Identifying areas of vulnerability: Progress under graduation criteria

Sections 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 of chapter 3 examine the situation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic under the graduation thresholds relevant to the three criteria for identifying LDCs, namely the per capita income criterion, the human assets criterion and the economic and environmental vulnerability criterion. The examination undertaken under each criterion casts light on various factors and determinants of the country’s overall performance under the respective criterion. To be specific, per capita income serves as a measure of overall level of resources available to a country and how well off the citizens of a country have been on average, whereas the HAI (a composite index including health and education components) and EVI (a composite index measuring the structural vulnerability of countries to economic and environmental shocks) measure the main structural impediments to sustainable development. Each figure in the following sections indicates the evolving distance to or from the graduation threshold under the criterion reviewed.

Sustainable Development Goals:

No Poverty

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure