Since 1971, the United Nations has recognized the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as the “poorest and weakest segment” of the international community.

The LDCs host about 40% of world's poor. Most are suffering conflict or emerging from one. LDCs account for 13% of world population but only about 1.3% of global GDP and less than 1% of global trade and FDI. Even if on the rise, still barely a fifth of the population in LDCs has access to the internet.

The low level of socio-economic development in LDCs is characterized by historically weak development capacity, low and unequally distributed income and scarcity of domestic financial resources. LDCs typically rely on agrarian economies which subsequently can be affected by a vicious cycle of low productivity and low investment, especially as wealthier countries develop and utilize more productive farming technologies. Generally, LDCs rely on few primary commodities as major sources of exports and fiscal earnings, causing them to be vulnerable to external terms-of-trade shocks. Some LDCs have been able to diversify into the manufacturing sector though often remain limited to products in labour-intensive industries, such as textiles and apparel. 
 
These development constraints are responsible for insufficient domestic resource mobilization, low economic management capacity, weaknesses in programme design and implementation, chronic external deficits, high debt burdens and heavy dependence on external financing in LDCs.