The Economic Vulnerability Index - 2010 Update

Economic vulnerability can be defined as the likelihood that a country’s economic development process is hindered by the occurrence of exogenous unforeseen events, often called external shocks (Guillaumont, 2008; 2009). Since the 90s, the interest in developing countries’ economic vulnerability has been growing. Indeed, the numerous worldwide economic crises of this decade pointed out their vulnerability to international market fluctuations. In 2000, economic vulnerability, measured by the economic vulnerability index (EVI), was an additional criterion to the GDP per capita and the human capital (measured by the Human Asset Index) for the identification of least developed countries (Guillaumont 2009, chapters 2 and 6). Since then, the EVI has been revised for the 2006 and 2009 reviews proposed by the United Nations Committee for Development Policy1 (UNCDP) to identify Least Developed Countries.Series :