Phrase guide

middle income trap

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The situation where a country that attains a certain income gets stuck at that level, being unable to compete with other more developed economies in the high-value-added market.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: economics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Coined by Indian economist Indermit Gill and economist Homi Kharas in 2007 in their book An East Asian Renaissance: Ideas for Economic Growth.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 中等收入陷阱 (zhōngděng shōurù xiànjǐng) — situation faced by developing countries
  • Japanese: 中所得国の罠 (chū shotoku koku no wana) — situation faced by developing countries
  • Vietnamese: bẫy thu nhập trung bình — situation faced by developing countries