The World Bank has released its new classification of economies around the world, categorizing them into four groups: low income (less than $1,085), lower middle income ($1,086 – $4,255), upper middle income ($4,256 – $13,205), and high income (more than $13,205). The classifications are updated annually on July 1 and are based on per capita gross national income from the previous year.
For the eleventh consecutive year, Lebanon's real GDP per capita declined in 2021, and the country also experienced a sharp drop in exchange rates. As a result, Lebanon has been classified into the lower middle-income category, after being in the upper middle-income group for almost 25 years, according to the new World Bank income level classifications for 2022-2023. The World Bank's official estimates of the size of economies are based on gross national income converted to current US dollars using the Bank's "Atlas" method. This method helps account for exchange rate fluctuations using a three-year moving average and an adjusted exchange rate conversion factor.
Among Arab countries with high income, Gulf countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman are included. The Arab countries classified as upper middle income are Iraq, Libya, and Jordan. Most other Arab countries fall into the lower middle-income category, such as Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Mauritania, Comoros, Tunisia, Algeria, Djibouti, and the Palestinian territories. Meanwhile, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia are classified under the low-income category.
