Tag: Unctad

UNCTAD at 60!

The United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD) celebrated its 60th anniversary in June 2024 in Geneva, holding a high-level Global Leaders Forum that brought together ministers, officials and experts to discuss the multidimensional challenges facing countries, and strategies for advancing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It highlighted the need for innovative solutions to address current global crises that can promote resilience, economic growth and sustainable development.

The South Centre | SouthViews No. 271, 31 July 2024

Least Developed Countries and their Graduation

In 1971, there were 25 ‘Least Developed Countries’, considered as being particularly poor. In 1991, there were already 52. Today, they are 46, or still twice as many as half a century ago.

How do countries graduate? What are the criteria? How and when do they change?

An interesting research by Global Policy Forum and Social Watch!

Countries that depend on commodities

The number of countries that depend on commodities has reached its highest level in 20 years, says a new UNCTAD report.

UNCTAD defines a country as dependent on commodities when these account for more than 60% of its total merchandise exports in value terms.

The State of Commodity Dependence Report 2019 shows commodity-dependent countries increased from 92 between 1998 and 2002 to 102 between 2013 and 2017.

More than half of the world’s countries (102 out of 189) and two thirds of developing countries are dependent on commodities, the report indicates.

“Given that commodity dependence often negatively impacts a country’s economic development, it is important and urgent to reduce it to make faster progress towards at( meeting the sustainable development goals,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said.