Nigeria ranks 56th among world’s poorest countries in 2026

Nigeria has been ranked among the world’s 60 poorest countries by GDP per-capita at purchasing power parity, according to a 2026 ranking by Global Finance magazine, with African nations accounting for the overwhelming majority of countries at the bottom of the list.

Nigeria placed 56th on the list, with a GDP per capita of $9,532.92, a sharp fall from its 44th position in the 2025 ranking.

The country’s slide down the rankings mirrors a broader pattern, as the report showed nine of the 10 lowest-ranked countries are in Africa, with Yemen the only non-African nation among them.

Burundi topped the list of the world’s poorest countries, recording the lowest GDP per capita at $994.23.

The Central African Republic followed with $1,437.72, while South Sudan came third with $1,467.19.

Rounding out the bottom 10 were Mozambique, Malawi, Somalia, Liberia, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The rankings, calculated using GDP per capita at purchasing power parity, adjust for differences in cost of living and inflation between countries, offering a clearer picture of relative economic wellbeing than raw GDP figures.

Beyond the bottom 10, several other African countries featured prominently across the lower half of the ranking. Niger placed 11th with $2,108.46, followed by Sudan at 13th with $2,427.43 and Burkina Faso at 16th with $3,060.34. Lesotho took the 17th spot with $3,211.83, while Chad and Guinea-Bissau followed closely at 18th and 19th, with $3,284.18 and $3,304.84 respectively.

Mali ranked 20th with $3,480.41, ahead of Togo in 21st with $3,563.31, The Gambia in 22nd with $3,664.60 and Sierra Leone in 23rd with $3,709.84. Uganda placed 26th with $3,923.83, trailed by Vanuatu, Comoros, Rwanda and Tanzania in the 27th to 30th positions.

Further up the table, Zambia took 31st place with $4,380.77, followed by Ethiopia in 32nd with $4,498.55, Guinea in 33rd with $4,746.77 and Benin in 34th with $4,758.22. Senegal ranked 37th with $5,440.63, while Cameroon followed in 38th with $5,782.69.
Kenya placed 44th with $7,590.60, and Zimbabwe came in at 46th with $7,985.23. Côte d’Ivoire ranked 48th with $8,165.34, while Ghana, Mauritania and Djibouti took the 51st, 52nd and 55th positions with $8,613.25, $8,831.81 and $9,435.70 respectively.

At the higher end of the 60-country list, Angola placed 59th with $10,274.90, just ahead of Laos in 60th with $10,379.98.

Outside Africa, other countries featured in the ranking included Afghanistan, Solomon Islands, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Tajikistan, Nepal, Pakistan, Honduras, Tonga, Cambodia, Samoa, Venezuela, the Kyrgyz Republic, Nicaragua and Bangladesh.

Compared with the 2025 ranking, the latest figures reflect significant shifts in position. Burundi climbed from second to first place, while South Sudan dropped from first to third. The Democratic Republic of the Congo slipped from seventh to 10th, and Nigeria fell 12 places, from 44th to 56th.