Cambodia's per capita GDP was projected to hit 1,036 US dollars in 2013, up from nearly 1,000 US dollars in a year earlier, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Saturday.

"The country will move from the status of a low-income to a lower-middle income nation in the near future," he said in a message on the 11th International Day of Peace.

Lower middle income countries are defined by the GDP per capita between 1,036 US dollars and 4,085 US dollars, according to the World Bank's classifications.

The premier said the country has enjoyed full peace and political stability in the last 15 years, which are the essential elements for sound economic development.

The economy was expected to grow by 7.6 percent in equivalent to 15.19 billion US dollars this year and the poverty rate would drop to 19 percent this year from 20 percent last year, he added.

The Southeast Asian nation's growth is mainly reliant on garment exports, tourism, agriculture and construction.