income, level of industrialization and overall standard of living are not on par with otherdeveloped nations.With a GDP per capita of $9,766 and an HDI of 0.78 currently, Malaysia is classified as anemerging economy by theWorld Bank. TheInternational Monetary Fund (IMF)also classifiesMalaysia as an emerging and developing country. Malaysia shares common characteristics withotheremerging economies, such as Brazil, Indonesia, and China, including low-to-middle percapita earnings, rapideconomic growth, high volatility, less maturecapital marketsand above-average return for investors.Still, the country is coming close to developed status. Since the 1970s, Malaysia has gone fromrelying primarily on raw natural resources to becoming a leading exporter of natural gas andlower-cost consumer goods—especially electronics and electrical appliances—to developednations.MexicoAs of 2016, Mexico is not quite a developed country,even though it beats the majority of itspeers in the developing world on most economic and quality of life metrics. As of 2016,Mexico's per capita GDP is $17,276. While that is higher than the common $12,000 threshold,it's insufficient given various quality-of-life factors that come close to, but don't quite hit,acceptable levels for developed-nation status. A life expectancy of 77 years ranks higher thanmost developing countries, but it still falls below the U.S. (79 years) and Canada (81 years). Thestory is the same for the infant mortality rate, which is 11 per 1,000 live births. In addition,Mexico is plagued by large swaths of poverty, lack of quality health care and limited access toclean water. Its overall HDI score is 0.76.Mexico is close. Consider it one of the most advanced developing countries in the world.The NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a developed country, demonstrating relative strength across all the metrics,and combining a robust economy with a high standard of living for its residents.The Netherlands' GDP is the 17th highest in the world, which is impressive considering that itspopulation of almost 17 million people ranks 65th in the world. When considering per capitaGDP, the Netherlands' economy demonstrates its real power, with a figure of $48,458 that movesit up to the 11th place. The Netherlands is the eighth-highest exporter of products in the world,specializing in the export of petroleum and computers. Many global companies base theirheadquarters in the Netherlands, including Royal Dutch Shell, ING Groep and KoninklijkePhilips.
