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Country guide· 14 min read

Laos rankings 2026: where Laos places in 73 global Top 10s

Laos is #3 in Countries spending the most on alcohol and tobacco as a share of expenditure and inside the top 10 of 13 rankings. Every position, value and source, regenerated as the data refreshes.

This is the complete picture of Laos across Top10Earth: 73 current rankings out of 491 that compare countries, from the economy and health to energy, education and food. Every figure below is the latest published value from its source. Its best position is #3 in Countries spending the most on alcohol and tobacco as a share of expenditure, where it is measured at 7.79 % (Alcohol and tobacco spending share) as of 2026-11-02. Laos finishes inside the top 10 in 13 rankings.

Top 10 finishes

Laos is inside the top 10 of 13 further rankings. Each entry names the country directly above it, which is the position to beat at the next refresh.

The remaining 1 top-10 positions are in the full list at the end of this guide.

Laos by theme

The rankings are grouped by category below, so the economic picture, the health picture and the environmental picture can be read separately. Positions are out of the number of countries each source reports, which differs by ranking.

Food and agriculture

In food and agriculture, Laos holds 21 positions: #5 of 50 in Countries with the highest coffee yields (1.91 tonnes per hectare), #6 of 50 in Countries where agriculture takes the biggest share of water (95.92 % of total freshwater withdrawal), #8 of 50 in Countries producing the most potash fertilizer (1,326.74 thousand tonnes) and #8 of 50 in Countries with the highest cassava yields (25.09 tonnes per hectare). 17 more rankings are listed below.

Environment and energy

In environment and energy, Laos holds 20 positions: #3 of 50 in Countries with the highest consumption-based deforestation per person (56.79 square metres per person), #4 of 50 in Countries with the highest CO2 emissions from cement per person (0.63 tonnes per person), #13 of 50 in Countries with the highest electric car sales share (36 %) and #18 of 50 in Countries generating the most coal electricity per person (1,567.6 kWh per person). 16 more rankings are listed below.

Health and wellbeing

In health and wellbeing, Laos holds 15 positions: #3 of 50 in Countries spending the most on alcohol and tobacco as a share of expenditure (7.79 %), #8 of 50 in Countries where most people agree vaccines are safe (91 %), #9 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of children with wasting (10.7 %) and #13 of 50 in Countries with the most wildfire smoke emissions (PM2.5) (280.4 thousand tonnes). 11 more rankings are listed below.

World and society

In world and society, Laos holds 10 positions: #8 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of underweight children (24.3 %), #15 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people living in rural areas (69.37 %), #22 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people without clean cooking fuels (90 %) and #31 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people in extreme poverty (7.13 %). 6 more rankings are listed below.

Finance and crypto

In finance and crypto, Laos holds 7 positions: #7 of 50 in Countries with the highest external debt as a share of income (115.4 %), #10 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of children aged 5-17 in labor (21.8 %), #34 of 50 in Countries with the highest share of people living on less than $30 a day (98.66 %) and #36 of 50 in Countries with the highest foreign investment inflows (5.99 % of GDP). 3 more rankings are listed below.

What changed at the latest refresh

Comparing each ranking's newest snapshot with the one before it, Laos moved in 63 rankings:

Where Laos ranks lowest

A guide that only listed wins would be misleading. Laos's lowest current positions are 50th of 50 in Countries with the highest urban outdoor air pollution (26.88 micrograms per cubic metre), 49th of 50 in Countries with the highest neonatal mortality rates (2 deaths per 1,000 live births) and 48th of 50 in Countries using the most water for agriculture (7.05 billion cubic meters). Whether a low position is good or bad depends on the metric: being near the bottom of an emissions or mortality ranking is the better place to be.

Every ranking that includes Laos

How to read these numbers

Each ranking measures one metric from one named source at one time, so a #3 in one table and a #3 in another are not directly comparable. Countries also report in different years: the capture date is when Top10Earth fetched the data, while the source's own year is stated on each ranking page under methodology. For a side-by-side with another country on the same measures, open any ranking and use the head-to-head links, or visit Laos's entity page for the live table and rank-history chart.

Top10Earth never estimates or edits a value. Each number is fetched from its source on a schedule, hashed, stored and ranked by software, then checked by a quality gate before it is published. If a refresh fails that gate the previous snapshot stays live and a person looks at why. Every past snapshot is kept, which is what makes the rank-history charts on each ranking page possible.

Questions people ask about Laos

What is Laos's best ranking on Top10Earth?

#3 in Countries spending the most on alcohol and tobacco as a share of expenditure, with 7.79 % (Alcohol and tobacco spending share) as of 2026-11-02.

How many rankings include Laos?

73 current country rankings out of 491 on the site.

Is Laos in the top 10 of anything?

Yes: 13 rankings, including #3 in Countries spending the most on alcohol and tobacco as a share of expenditure, #3 in Countries with the highest consumption-based deforestation per person and #4 in Countries with the highest CO2 emissions from cement per person.

Where do the numbers come from?

From Our World in Data. Each ranking page names its source, metric definition and capture date.

When was this guide last updated?

The newest snapshot used here was captured on 2026-11-02. The guide is regenerated automatically as rankings refresh.

Live table and history →

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