LLDCs lack territorial access to the sea, leaving them dependent on transit neighbors for a route to world markets.



Located more than 500km from the Atlantic coast, Burkina Faso is one of 16 landlocked developing countries in Africa.



Of the total 32 LLDCs: 16 are located in Africa, 10 are located in Asia, 4 are located in Europe, and 2 are located in Latin America. The smallest LLDC is Bhutan (less than one million people) and the largest is Ethiopia (135 million people). The average distance of LLDCs to a seaport is 1370 km. Kazakhstan is located farthest from the sea (3750 km) followed by Afghanistan, Chad, Niger, Zambia, and Zimbabwe with distances from the nearest sea coast in excess of 2,000 km.
The severity of the challenges faced by the LLDCs is further enhanced as 16 of the 32 LLDCs are Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Approximately 40% of the urban population in the LLDCs lives in slums – 100 million people. More than double the number of people in LLDCs are undernourished compared to the rest of the world.

Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) lack territorial access to the sea, leaving them dependent on transit neighbors for a route to world markets. This geographic disadvantage drives up transport costs, introduces avoidable delays, and exposes LLDCs to any political or economic instability along those corridors. The results are stark: Average transport costs are more than twice those of neighboring coastal states. Export opportunities shrink, foreign direct investment falls, and economic growth slows. When a transit country is itself a developing economy—often the case—intraregional trade remains modest.

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