Definitions

Technical notes of general concepts and specialized topics here are drawn from our major data products.

Listed below are definitions of indicators that appear in the tables of the World Development Indicators, The World Bank Atlas, Global Development Finance, and other data publications of the World Bank. Definitions used by other organizations at sites linked to this website may differ from those employed by The World Bank.

Definitions are listed alphabetically by topic.

Balance of Payments

Education, health, and poverty indicators

External Debt

Foreign Trade

Government finance indicators

Monetary indicators and prices

National accounts: output and expenditure

Population and demographic indicators