Colombia meets the criteria of an emerging market economy. The South American country has a much lower gross domestic product, or GDP, per capita than the United States and other developed countries. Its Human Development Index, or HDI, which measures a country's quality of life by using criteria such as health care and educational opportunities, hovers well below the minimum threshold for consideration as a developed country. Compared to developed nations, higher levels of poverty and political instability plague Colombia, and the country's business and industrial activity is also lacking.
