Data Availability and Coverage Do you have quarterly or monthly data? Do you have quarterly external debt data? The Data Query tool offers time series data only for the last five years. Where can I find data for previous years? I am looking for GNP data and can't find it on your site. Do you have projections/forecasts data for GDP and GNI? Do you have population projections data? Where are your data on Taiwan? Do you have data on the smaller economies? How can I obtain copies of World Development Indicators (WDI) and Global Development Finance (GDF) CD-ROMs? I am looking for the data annex tables of the World Development Report and can't find them on your web site. Where are they? Do you have any data on wealth? Do you have more recent data than I currently see on your web site?
Do you have quarterly or monthly data? Most social data are collected annually, or less often. Some economic and financial data are available on monthly or quarterly basis. The World Bank publishes annual socio-economic data in its data publications and on its web site. If the data series you are interested in originated from one of our data partners, please consult that organization's web sites and data publications to see if they have quarterly or monthly data. For example, for quarterly GDP data, please consult the IMF's "International Financial Statistics" database in CD or print format. Back to top
Do you have quarterly external debt data? The Quarterly External Debt Database, jointly developed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, brings together detailed external debt data that are published individually by countries that subscribe to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The benefit of bringing together comparable external debt data for a large number of SDDS-subscribing countries in one central location, is to facilitate macroeconomic analysis and cross-country data comparison. Fifty-two SDDS subscribing countries have agreed to participate in this database. Non-SDDS subscribing countries may be asked to participate in the centralized database at a later stage. Three sets of tables were developed for collecting quarterly time series information on external debt. Back to top
The Data Query tool offers time series data only for the last five years. Where can I find data for previous years? You can subscribe to World Development Indicators Online and have direct access to more than 600 development indicators, with time series for over 200 countries 220 countries and country groups from 1960 to the most recent available year. Or you can purchase the World Development Indicators CD-ROM.
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I am looking for GNP data and can't find it on your site. The World Bank has changed its terminology to be in line with the 1993 System of National Accounts and is now referring to GNP as "Gross national income" or GNI. All GNI data published in the WDI is equivalent to GNP. By definition, GNI in current (nominal) prices is equal to GNP. GNI in constant (real) prices is equivalent to GNP plus the terms of trade adjustment. In this year's edition, WDI publishes GNI in current prices only, since complete and reliable GNI data in constant prices were not available. To find out more, click here. GNI in current prices measures the total domestic and foreign value added claimed by residents, and comprises GDP plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from nonresident sources. The World Bank uses GNI per capita in U.S. dollars to classify countries for analytical purposes and to determine borrowing eligibility. To learn about country classifications, click here.
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Do you have projections/forecasts data for GDP and GNI? We do not publish individual country forecasts in most cases. However, we have short-term projections available in our "At a Glance Tables" on our Data by Country page. The World Bank's Global Economic Prospects report also publishes short-term regional growth rate projections. For more detailed projections from sources external to the Bank, please consult the IMF's 'World Economic Outlook' publications (recent edition), the private consulting firm DRI/WEFA, or the Economist Intelligence Unit's data.
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Do you have population projections data? We make population projection tables available on our World Development Indicators CD-ROM. The population projection tables provide population growth estimates and other demographic projections from 2000 to 2090, at five-year intervals. They are disaggregated by age-group and gender and cover approximately 200 economies. The input data used for the projections include a base year population estimate by age and sex, and base period estimates of mortality, fertility, and migration. The projections estimates are produced by the World Bank's Human Development Network. For further information on the methodology, see Eduard Bos and others, World Population Projections 1994-95, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 1994.
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Where are your data on Taiwan? As part of China's conditions for World Bank membership, Taiwan is considered to be a part of China and is not listed as a separate country. We handle data for Taiwan in the following manner: we do not add the numbers for Taiwan to the data cited for China, but Taiwan is added to the world aggregate and the High Income countries aggregate. However, there are some exceptions: for some agricultural data series received from the Food and Agriculture Organization, Taiwan figures are part of the numbers cited for China (as are Macao and Hong Kong); and for some of our trade data in World Development Indicators tables, separate figures are reported for Taiwan. For data on Taiwan, please refer to the statistics published in the following official publications:
Financial Statistics, Taiwan District, The Republic of China, The Central Bank of China
Monthly Bulletin of Statistics of the Republic of China, Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, The Republic of China
Quarterly National Economic Trends, Taiwan Area, The Republic of China
China Statistical Information Network
Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong
Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, The Republic of China
Ministry of Economic Affairs, ROC Back to top Do you have data on the smaller economies? Most of our data cover countries that have population of 30,000 or more, or that are World Bank members. For smaller economies that are World Bank members and whose populations range between 30,000 and 1 million, World Development Indicators' (WDI) table 1.6 offers key indicators. The World Bank Atlas also offers data series on smaller economies. Back to top
How can I obtain copies of World Development Indicators (WDI) and Global Development Finance (GDF) CD-ROMs? You can order these products by visiting our Publication site at http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce . These products in both CD-ROM and print versions are also available from a number of World Bank depository libraries around the world, particularly in developing countries. Please consult our listing of locations.
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I am looking for the data annex tables of the World Development Report and can't find them on your web site. Where are they? The WDR data annex tables are available through the purchased publication. You may order the WDR online through our bookshop. We also have a number of World Bank depository libraries around the world who receive our publications. Please consult our listing of locations. The data for these annex tables are also available from our World Development Indicators Online database as well as CD-ROM.
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Do you have any data on wealth? Unfortunately we don't have a standard way of defining wealth. Wealth requires an evaluation of all productive assets, which accumulate (and depreciate) over years. This would also include measuring not just physical capital, but also human capital (education, experience, and perhaps social organization), and natural resources. This introduces additional complications of double counting (some financial assets represent ownership rights in physical assets) and offsetting liabilities (resulting from various complicated derivative-like instruments). On an experimental basis we have been publishing a measure of the additions and subtractions from total wealth. It appears in the WDI print edition as table 3.15, "Genuine Savings."
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Do you have more recent data than I currently see on your web site? No. There is usually a two-year lag between the present year and the most recent data reported to us for our World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance publications. In other words, if the year is 2002, then the data on our web site will be for 2000.
Back to top Specific Data Series What is the difference between 'gross' and 'net' school enrollment? What does your 'adult mortality' number describe? What countries do you classify as developing and developed? How does the World Bank categorize countries? What is an "international dollar"? What is the difference between GDP or GNI (formerly GNP) data in "current dollars" and "constant dollars"? Can I have more detailed data on Wages and Productivity? I have seen WDI 2001's table 2.15 but need further data points or time series data. Where can I find time series data on poverty? Where can I find data on the private sector and privatization? What happened to your PPP data in WDI 2000 (tables 4.11 and 4.12)? Why don't you have foreign direct investment data for all countries? For your literacy data, why don't you have figures for high-income countries? Surely these data must exist. Is it safe to assume that literacy in high-income countries is 100%? How can I convert a constant US dollar price series to a different base year? What is the exchange rate you use to convert pre-euro years into euros?
What is the difference between 'gross' and 'net' school enrollment? "Gross" enrollment includes students of all ages, in other words students whose age exceeds the officially set age group for that class (e.g. repeaters). "Net" enrollment includes only children of the official school age for that class, as defined by the national education system.
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What does your 'adult mortality' number describe? The adult mortality rate shown in our World Development Indicators publication refers to the probability that those who have reached age 15 will die before reaching age 60 (shown in WDI as per 1000 persons). In other words, a value of 150 means that out of 1000 persons who have reached age 15, 150 are likely to die before reaching age 60, and 850 are likely to survive to age 60. This is based on a "synthetic cohort": current life table mortality rates are applied to the current cohort of 15 year olds, assuming no changes in mortality.
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What countries do you classify as developing and developed? How does the World Bank categorize countries? The World Bank classifies countries according to Gross National Income (GNI, formerly GNP) per capita, into the categories of
(1) Low income,
(2) Lower middle income,
(3) Upper middle income and
(4) High income.
The commonly used term "Developing Countries" corresponds to our "Low income" plus our "Middle income" categories. To find more information about these classifications and their current cutoff figures, please consult our country classification page. To view information about the World Bank's listing of "Heavily indebted poor countries" (the closest category we have to "Least developed economies"), please consult our HIPC site.
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What is an "international dollar"? An international dollar would buy in the cited country a comparable amount of goods and services a US dollar would buy in the United States. This term is often used in conjunction with Purchasing Power Parity or PPP data.
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What is the difference between GDP or GNI (formerly GNP) data in "current dollars" and "constant dollars"? Current dollars means "nominal" whereas constant dollars means "real." The value of output thus can increase for two distinct reasons. It can increase because more goods and services are being produced, or it can increase because prices of goods and services have risen. To eliminate the effects of changing prices, one must compute real or constant-dollar GDP (or GNI), which values the output of various time periods with a set of fixed prices. The current-dollar or nominal GDP (or GNI) is the value of output measured in prices which existed when the output was produced.
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Can I have more detailed data on Wages and Productivity beside the one published in World Development Indicators (WDI)? We do not have data in further details than what we've published in corresponding WDI table on labor market indicators. The five-year averages reported by WDI are based on annual data, from a variety of sources. For the same variable and year, we sometimes have more than one possible figure. In other cases, there is none. The decision on which figures to use, and which ones to discard, was made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account definitions, coverage of the survey instrument (if applicable), consistency with other variables in the same country, and other factors. These decisions had to be made country by country, year by year, for dozens of variables. Arranging the annual data for release would involve a tremendous amount of work. For now, our more modest goal is to have the five-year average database available for dissemination.
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Where can I find time series data on poverty? Time series data for poverty are difficult to estimate, and do not exist for the last twenty years. The data we have are based on surveys, which are expensive and therefore not conducted every year. We can, however, offer regional aggregate data points available at 'Poverty levels and voices of the poor: Income Levels - The latest Global numbers.' Please also visit our Data by Topic > Poverty page for further poverty data resources.
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Where can I find data on the private sector and privatization? Please consult our Data by Topic > Private Sector page.
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What happened to your PPP data in WDI 2000 (tables 4.11 and 4.12)? For the WDI 2001, we decided to discontinue the publication and dissemination of our PPP tables 4.11 and 4.12. PPP estimates are calculated using price data collected in different regions of the world under the International Comparison Program (ICP). ICP comparisons are first carried out in regions (e.g., Latin America, Africa, Asia, etc.) Because regional data are presented with different base years and regional currencies, and may be based on different classification schemes and/or aggregation formulas, the data are not readily comparable across regions. As a global coordinator of the program, one of the World Bank's responsibilities is to link regional results (which are submitted to us by various regional coordinators) into a consistent global data set using a common base year, a standard classification scheme, and a standard currency, commonly the U.S. dollar. Unfortunately, the regional data proved to be too weak and counterintuitive. After taking a closer look at the global data that were generated from the regional results, we are convinced that the global PPP data below the GDP level do not meet "fitness of use" test. As a result, we have decided to discontinue publishing the PPP tables 4.11 and 4.12 in WDI 2001. On the positive side, we are organizing a revamped International Comparison Program to conduct a global survey. We hope to generate more reliable estimates with 2003 as a base year. PPP conversion rates and PPP data at the GNI level remain available as part of WDI 2001 and in our Quick Reference Tables.
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Why don't you have foreign direct investment data for all countries? We have data on the foreign direct investment of the 137 countries that report to us under our Debtor Reporting System. Upper or middle income countries such as Saudi Arabia, for example, are not borrowing from us and therefore do not report their FDI figures to us. However, the IMF's International Financial Statistics publication in print or CD format may have FDI data on the country you are researching.
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For your literacy data, why you do not have figures for high-income countries? Surely these data must exist. Is it safe to assume that literacy in high-income countries is 100%? We obtain our literacy data from UNESCO. UNESCO estimates that all developed countries have an literacy rate of more than 95%. If you have further questions, please contact UNESCO via email .
Back to top How can I convert a constant US dollar price series to a different base year? Our constant US dollar price series preserve the growth rates exhibited in the constant local price series. You can easily rescale the data to a different base year. For example, to convert a constant 1995 series to constant 1987, just create an index by dividing each year of the constant 1995 series by its 1987 value (thus, 1987 will equal 1). Then multiply each year's index result by the corresponding 1987 current US dollar price value. Back to top
What is the exchange rate you use to convert pre-euro years into euros? We are using simple multipliers to convert the national currencies of EMU members to euros. The following are the irrevocable euro conversion rates as adopted by the EU Council on January 1, 1999: 1 euro = 40.3399 Belgian franc = 1.95583 German mark = 166.386 Spanish peseta = 6.55957 French franc = 0.787564 Irish pound = 1936.27 Italian lira = 40.3399 Luxembourg franc = 2.20371 Netherlands guilder = 13.7603 Austrian schilling = 200.482 Portuguese escudo = 5.94573 Finnish markka = 340.750 Greek drachma Please note that the historical data before 1999 are not actual euros and are not comparable or suitable for aggregation across countries. This methodology is simply a way to create a consistent euro time series for each country and allows for easy conversion back to the original national currency. The pre-1999 series that are created are, in effect, "Belgian euros," "German euros," "French euros," etc., and thus are unique and applicable only to each individual country. The data from 1999 onwards, however, are actual euros and are comparable across countries. Back to top Acronyms and Abbreviations Technical terms Organizations Global Development Finance (GDF) codes
Technical terms AIDS | acquired immunodeficiency syndrome | AMT | principal repayments | BOD | biochemical oxygen demand | BOP | balance of payments | CAB | current account balance | CD | current U.S. dollars | c.i.f. | cost, insurance, and freight | CFC | chlorofluorocarbon | CO2 | carbon dioxide | COM | commitments | COMTRADE | United Nations Statistics Division’s Commodity Trade database | CPI | consumer price index | CRS | Creditor Reporting System (of the OECD) | cu. m | cubic meter | DDSR | Debt and debt service reduction | DEC | World Bank's Development Economics department | DHS | Demographic and Health Survey | DIS | disbursements | DMTU | dry metric ton unit | DOD | debt outstanding and disbursed | DOTS | directly observed treatment, short-course (strategy) | DPT | diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus | DRS | World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System | EDT | total external debt, including short-term and use of IMF credit | ESAF | Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility | f.o.b. | free on board | FDI | foreign direct investment | FHS | Family Health Survey | FPI | food price index | GDP | gross domestic product | GEMS | Global Environment Monitoring System | GIS | geographic information system | GNI | gross national income (formerly referred to as GNP) | GNP | gross national product (now referred to as GNI) | ha | hectare | HIPC | heavily indebted poor country | HIV | human immunodeficiency virus | ICD | International Classification of Diseases | ICRG | International Country Risk Guide | ICSE | International Classification of Status in Employment | ICT | information and communications technology | INT | interest payments | IP | Internet Protocol | ISCED | International Standard Classification of Education | ISIC | International Standard Industrial Classification | ISP | Internet service provider | KD | constant U.S. dollars | kg | kilogram | km | kilometer | kwh | kilowatt-hour | LCFAR | liabilities constituting foreign authorities' reserves | LCU | local currency units | LDOD |
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