Developing countries are those countries included in Part 1 of the list drawn up by the OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Developing countries are characterized by very low levels of development. There are various different ways of classifying countries with such characteristics. They are generally based on the development rate and on macroeconomic variables. The UNDP - United Nations Development Programme - has devised (and has included in its Annual Report since 1990) an indicator which considers such variables in the standard of living as the Human Development Index (HDI).
