I looked at the GDP per capita statistics and was struck by the contrast. The poorest countries in the world are mostly concentrated in Africa — South Sudan leads the list with $251, Yemen with $417, Burundi with $490. It’s just a different level of economic development.

Interestingly, even within the same region, the range is huge. For example, in West Africa, Nigeria with $807 coexists with Ghana at $2,519. Or look at East Africa — from Somalia at $766 to Kenya at $2,468. It seems that geographic proximity does not guarantee similar economic indicators.

And in Asia, the poorest countries are represented by Nepal ($1,458) and Tajikistan ($1,432), although even they appear more prosperous than their African neighbors. Bangladesh and India are also at the lower end of the list with $2,689 and $2,878 respectively. It’s interesting to track these trends and understand how the global economy is changing.