Graduating from status of least-developed country (LDC)

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Decisions on graduation

Decisions on graduation are taken by the United Nations based on the recommendation of the Committee for Development Policy, an advisory body to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The criteria and process leading to graduation can be found here.

Path to graduation

There are currently 45 LDCs, of which 15 are on the path to graduation. Eleven are WTO members: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Djibouti, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Tanzania and Uganda. Two are in the process of WTO accession: Comoros and Sao Tome and Principe. The other two are Kiribati and Tuvalu.

Discussions at the WTO

LDC graduation has been one of the priorities of the LDC Group in the WTO. LDCs have asked members to provide extended time periods to allow graduated LDCs to continue to benefit from LDC-specific special and differential treatment provisions in WTO agreements and trade preferences provided to the LDCs.

In response to the LDC request, the General Council adopted a decision in October 2023 encouraging preference-granting members to provide a smooth transition period before withdrawing duty-free and quota-free market access for LDCs after graduation. At the 13th Ministerial Conference in February 2024, members agreed that LDC graduates would continue to access LDC-specific technical assistance for a three-year transition period after graduation, among other things.

Graduated LDCs

A total of seven countries have graduated from LDC status: Botswana (1994), Cabo Verde (2007), Maldives (2011), Samoa (2014), Equatorial Guinea (2017), Vanuatu (2020) and Bhutan (2023).