Claim: In a September 10 press conference, President Barack Obama characterized Afghanistan as "the second poorest country in the world." It's an impoverished country indeed, but second poorest? The CIA World Factbook doesn't think so. It lists Afghanistan as number 210 of 227, with a per capita gross domestic product of $1,000 in 2009. That's orders of magnitude lower than the richest country, Liechtenstein, with a GDP of $122,100 per person — but it's much higher than the per capita GDP of the actual second poorest country,
Fact-check: 'Second Poorest' Nation? - FactCheck.org
Verdict: in a september 10 press conference, president barack obama characterized afghanistan as "the second poorest country in the world." it's an impoverished country indeed, but second poorest? the cia world factbook doesn't think so. it lists afghanistan as number 210 of 227, with a per capita gross domestic product of $1,000 in 2009. that's orders of magnitude lower than the richest country, liechtenstein, with a gdp of $122,100 per person — but it's much higher than the per capita gdp of the actual second poorest country,
Organisation: FactCheck.org
Author: Jess Henig
Date published: 2010-09-13T19:46:36