- There are 32 countries classified as Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs): 16 are in Africa, five in Asia, eight in the Commonwealth of Independent States and South-Eastern Europe and two in Latin America. As of 2024, the total population living in these countries was 592.8 million, accounting for 7.3 per cent of the world population.
LLDCs face persistent economic and development challenges due to their geographical isolation, dependency on commodities and limited infrastructure. Recent shocks – including the COVID-19 pandemic, cost-of-living crisis, geopolitical tensions and climate disasters – have intensified these vulnerabilities. Although the growth rates for LLDCs are expected to stabilize at 4.7 per cent in 2024 and 4.8 per cent in 2025, they remain below the pre-pandemic average of 5.3 per cent in 2010–2019. This slower growth has left these countries unable to recover the output loss since 2020, especially in the least developed LLDCs. Economic policymakers must navigate difficult trade-offs as they manage inflation and growth risks, balance-of-payments challenges, currency weaknesses and risks of debt distress.
Recent shocks have set back LLDCs’ progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Elevated unemployment rates, a sizable informal sector and limited social safety nets have led to income losses and a rise in extreme poverty. Reduced household purchasing power in the face of rising prices of basic foods has heightened risks of food insecurity, which is further exacerbated by increasing climate-related disasters in many LLDCs. At the same time, intensifying trade tensions and possible escalation of conflicts threaten progress on trade facilitation for LLDCs and drive up their trade and transport costs. Limited financial resources in LLDCs constrain their capacity to invest in much needed transportation, energy and communication infrastructure as well as human capital development.
Transport connectivity and trade facilitation, which have improved following the adoption of the Vienna Programme of Action (VPoA), will remain in focus at the forthcoming Third UN Conference on LLDCs in Gaborone, Botswana in December 2024. Further policy efforts are needed to continue diversifying economic structure, boosting productivity growth and addressing debt risks in LLDCs – through enhanced partnership from the international community – to stimulate growth and ensure long-term sustainability.
Learn more from UN DESA’s World Economic Situation and Prospects November Monthly Briefing.