The LDCs are home to around 40% of the world's low-income population. Many are experiencing or emerging from conflict. LDCs account for 13% of the world's population but less than 1% of global trade and foreign direct investment. Even though internet access is increasing, less than 20% of the population in LDCs has access to the internet.

The low level of socioeconomic development in LDCs is marked by historically limited development ability, low and unequally distributed income, and a lack of domestic financial resources. LDCs often rely on agrarian economies, which can result in a vicious cycle of low productivity and poor investment, particularly when wealthier nations develop and implement more productive farming methods.

In general, LDCs are vulnerable to external terms-of-trade shocks due to their reliance on a small number of primary commodities as significant exports and fiscal revenues. Some LDCs have been able to diversify into the manufacturing sector, however they are frequently limited to textiles and garments.

In LDCs, these development constraints are responsible for poor domestic resource mobilisation, low economic management capacity, inadequacies in programme design and implementation, chronic external deficits, high debt loads, and significant reliance on external financing.