To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the average per capita income of the low-income countries, excluding China and India, has been for each of the last 10 years; and what are the corresponding figures for the industrialised market economy countries.
The average gnp per capita for the years 1979–88 of (1) the countries classified by OECD as low-income countries (excluding China and India) and (2)the 17 members of the OECD's development assistance committee was:
| Year | Low income countries (excluding China and India) GNP per capita US dollars | Development Assistance Committee member countries GNP per capita US dollars |
| 1979 | 264 | 9,674 |
| 1980 | 391 | 10,694 |
| 1981 | 371 | 10,740 |
| 1982 | 348 | 10,643 |
| 1983 | 315 | 10,998 |
| 1984 | 237 | 11,551 |
| 1985 | 313 | 12,150 |
| 1986 | 323 | 14,771 |
| 1987 | 263 | 17,033 |
| 1988 | 344 | 18,911 |
Sources:
OECD—DAC Chairman's Report, 1981–89.
World Bank Atlas 1989.
The low-income group has included different countries during the 10 years, both because of changes in individual countries' economic performance and because of revaluations in the per capita GNP threshhold for classification as a low-income country.