I took a look at a ranking of the poorest countries by GDP per capita in 2025, and honestly, it's impressive to see the gap. South Sudan ranks first with only $251 per capita, followed by Yemen at $417. The difference compared to developed countries is crazy.

Looking at the list, we notice that most of the poorest countries are concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Burundi, the DRC, Niger, Somalia, Nigeria... most of the names at the top of the ranking come from this region. Even countries like Madagascar, Mozambique, and Malawi hover around $600-700.

What struck me was also the presence of a few Asian countries in the top 50, like Myanmar and Bangladesh, which shows that poverty isn't just an African problem. But overall, if you're looking for the poorest countries on the planet, you'll find most of them in Africa.