Working Paper
Dependence on extractive industries in lower-income countries

This paper synthesizes statistical information evidencing the proposition that extractive industries are of great significance in many low- and middle-income developing economies. It examines the scale of the current dependence of low- and middle-income economies on both types of extractive resources: metals, and oil and gas. The paper also assesses how country levels of dependence have changed in the past twenty years, showing that there has been a clear upward trend. The paper outlines how the upward trend has continued in many countries despite the recent commodity price collapse, and assesses some of the consequences of that collapse.