UNDERSTANDING THE WTO: THE ORGANIZATION Least-developed
countries The WTO recognizes as least-developed countries (LDCs)
those countries which have been designated as such by the United
Nations. There are currently 49 least-developed countries on the
UN list, 34 of which to date have become WTO members. There are
no WTO definitions of “developed” or “developing” countries.
Developing countries in the WTO are designated on the basis of
self-selection although this is not necessarily automatically
accepted in all WTO bodies.