BISKEK (24.kg) – Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are among the ten poorest countries in the world, as estimated by Focus Group who compiled the ranking of 127 countries based on GDP for 2018.

Tajikistan takes the 4^th place in the list of the poorest countries with a projected GDP per capita in 2018 of $836.

Uzbekistan occupies the 8^th place in the ranking with GDP per capita in 2018 of $1,026. Economic growth in the country was rapid in the period from 2004 to 2016, which led to the fact that a significant part of the country was in poverty.

According to analysts’ ranking, Kyrgyzstan takes the tenth place in 2018 with GDP per capita of $1,222. The report states:

Having experienced considerable political and social instability with weak governance and high corruption since gaining independence in 1991, the country’s current democracy is a far cry from those days. Nonetheless, corruption is still pervasive in the public sector, which constrains the country’s economic growth potential. The Kyrgyz economy is also vulnerable to external shocks due to its over reliance on its massive gold mine, Kumtor, which accounts for about 10% of GDP, as well as remittances, which amount to about 30% of GDP.

The poorest country in the world is the Democratic Republic of Congo with a projected GDP per capita of only $468.