Countries that meet two of the three LDC criteria (income per capita, human assets and economic vulnerability) become eligible for graduation and those that do so in two consecutive reviews qualify for graduation from the LDC category. They also qualify if the GNI per capita of the country is at least twice the graduation threshold ($ 2,484) in two consecutive reviews.
Vanuatu graduated from the category of the LDCs in 2020. It was the sixth country to graduate since the inception of the LDCs category in 1971, following Botswana (1994), Cabo Verde (2007), Maldives (2011), Samoa (2014) and Equatorial Guinea (2017).
On 11 February 2021, the UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution to provide Angola, on an exceptional basis, with an additional preparatory period of three years before its effective data of graduation from the lLDC category. Angola is scheduled to graduate on 12 February 2024. Other countries that are planned to graduate include Bhutan (2023), São Tomé and Príncipe (2024) and Solomon Islands (2024).
