Nepal Seeks Delay in U.N. Graduation From Least Developed Country Status
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Nepal has asked the United Nations to postpone its planned graduation from the Least Developed Country category until 2030, citing economic risks, global uncertainty and concerns that the country is not ready for the transition.
Nepal is currently scheduled to leave the LDC category in November 2026. The move would recognize progress in income, human development and economic resilience, but it also could mean the loss of preferential trade benefits that have supported the country’s exports.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri said Foreign Minister Sishir Khanal sent a formal request May 13 to the chair of the U.N. Committee for Development Policy seeking to defer the graduation date until November 2030.
The government said its request is based on five major concerns, including regional conflicts in West Asia, disruptions to global supply chains, delayed implementation of Nepal’s Smooth Transition Strategy, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout from geopolitical tensions.
Nepal also cited a World Bank projection that the country’s economy will grow by just 2.3% in the current fiscal year, which ends in mid-July.
A key concern is the possible loss of duty-free and quota-free access to developed markets under the LDC framework. Nepal’s private sector has lobbied strongly against graduation, warning that the country’s manufacturing and processing industries remain vulnerable.
“Nepal’s manufacturing and processing sectors remain vulnerable and could face significant setbacks, with potential employment losses estimated at up to 35 per cent due to the loss of duty-free and quota-free market access,” Chhetri said.
Officials also said Nepal has not fully recovered from the pandemic and continues to face challenges from climate change, higher food, fertilizer and energy prices, and weaker remittance flows from Nepali migrant workers.
Nepal is the second country after Bangladesh to request a delay in its LDC graduation. Bangladesh formally asked the U.N. in February to postpone its graduation by three years.
Bangladesh, Lao PDR and Nepal are scheduled to graduate from the LDC category in November 2026. The Solomon Islands is scheduled to graduate in 2027, followed by Cambodia and Senegal in 2029.
LDC graduation is based on three criteria: Gross National Income per capita, the Human Assets Index and the Economic and Environmental Vulnerability Index. Countries can graduate by meeting at least two of the three standards in two consecutive triennial reviews or by reaching a per capita income level more than three times the graduation threshold.
Nepal has long met the human assets and vulnerability criteria and has now also met the income benchmark. According to Nepal’s National Statistics Office, the country’s per capita income for fiscal 2025/26 is projected at $1,535, unchanged from the previous fiscal year.
Under the U.N.’s 2024 triennial review standards, a country must have a GNI per capita of at least $1,306, a Human Assets Index score of 66 or higher and an Economic and Environmental Vulnerability Index score of 32 or lower to be considered for graduation.
Nepal first met two of the three graduation criteria in 2018 but deferred the move after the 2015 earthquakes. In 2021, the U.N. Committee for Development Policy recommended Nepal for graduation and granted a five-year preparation period because of the effects of the pandemic.
By the end of 2025, eight countries had graduated from the LDC category: Botswana, Cabo Verde, Maldives, Samoa, Equatorial Guinea, Vanuatu, Bhutan and Sao Tomé and Príncipe. (Source: IANS)
