Developed country

A developed country, or advanced country, is a country that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for evaluating the degree of economic development are: gross domestic product (GDP), gross national income (GNI), per capita income, level of industrialization, amount of widespread infrastructure and general standard of living. Which criteria are to be used and which countries can be classified as being developed are subjects of debate. Different definitions of developed countries are provided by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the World Bank, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Paris Club and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), while the Human Development Index is used to rank countries on the composite basis of life expectancy, education, and income per capita. Developed countries have generally more advanced post-industrial economies, meaning the tertiary sector provides more wealth than the secondary sector. They are contrasted with developing countries, which are in the process of industrialisation or are pre-industrial and almost entirely agrarian, some of which might fall into the category of least developed countries.