World Bank income classification
The World Bank sorts economies into low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income and high-income bands using gross national income per capita. Several publishers use these bands instead of the Research4Life groups when deciding APC waivers, and some add a further condition on total GDP.
Reviewed 1 August 2026
In practice
Why publishers add a GDP ceiling
Income per head does not capture the size of an economy. A populous lower-middle-income country can have a large total GDP and a substantial research budget. Taylor & Francis therefore requires low-income status and GDP under USD 100 billion for a full waiver, and lower-middle-income status with GDP under USD 200 billion for 50%.
The annual revision
Classifications are revised each year. A country can move up a band and lose eligibility without any publisher announcing it, which is why the date a policy was last revised matters as much as its content.
Common misconceptions
The World Bank does not publish APC waiver lists. Publishers derive their lists from the income classification and then apply their own thresholds.