower-middle income
Saudi Arabia	Upper-middle income	High income
Senegal	Low income	Lower-middle income
Serbia	Not classified	Upper-middle income
Seychelles	Upper-middle income	High income
Sierra Leone	Low income	Low income
Singapore	High income	High income
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	Not classified	High income
Slovak Republic	Lower-middle income	High income
Slovenia	Upper-middle income	High income
Solomon Islands	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Somalia, Fed. Rep.	Low income	Low income
South Africa	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
South Sudan	Not classified	Low income
Spain	High income	High income
Sri Lanka	Low income	Upper-middle income
St. Kitts and Nevis	Upper-middle income	High income
St. Lucia	Upper-middle income	Upper-middle income
St. Martin (French part)	Not classified	High income
St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Sudan	Low income	Low income
Suriname	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Sweden	High income	High income
Switzerland	High income	High income
Syrian Arab Republic	Lower-middle income	Low income
Taiwan, China	High income	High income
Tajikistan	Low income	Lower-middle income
Tanzania	Low income	Lower-middle income
Thailand	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Timor-Leste	Not classified	Lower-middle income
Togo	Low income	Lower-middle income
Tonga	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Trinidad and Tobago	Upper-middle income	High income
Tunisia	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Türkiye	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Turkmenistan	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
Turks and Caicos Islands	Not classified	High income
Tuvalu	Not classified	Upper-middle income
Uganda	Low income	Low income
Ukraine	Lower-middle income	Upper-middle income
United Arab Emirates	High income	High income
United Kingdom	High income	High income
United States	High income	High income
Uruguay	Upper-middle income	High income
Uzbekistan	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Vanuatu	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Venezuela, RB	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Viet Nam	Low income	Upper-middle income
Virgin Islands (U.S.)	High income	High income
West Bank and Gaza	Lower-middle income	Lower-middle income
Yemen, Rep.	Low income	Low income
Zambia	Low income	Lower-middle income
Zimbabwe	Low income	Lower-middle income

Asia’s Rapid Rise

Asia had the largest concentration of economies moving up the income ladder.

Thirty Asian economies advanced by at least one income tier between 1995 and 2025.

Export-led growth, manufacturing expansion, and growing technology sectors supported economic development across much of the region, although income levels still vary considerably between countries.

Guyana’s Extraordinary Leap

Guyana experienced one of the biggest shifts in the dataset.

The South American nation moved from low-income to high-income status following the rapid development of its offshore oil industry.

The discovery of massive petroleum reserves sharply increased economic output and government revenue, making Guyana one of the world’s fastest-growing economies in recent years.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out this graphic comparing world incomes adjusted for inflation and living costs.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-how-the-worlds-income-map-changed-in-30-years/