Landlocked developing countries

Landlocked developing countries (LLDC) are developing countries that are landlocked. The economic and other disadvantages experienced by such countries makes the majority of landlocked countries least developed countries (LDC), with inhabitants of these countries occupying the bottom billion tier of the world's population in terms of poverty. Apart from Europe, there is not a single successful highly developed landlocked country when measured with the Human Development Index (HDI) and nine of the twelve countries with the lowest HDI scores are landlocked. Landlocked European countries are exceptions in terms of development outcomes due to their close integration with the regional European market. Landlocked countries that rely on transoceanic trade usually suffer a cost of trade that is double of their maritime neighbours. Landlocked countries experience economic growth 6% less of their non-landlocked countries, holding other variables constant.

The United Nations has an Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS). It mainly holds the view that high transport costs due to distance and terrain result in the erosion of competitive edge for exports from landlocked countries. In addition, it recognizes the constraints on landlocked countries to be mainly physical, as in lack of direct access to the sea, isolation from world markets and high transit costs due to physical distance. It also attributes geographic remoteness as one of the most significant reasons as why developing landlocked nations are unable to alleviate themselves while European landlocked cases are mostly developed because of short distances to the sea through well developed transient countries. One other commonly cited factor is the administrative burdens associated with border crossings as there is a heavy load of bureaucratic procedures, paperwork, custom charges, and most importantly, traffic delay due to border wait times, which affect delivery contracts. Delays and inefficiency compound geographically, where a 2 to 3 week wait due to border customs between Uganda and Kenya results in the impossibility of booking ships ahead of time in Mombasa, furthering delivery contract delays. Despite these explanations, it is also important to consider the transit countries that neighbour LLDCs, in which goods of LLDCs are exported via the maritime ports of these countries.

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