RANKED: The 28 poorest countries in the world - where people live on less than $1,000 per year

African and Middle Eastern countries ravaged by war and famine remain the poorest in the world, according to data published by the International Monetary Fund.

Twice a year the IMF releases a huge dump of data about the economic power of the world's nations, with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita a key statistic.

The IMF ranks the world's countries according to purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita.

The PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of the countries to compare living standards among the different nations.

Most of the countries populating the top of this ranking are under authoritarian regimes where corruption is rampant. This a big deterrent to foreign investors, even if some of those countries have huge amounts of natural resources.

We've included all the countries with a GDP per capita is below $1,000 per year.