what are least developed countries ldc 
least developed countries ldcs sometimes referred to as less developed countries are underdeveloped countries that face significant structural challenges to sustainable development the un s list of ldcs currently comprises 46 countries understanding least developed countriesleast developed countries are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks and have fewer human assets than other nations in some cases least developed countries are referred to as emerging markets ldcs have access to specific international support measures for development assistance and trade that are not available to more developed nations 2the u n s committee for development policy cdp secretariat of the department of economic and social affairs department of economic and social affairs dpad desa created measures to help ldcs gain access to and benefit from international support the secretariat is responsible for reviewing the status of ldcs and monitoring their progress after they graduate from the ldc category 4the secretariat s criteria for placing nations on its list of least developed countries include the categories of income human assets and economic vulnerability list of least developed countriesforty seven countries comprised the united nations list of ldcs as of sept 2020 in march 2018 the cdp recommended that bhutan kiribati s o tom and pr ncipe and the solomon islands graduate from the ldc category by the year 2024 this endorsement was unprecedented at the time as never before had the committee recommended so many countries for graduation at a single review in the 47 years that the ldc category has existed only five countries have graduated botswana cabo verde equatorial guinea maldives and samoa 6 the committee has also scheduled angola for graduation in 2024 7