Country rankings

OPEC Countries

Republic of the Congo has the highest Year Joined (2,018), followed by Equatorial Guinea (2,017) and Angola (2,007). Kuwait has the lowest (1,960).

Politics & Government27 countries · 3 metricsUpdated Mar 17, 2024Original page
9 sources
Year JoinedBetter directionWhether a higher or a lower value is better. A green arrow means higher is better, a red arrow means lower is better, and no arrow means neither.More in the glossary →
16 of 235 countries
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Year Joined

Darker means higher. Click a place to highlight it.

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All 16 ranked

Highest first.

Distribution Median and middle halfThe median is the middle value: half of places are above it, half below. The middle half is the range holding the central 50% of places.More in the glossary →

Each dot is one country; the lines mark the median and the middle half.

Median
1,965
Middle half 1,960 – 1,974
Average
1,974
16 countries
Highest
2,018
Republic of the Congo
Lowest
1,960
Kuwait

Data

Click a column to sort, a row to highlight that place on the charts.

27 countries · # = rank by Year Joined
#
1Republic of the CongoFull2,018—
2Equatorial GuineaFull2,017—
3AngolaFormer2,007Left Jan. 2024
4GabonFull1,975Gabon terminated its membership in 1995. However, it rejoined the Organization in July 2016.
5EcuadorFormer1,973Ecuador joined OPEC in 1973 and suspended its membership from December 1992 to October 2007, when it rejoined. It withdrew its membership in January 2020
6NigeriaFull1,971—
7AlgeriaFull1,969—
8United Arab EmiratesFormer1,967Joined as Abu Dhabi in 1967, switched to United Arab Emirates in 1971., UAE left OPEC and OPEC+ as of May 01, 2026.
9IndonesiaFormer1,962Indonesia joined OPEC in 1962 but suspended its membership effective January 2009. It rejoined in early 2016 and once again suspended its membership in November 2016.
9LibyaFull1,962—
11QatarFormer1,961Qatar joined in 1961 and withdrew its membership in January 2019.
12IranOriginal/Founding1,960—
12IraqOriginal/Founding1,960—
12Saudi ArabiaOriginal/Founding1,960—
12VenezuelaOriginal/Founding1,960—
12KuwaitOriginal/Founding1,960—
—RussiaUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—MexicoUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—PhilippinesUnofficial (OPEC+)—Considered OPEC+ in some instances, but not others
—SudanUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—MalaysiaUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—KazakhstanUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—South SudanUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—AzerbaijanUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—OmanUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—BahrainUnofficial (OPEC+)——
—BruneiUnofficial (OPEC+)——

What correlates with Year Joined?

Pearson r against 1,501 other country metrics sharing at least 10 countries. Correlation is not causation.

Higher together

Places that have a higher Year Joined tend to score higher on these

  1. Sweet Potato Consumption per CapitaPotato Consumption by Country
    r = +0.91 · very strong · n = 11
    Plot
  2. Suspected In-Country Overstay RateVisa Overstay by Country
    r = +0.90 · very strong · n = 16
    Plot
  3. Visa Overstay RateVisa Overstay by Country
    r = +0.90 · very strong · n = 16
    Plot
  4. Syphilis RateSTD Rates by Country
    r = +0.87 · very strong · n = 15
    Plot
  5. New HIV Infection RateHIV Rates by Country
    r = +0.86 · very strong · n = 13
    Plot
  6. Year of last caseCountries with Polio
    r = +0.85 · very strong · n = 14
    Plot

Opposite directions

Places that have a higher Year Joined tend to score lower on these

  1. % of Population with Access to Basic WaterCountries Without Clean Water
    r = −0.90 · very strong · n = 16
    Plot
  2. % of Urban Population with Access to ElectricityCountries without Electricity
    r = −0.86 · very strong · n = 16
    Plot
  3. Access to Electricity (% of People)Development Indicators by Country (World Bank)
    r = −0.83 · very strong · n = 16
    Plot
  4. Use by AgricultureWater Consumption by Country
    r = −0.83 · very strong · n = 16
    Plot
  5. Avg PM2.5 ConcentrationPollution by Country
    r = −0.80 · very strong · n = 12
    Plot
  6. Basic NeedsSocial Progress Index by Country
    r = −0.80 · very strong · n = 16
    Plot

Quick answers

Which country has the highest Year Joined?
Republic of the Congo has the highest Year Joined, at 2,018, followed by Equatorial Guinea (2,017) and Angola (2,007).
Which country has the lowest Year Joined?
Kuwait has the lowest Year Joined, at 1,960.
What is the median Year Joined across countries?
The median is 1,965 across the 16 countries with data.
Where does this opec countries data come from?
Rankodex compiles it from World Population Review and the primary sources it cites: Member Countries - OPEC; Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) - Investopedia; OPEC in a Changing World - Council on Foreign Relations; OPEC - Britannica.