Amid cyclones and COVID-19, Vanuatu makes bold decision to graduate from ‘least developed country’ category - Violeta Gonzalez Behar and Michelle Kovacevic for OECD Development matters

On 4 December 2020, Vanuatu shed its official classification as one of the world’s least developed countries (LDC). This significant milestone – called ‘graduation’ – is something that only five other countries have managed to achieve in the last 40 years. And Vanuatu’s graduation achievement may be the most impressive of all given that, over the past few years, not only has it has weathered significant economic and social fallout from repeated natural disasters, but also a major drop in tourism revenue due to border closures during the global COVID-19 pandemic.