Economic Vulnerability Index
The Economic vulnerability index is one of the criteria used by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy,[https://www.un.org/esa/policy/devplan/index.html UN Development Plan] an advisory body to the United Nations Economic and Social Council,[https://www.un.org/ecosoc/ UNECOSOC] in the identification of Least Developed Countries.[https://www.un.org/esa/policy/devplan/profile/index.html UN Development Plan index] It is a composite of eight indicators:[https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/cdp/ldc/ldc_criteria.shtml UNDESA : LDC Criteria]
- Population size
- Remoteness
- Merchandise export concentration
- Share of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in gross domestic product
- Homelessness owing to natural disasters
- Instability of agricultural production
- Instability of exports of goods and services
- The share of population living in low elevated coastal zone
The other criteria used to classify countries as Least Developed are gross national income per capita and the Human Asset Index.{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/esa/policy/devplan/profile/criteria.html |title=Least Developed Countries information - Afghanistan - UN Development Policy and Analysis Division |website=www.un.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917052115/http://www.un.org/esa/policy/devplan/profile/criteria.html |archive-date=2008-09-17}} Only low-income countries with fewer than 75 million inhabitants may be considered for inclusion in the category.
Retrospective series have been also calculated for 1990–2011.[http://www.ferdi.fr/en/node/899 Ferdi]