What is the Poorest Country in the World?
The Answer May Surprise You
by CAPP-USA
What is the poorest country in the world? What is the richest?
Updated August 2026
Key Takeaways from the Poorest Countries:
- There is no single “poorest country”; the answer depends on how poverty is measured.
- The Fordham Francis Index Report looks beyond income to seven dimensions of human well-being.
- No single country ranks poorest across every dimension: material poverty, overall well-being, and spiritual freedom each produce a different answer.
What is the poorest country in the world?
There is no single answer. Traditional rankings usually measure poverty economically, but Catholic social teaching understands poverty more broadly including material, moral and spiritual deprivation. The Fordham Francis Index therefore measures seven dimensions of human well-being rather than GDP or income alone.
That distinction can radically change which countries we regard as poor—and even what we mean by a “rich” society.
What Does “Poorest Country” Mean?
When you think about the poorest country in the world, what comes to mind?
Likely, it is economic poverty—a country where people lack sufficient food, adequate housing, clean water or employment. Those are critically important measures of poverty. But they are not the only ones.
Pope St. John Paul II observed that there are many forms of poverty in modern society, including not only economic but cultural and spiritual poverty as well. (Centesimus Annus, 57)
He also taught that “It is not possible to understand man on the basis of economics alone.” (Centesimus Annus, 24)
So before asking which country is poorest, we first have to ask: What do we mean by poverty?
What Does Catholic Social Teaching Say About Poverty?
Catholic social teaching certainly recognizes material poverty. Pope Francis described material destitution as the condition of those who lack what is necessary for human dignity, including “food, water, hygiene, work and the opportunity to develop and grow culturally.” (Message for Lent, 2014, 2)
But he also identified moral and spiritual poverty:
Moral poverty can leave a person “without faith, without support, without hope.” (Message for Lent, 2)
And spiritual poverty arises “when we turn away from God and reject his love.” (Message for Lent, 2)
This broader understanding of poverty leads directly to a broader understanding of development.
A society can be materially prosperous and still fail to provide the conditions necessary for full human flourishing.
What Is the Fordham Francis Index?
Following Pope Francis’ 2015 address to the United Nations, Fordham University developed the Pope Francis Global Poverty Index, commonly called the Fordham Francis Index.
The Index responds to Pope Francis’ call for a broad measure of poverty and well-being by examining seven dimensions of human well-being: water; food; housing; employment; education; gender equity; religious freedom.
Fordham groups four—water, food, housing and employment—under material well-being. The other three—education, gender equity and religious freedom—are grouped under spiritual well-being.
The Index therefore asks a deeper question than GDP or income alone: What does a human person actually need in order to flourish?
What Does the 2025 Fordham Francis Index Show?
According to the 2025 Fordham Francis Index, the overall global poverty gap stood at 25.5% for a second consecutive year.
The latest data showed modest improvements in access to drinking water, education and employment. While, at the same time, food insecurity and restrictions on religious freedom worsened, while housing and gender equity showed little or no progress.
Some of the report’s specific figures:
- Water: roughly 707 million people—8.8% of the global population—still lacked access to adequate drinking water.
- Education: about 767 million adults, or 12.6% of the world’s adult population, were illiterate.
- Gender equity: 51.3% of the world’s women and girls, about 2 billion people, live in countries with severe gender-based discrimination.
- Religious freedom: close to 60% of the world’s population lives under some form of religious restriction.
The underlying statistics were collected over different years as international datasets became available, so particular figures and country rankings will continue to change. Read the full 2025 Fordham Francis Index Report
But the underlying principle does not: Economic wealth alone cannot tell us whether human beings are flourishing.
These numbers illustrate exactly the gap Pope Leo XIV goes on to name explicitly in his own reflection on how development is measured.
Which Country Does the Fordham Francis Index Rank Poorest?
The Fordham Francis Index doesn’t produce one “poorest country”—it produces three different answers, depending on which dimension of poverty is measured.
- Poorest materially: The Central African Republic ranks lowest on the Index’s Material Well-Being Index (0.25 out of 1.00), just behind the Democratic Republic of the Congo (0.26) and Madagascar (0.29).
- Poorest overall: Combining material and spiritual well-being, Chad ranks lowest of any country with complete data (0.38 out of 1.00), followed by Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (0.46 each).
- Poorest spiritually: China ranks lowest on the Spiritual Freedom Index, driven primarily by the world’s most severe government restrictions on religious freedom—a Government Restrictions Index of 9.1 out of 10, the highest (worst) score in the report—combined with a low gender-equity score.
No single country tops every list. That is itself the point: a nation’s ranking by wealth and its ranking by freedom are not the same list, and neither alone captures the whole picture. (Source: 2025 Fordham Francis Index Report)
Why GDP Is Not Enough
Gross Domestic Product is useful. It tells us something important about the economic output of a country. But GDP cannot tell us everything we need to know about the well-being of its people.
A nation can generate enormous wealth while people still lack fundamental goods, meaningful work, religious freedom or other conditions necessary for integral human development.
Pope Leo XIV addresses this directly: “It is important to move beyond the current metrics of development” tied to Gross Domestic Product because they “almost systematically neglect aspects essential to the overall wellbeing of people and the environment.” (Magnifica Humanitas, 159)
He therefore calls for measures complementary to GDP that can better assess factors such as the dignity of work, shared prosperity and inequality.
This is a striking confirmation of the principle behind the Fordham Francis Index:
Economic growth is not the same thing as human development. And a wealthy economy is not automatically a flourishing society.
What Is Integral Human Development?
Catholic social teaching uses the term integral human development to describe development of the whole person and every person. As Pope Benedict XVI put it, true “development must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth.” (Caritas in Veritate, 76)
In Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV defines it as a process in which the growth of individuals and peoples “encompasses all dimensions of existence.” (Magnifica Humanitas, 82)
He explains: “development is truly human when it places people at the center instead of the accumulation of wealth.” And he makes explicit what this means: Development cannot be limited to economics – it must promote quality of life in its spiritual, cultural, moral and relational dimensions as well. (Magnifica Humanitas, 83)
Material conditions therefore matter deeply. People need food, clean water, adequate housing, education, healthcare, meaningful work and economic opportunity.
But human beings are more than economic actors and consumers. They have social, moral, cultural, relational and spiritual needs.
Pope Benedict XVI expressed the same truth forcefully in Caritas in Veritate: “Without God man neither knows which way to go nor even understands who he is.” (Caritas in Veritate, 78)
Integral human development therefore asks not simply: How much wealth does a country produce?
It asks: Do people have the conditions they need to flourish as whole human persons?
What Is Spiritual Poverty?
Spiritual poverty is not simply the absence of material goods. It concerns man’s relationship with God and the spiritual goods necessary for authentic human flourishing.
Pope Francis warned that spiritual poverty arises “when we turn away from God and reject his love.” (Message for Lent, 2)
Pope St. John Paul II likewise described modern society as caught in a dramatic conflict between a “culture of death” and a “culture of life.” (Evangelium Vitae, 50)
This is why materially wealthy societies are not immune from profound forms of poverty.
A society may enjoy rising incomes, technological progress and material abundance while simultaneously weakening the family, restricting religious freedom, undermining human dignity or losing sight of man’s transcendent purpose.
Material prosperity is no guarantee of authentic human development.
“It is not possible to understand man on the basis of economics alone.” (Pope St. John Paul II, 24)
So, Which Country Is Truly the Richest?
Catholic social teaching calls us to confront every form of poverty.
People need food and clean water. They need adequate housing, education, meaningful work, freedom and economic opportunity. Those needs are real, urgent and central to human dignity.
But material well-being is not the whole of human well-being.
Pope Francis reminds us that there is ultimately “only one real kind of poverty: not living as children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ.” (Message for Lent, 2)
Pope Benedict XVI similarly teaches that while man must be liberated from material oppression, “more profoundly he must be saved from the evils that afflict the spirit.” (Apostolic Visit to the Czech Republic, 2009)
And now Pope Leo XIV emphasizes that genuine development places people rather than the accumulation of wealth at its center.
So which country is really the richest?
No economic ranking can fully answer that question because the deepest form of wealth is not measured by GDP.
Those who depend on God are the richest!
From Poverty to Human Flourishing
Development economics and humanitarian relief rightly devote enormous attention to material deprivation.
Catholic social teaching does too.
But it insists that helping the poor means more than raising incomes.
It means defending human dignity and creating the social, economic, cultural and spiritual conditions in which the whole person can flourish.
As Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “openness to God” opens us toward our brothers and sisters and toward understanding life as a task to be accomplished in solidarity. (Caritas in Veritate, 78)
The Fordham Francis Index attempts to measure something closer to that broader vision by looking beyond economic output alone.
Pope Leo XIV has now made the principle especially clear: true progress cannot be judged only by what an economy produces. It must be judged by whether people and peoples can flourish in all the dimensions of their humanity.
So perhaps the most important question is not: What is the poorest country in the world?
It is: What kind of society allows the whole human person—materially, socially, morally and spiritually—to flourish?
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the poorest country in the world?
A: There is no single answer because the result depends on how poverty is defined. Income-based measures produce one ranking, while multidimensional measures can produce a very different result.
Q: What is the Fordham Francis Index?
A: The Fordham Francis Index, also known as the Pope Francis Global Poverty Index, measures seven dimensions of human well-being: water, food, housing, employment, education, gender equity and religious freedom.
Q: What did the 2025 Fordham Francis Index find?
A: The 2025 Index found the global poverty gap stalled at 25.5% for a second consecutive year. About 707 million people (8.8%) lacked access to clean water, 767 million adults (12.6%) were illiterate, 51.3% of women and girls lived under severe gender discrimination, and nearly 60% of the world’s population faced religious restrictions.
Q: Which country does the Fordham Francis Index rank as poorest?
A: It depends on the dimension: the Central African Republic ranks lowest materially, Chad ranks lowest overall (combining material and spiritual well-being), and China ranks lowest on spiritual freedom, driven largely by the world’s most severe government restrictions on religion.
Q: What does the Catholic Church mean by poverty?
A: Catholic social teaching recognizes material poverty but also moral, cultural and spiritual forms of poverty. It therefore considers human flourishing more broadly than income or economic wealth alone.
Q: Why isn't GDP enough to measure a country's well-being?
A: The GDP measures economic output. It does not directly measure many other dimensions of human flourishing. Pope Leo XIV teaches that development metrics should move beyond GDP (Magnifica Humanitas) and take account of dimensions such as human well-being, dignified work, shared prosperity and inequality.
Q: What is integral human development?
A: Integral human development is development of the whole person and every person. Pope Leo XIV says it encompasses all dimensions of human existence (Magnifica Humanitas) and cannot be limited to the economic sphere.
Q: What is spiritual poverty?
A: Spiritual poverty concerns deprivation of man’s relationship with God and the spiritual goods necessary for full human flourishing. Catholic teaching therefore holds that material prosperity alone cannot eliminate every form of poverty.
Sources and Data Note
The 2025 Pope Francis Global Poverty Index measures water, food, housing, employment, education, gender equity and religious freedom.
Fordham’s underlying international datasets are released on different schedules. Accordingly, individual statistics and country rankings may reflect data collected in different years and will change as newer information becomes available.
The discussion of integral human development and development measures beyond GDP draws from Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas, especially paragraphs 82–84 and 159.
What Exactly is the Preferential Option for the Poor?
Structural Poverty and Catholic Social Teaching
Poverty Quotes from the Church
CAPP-USA (Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, Inc.) is the United States affiliate of the Vatican-based pontifical foundation of Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice, established by Pope St. John Paul II in 1993 to promote Catholic Social Teaching in fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. CAPP-USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
