Guyana has retained its classification as a high-income economy in the World Bank’s latest annual income rankings, but the designation has once again thrown into sharp relief one of the country’s greatest contradictions: record oil wealth alongside persistent poverty, rising living costs and widespread economic hardship.

The World Bank placed Guyana among economies with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of US$14,375 or more, a milestone driven by the country’s booming offshore oil industry, which has transformed Guyana into one of the world’s fastest-growing economies since production began in 2019.

Yet the institution itself cautions that income classifications are not measures of poverty, inequality or living standards and should not be interpreted as reflecting how wealth is shared within a country.