Meanings
plural middle income traps · alternative middle-income trap
- economicsThe 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.First known use 2006
Chinese economists have for many years also worried about the “middle-income trap”, a situation where a country that has reached a certain level of income gets stuck for a long time.
2021 July 1, Vincent Ni, “‘Poverty divides us’: gap between rich and poor poses threat to China”, in The Guardian1 more example
Thailand and Malaysia are hemmed in by the so-called "middle-income trap", which suggests that while countries can move up from the ranks of the very poor, moving further forward is more complex, as competitiveness falls off and costs for investors increase.
2010 December 23, Simon Roughneen, “Vietnam: a development success story?”, in The Guardian
Origin
Coined by Indian economist Indermit Gill and economist Homi Kharas in 2007 in their book An East Asian Renaissance: Ideas for Economic Growth.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 中等收入陷阱
- 中等收入陷阱 (zhōngděng shōurù xiànjǐng)situation faced by developing countries
Japanese 中所得国の罠
- 中所得国の罠 (chū shotoku koku no wana)situation faced by developing countries
Vietnamese bẫy thu nhập trung bình
- bẫy thu nhập trung bìnhsituation faced by developing countries
Cite this entry
middle income trap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle%20income%20trap
“middle income trap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle%20income%20trap. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “middle income trap,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/middle%20income%20trap.
Source: middle income trap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.