Skip to content

Data Updates and Errata

Please click here (XLS Download) to see the latest list of additions, deletions, and changes in codes, descriptions, definitions, sources and topics.

World Development Indicators: December 2023    

On December 20th, the World Development Indicators (WDI) database was updated. This latest update includes nine additional education indicators produced by the World Bank and UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics (UIS)—for example, the share of pupils below minimum reading proficiency at end of primary, the share of children of primary-school age who are out of school or schooling deprived, among other. Also, this new WDI update includes the most recent estimates for selected debt indicators from the World Bank’s International Debt Statistics database. Finally, more than 350 indicators were updated in fields of health, population, labor, economy, high tech exports, gender, and investment flows.

World Development Indicators: September 2023  

On September 20, the World Development Indicators (WDI) database was updated. This update features the latest estimates for labor force indicators including labor participation rates, employment ratios, part time employment and unemployment, and labor force education levels. In addition, the latest estimates for mortality rates due to unsafe water or pollution, alcohol consumption, life expectancy and other health indicators have been made available. Gender indicators on women’s decision making and empowerment, as well as data on water and sanitation, use of cooking fuels, worker’s remittances, agricultural indicators, public-private investment, internet and communications infrastructure, intellectual property, military expenditure, universal health care, and the latest poverty indicators were also included in this update. 

World Development Indicators: June 2023  


On June 30, the annual release of country classification hierarchies, lending groups, and group aggregate data were updated to reflect the new fiscal year 2024 income classifications; they can be accessed here. Additionally, the 2022 data for national accounts, including GDP and GNI-related indicators, were released for countries and aggregates. This feature also includes the latest demography estimates as well as updates to remittances, poverty gap estimates, FDI, and arms imports/exports. IMF IFS and FAS indicators were also updated. Lastly, environmental indicators such as forest area, energy consumption, as well as CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions figures were also included in this update. 

World Development Indicators: March 2023  

On March 2, the World Development Indicators (WDI) database was updated. This refresh includes the latest estimates to aid flows from bilateral donors and UN agencies, as well as personal remittances. Labor force indicators such unemployment rates by gender and age were also included in this release. Environmental indicators such as terrestrial and marine protected areas, as well as rail lines, and medium and high tech-industry exports were also part of this release. In anticipation of International Women’s Day, this feature also highlights the latest figures for teen age marriages, adolescent fertility rates and child mortality rates by sex.

World Development Indicators: December 2022  

On December 22, the quarterly update of the WDI was refreshed. This feature includes the latest estimates for unemployment rates by gender and age groups as well for labor force participation. Education related indicators such as government expenditures, school enrollment, attainment, trained teachers, and literacy rates by gender were also updated. This release also includes the latest figures related to food crop production, urban and rural populations, electrical outages, and estimates for treatment, detection, and incidence of tuberculosis, physicians, and breastfeeding. This release also includes the latest estimates from the Enterprise Surveys, as well as, ICT and military expenditures, and indicators from the IMF international Finance Statistics (IFS) and Financial Access Survey (FAS).

World Development Indicators: September 2022  

On September 16, the quarterly update of the WDI was released.  In this update, the common reference year for poverty figures, in PPP, was updated from 2011 to 2017. Health indicators such as undernourishment, birth registrations, and immunization rates were also updated. Figures related to the prevalence of contraception as well as HIV and estimated AIDS deaths were also included in this feature. This release also includes updates for severe and moderate food insecurity, high-technology exports, as well as world values for intentional homicides and for CPIA indicators.

World Development Indicators: July 2022  

On July 1, the 2021 data for national accounts, including GDP and GNI-related indicators, were released for countries and aggregates. The country classification hierarchies, lending groups, and group aggregate data reflect the new fiscal year 2023 income classifications and can be accessed here. In addition, this feature includes the latest estimates for socio-economic data such as population, education and employment, intentional homicides, stock market indicators, public-private partnerships investment, FDI, and aid flows.  

World Development Indicators: April 2022


On April 27, the quarterly update of the WDI was released. This feature includes updates to adjusted savings in national accounts, education, and energy sectors. Trademark applications, individuals using the internet, broadband and mobile phone subscriptions, as well as financial soundness and financial access indicators were also updated. This also update includes the latest figures related to energy and environmental indicators as well as coal, forest, mineral, natural gas, and oil rents. It also covers the latest estimates for the prevalence of tobacco use, completeness of birth registrations, and multidimensional poverty headcounts.

World Development Indicators: February 2022


On February 15, the WDI was refreshed. This feature includes the latest updates from the IMF IFS and GFS, as well as the latest updates for national accounts data from the OECD and national statistics offices. Other economic data from UNCTAD, WTO, and UNIDO were also included in this refresh. Labor force, unemployment rates, and other labor force indicators were also updated. Additionally, figures for child mortality (SDG 3.2), universal health coverage (SDG 3.8.2), health expenditures, as well as access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking (SDG 7.1.2) were also updated. The latest data on tourism, FDI, remittances, public-private partnerships investment, and ICT imports/exports were also updated.

World Development Indicators: December 2021


On December 16, the World Development Indicators quarterly update was released. This update includes the latest estimates for labor force participation and unemployment rates by gender and age groups. States and markets indicators were also updated: air transport, registered carrier departures, and high-technology exports. This release includes the latest figures related to treatment, detection, and incidence of tuberculosis, physicians, contraceptive prevalence, prevalence of female genital mutilation, and completeness of birth registrations data. This feature also includes updates to national accounts figures, along with IMF's BoP/ International Finance Statistics (IFS) and WTO data. 

World Development Indicators: October 2021


On October 28, new external debt data from the International Debt Statistics 2022 was included in the WDI. This refresh includes the latest figures for external debt stocks, total debt service, net financial flows, portfolio equity flows, FDI, and workers' remittances as well as compensation of employees. This release also includes new estimates for labor force participation, unemployment rates by gender, employment-type, and education. Disaggregated figures on school enrollment, student persistence, school completion, educational attainment, teacher training rates and related education indicators were also updated. Shared prosperity indicators (SDG 10) were also updated. In this feature, the common reference year for national accounts series at constant prices, in US dollars, was updated from 2010 to 2015. 

World Development Indicators: September 2021


On September 15, the WDI was refreshed. This release includes updates to health indicators, such as undernourishment (SDG 2.1.1), HIV/AIDS (SDG 3.3.1), as well as access to drinking water and sanitation (SDG 6.1.1 and 6.2.1). Forest, land area (SDG 15.1.1), unemployment, and other labor figures were also updated. This feature also covers updates for CPIA indicators, military expenditures, battle related deaths, internet and communications, and financial access survey figures as well as financial soundness indicators. Additionally, this release also features new estimates for multidimensional poverty headcount ratios, as well as by population total, by age and gender (SDG 1.2.2).   

World Development Indicators: July 2021


On July 1, the 2020 data for national accounts, including GDP and GNI-related indicators, were released for countries and aggregates. The country classification hierarchies, lending groups, and group aggregate data reflect the new fiscal year 2022 income classifications and can be accessed here. This feature also includes the latest estimates for population, refugee, life expectancy, mortality rate, health expenditure, labor markets figures, and stock market indicators. Additionally, figures related to tax revenue, FDI, portfolio equity, workers’ remittances, as well as compensation of employees from IMF’s Government Finance Statistics were updated. This feature also includes updates to economic series sourced from IMF IFS, UNIDO, WITS, UNCTAD, and WTO, as well as updates to linked series for PPP purposes. This release also includes updates to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the WBG’s Climate Change Action Plan.

World Development Indicators: May 2021


On May 25, the new update of the World Development Indicators was published. This release includes the latest figures for access to electricity, S&P Global Equity Indices, PPP conversion factor, as well as average transaction costs for sending remittances. This feature also includes updates to private investment as well as public private partnerships investments in transport, ICT, energy, water and sanitation.  
 

World Development Indicators: April 2021


On April 26, new health indicators were updated in the WDI. These include new estimates for the prevalence of underweight, stunting, wasting, severe wasting, and overweight for children and by gender. The latest estimates for mortality and fertility rates were also updated. This release also features updates to adjusted savings as well as coal, forest, mineral, natural gas, and oil rents. It also covers updates to mobile cellular subscriptions, individuals using the internet, Enterprise Surveys indicators, as well as arms imports and exports figures.

World Development Indicators: March 2021


On March 19, new poverty and inequality estimates in the WDI were released, alongside the PovcalNet update. The new estimates include national and international poverty rates for individual economies and aggregate groups, and new measures of inequality in income or consumption, including the Gini index, for individual economies (WDI Table 1.2 and WDI Table 1.3). This update also features new estimates for FDI, remittances, PPP revision, national accounts figures,  and WBL Index.  

World Development Indicators: February 2021

On February 17, a new update of the World Development Indicators was released. It includes updates for debt, international tourism, trade, and tariffs. Additionally, figures related to government tax revenue, ODA, FDI, workers’ remittances, as well as compensation of employees from IMF’s Government Finance Statistics were updated. This feature also includes the latest estimates for labor force participation, employment-type, and unemployment rates by gender, as well as causes of deaths, patent, trademark, ICT imports and exports, telephone, mobile, and broadband subscriptions. Additionally, the data for the indicators on high-technology exports were revised to correct for a system error.

World Development Indicators: December 2020

On December 16, the quarterly update of the World Development Indicators was released. This update features the latest on figures on rail and air transport, battle related deaths, container port traffic, military personnel, internet usage, as well as telephone, mobile, and broadband subscriptions. New estimates are also available for investments related to transport, water, energy, and ICT. This release also features new estimates for multidimensional poverty headcount ratios, as well as for a few countries population total, by age and sex. The latest figures related to treatment, detection, and incidence of tuberculosis, risk of expenditure for surgical care, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, hospital beds, as well as public, private, and out-of-pocket health expenditure data are also available.

World Development Indicators: October 2020

On October 14, new external debt data from the International Debt Statistics 2021 was included in the WDI. This update features new figures for financial flows and trends in external debt for low- and middle- income countries. This update also includes the latest figures for total reserves, domestic credits, CPI, exchange rates, governments' tax revenue/expenses, interest rates, FDI, portfolio equity flows, service imports and exports, and workers' remittances as well as compensation of employees from IMF's International Financial Statistics, Government Finance Statistics, and Balance of Payments.

On October 7, a new update of the WDI was released. This update features new estimates for incidences of HIV by age and gender, immunization, alcohol consumption, sanitation, maternal and child mortality rates as well as related health and gender indicators. New figures on legislation, parliamentary seats, female migrant stocks, and demographic and health surveys were also updated. This release also includes new estimates for labor force participation, part time employment, and unemployment rates by gender, employment-type, and education. Additionally, disaggregated data on literacy rates, school enrollment, student persistence, school completion, educational attainment, teacher training rates and related education indicators were also updated. Lastly, new and revised estimates on international poverty, national poverty, and inequality have been released.

World Development Indicators: September 2020

On September 16, new WDI updates were published. This release includes the latest data from the Human Capital Index (HCI) by gender, as well as updates for medium and high-tech industry and exports, homicides by gender, prevalence of food insecurity, and telecommunications and ICT indicators. It also covers updates of financial soundness indicators as well as the latest figures for public and private health expenditures.

World Development Indicators: August 2020

On August 14, the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) series in the WDI, as well as the stand-alone CPIA database were updated. This feature also includes new Social Protection figures (available in the ASPIRE database) based on 407 surveys for 125 countries up to 2019, as well as SDG Indicator 1.3.1: Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems.

World Development Indicators: July 2020

On July 1 data for 2019 for population and national accounts, including GDP and GNI-related indicators, have been released for countries and aggregates. New estimates are also available for contraceptive prevalence, labor market, R&D, refugee, carbon dioxide emissions, and firm-level financing and bribery incidence from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys. The country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect the new fiscal year 2021 income classifications and can be accessed here

World Development Indicators: May 2020


On May 19, new SDG indicators and updates to the WDI were published. New indicators include the multidimensional poverty index, headcount ratios by gender, and intensity estimates (SDG 1.2.2); prevalence of moderate and severe food insecurity by population (SDG 2.1.2); proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (SDG 10.2.1); and the Women Business and the Law Index Score (SDG 5.1). This update also features the purchasing power parity (PPP) results for the reference year 2017. For the methodology of ICP’s PPP estimation (2011-2017), please refer to the ICP website. For years before 2011 and after 2017, please see the extrapolation method here.

World Development Indicators: April 2020

On April 9, new child malnutrition data were updated in the WDI, along with the UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates (JME) updates. This feature includes new estimates for the prevalence of underweight, stunting, wasting, severe wasting, and overweight for children and by gender (WDI Table 2.15). This update includes estimates and metadata for all years up to 2019 at country/regional/global levels. 

World Development Indicators: March 2020

On March 18, new poverty and inequality estimates in the WDI were released, alongside the PovcalNet update. The new estimates include national and international poverty rates for individual economies and aggregate groups, and new measures of inequality in income or consumption, including the Gini index, for individual economies (WDI Table 1.2 and WDI Table 1.3).

This update also includes new figures for education data, sourced from UIS, related to government expenditures, trained teachers, and pupil-teacher ratios for all school levels (WDI Table 2.7); student enrollment rates by school level and gender (WDI Table 2.8); education efficiency indicators (WDI Table 2.9); and education completion and outcome indicators (WDI Table 2.10). 

World Development Indicators: February 2020


On February 27, the new update of the World Development Indicators was released. It includes updates for business and firm-related data, private investment, and ICT figures. Economic indicators for select countries were also revised. Financial indicators such as official aid, external debt stocks and flows, foreign direct investment, remittance, and portfolio equity were also updated. New figures on trade, tariff, tourism were also released. 

World Development Indicators: December 2019  


On December 19, the quarterly update for the WDI was released. This release features updates of national accounts data for all economies and aggregates. Additionally, international finance statistics, government finance, balance of payments, trade, rail transport, battle deaths, intentional homicides, health and gender data were also updated. New estimates are also available for labor force participation, part time employment, and unemployment rates. This update also includes new descriptions for some poverty indicators.

World Development Indicators: October 2019


On October 28, the WDI indicators which are sourced from the Doing Business report were updated to reflect the latest measures of business regulations, and the time and costs associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods.

On October 2, a new update of the World Development Indicators was released. This update features disaggregated data on literacy rates, school enrollment, student persistence, school completion, educational attainment, and teacher training rates. New estimates are also available for labor force participation, wages and salaried workers, part time employment, and unemployment rates. Additionally, financial flows, trends in external debt, and other major financial indicators for low- and middle- income countries from International Debt Statistics 2020 were also updated.

World Development Indicators: September 2019

On September 19, new WDI updates were published. This release features new estimates for maternal and child mortality rates, as well as updates for population, sanitation, health, immunization, HIV, and gender data. Additionally, updates of national accounts data were included for selected economies, and international finance statistics, government finance, balance of payments, FDI, air transport, CPI, battle deaths, intentional homicides, and communications data were also updated. 

On September 24, the latest poverty and shared prosperity indicators were released. These updates include new estimates for GINI index, poverty headcounts and gaps, and income and consumption data by income level and per capita. 

World Development Indicators: June 2019

On June 26 data for 2018 for population and national accounts, including GDP and GNI-related indicators, have been released for countries and aggregates. New estimates are also available for Balance of Payments, Purchasing Power Parities (PPP), exchange rates, unmet need and demand satisfied for family planning (SDG 3.7.1), treatment of diarrhea, prevention of malaria, birth registration, access to electricity (SDG 7.1.1), terrestrial and marine protected areas, arms trade and military expenditure, public-private partnership investments, and business environment indicators gathered through enterprise surveys (SDG 16.5.2). 

World Development Indicators: April 2019

On April 24 the quarterly update of the World Development Indicators was released. It includes updates for national accounts, balance of payments, labor market, and health expenditure data. New estimates are also available for natural resources rents, PM2.5 pollution, law and regulation towards gender equality, mobile and internet, armed forces personnel, and education series. New indicators include data on government expenditures as a proportion of original approved budget.

World Development Indicators: March 2019

On March 21 the World Development Indicators and the Poverty and Equity databases have been updated to reflect the March 2019 update of the poverty data. International poverty numbers have been revised, with 50 new surveys and new ancillary data, as well as new aggregates for the period 1981 to 2015. A revised set of shared prosperity spells are also included. Poverty statistics at national poverty lines have also been revised.

World Development Indicators: January 2019

On January 24 the quarterly update of the World Development Indicators was released. This version presents the most recent measures of trade compliance and business regulations from Doing Business, updates of national accounts data for selected economies, as well as balance of payments, official development assistance, and tariff data, incidence of tuberculosis and malaria, education attainment, labor force participation and unemployment (national estimates), threatened species, and fertilizer consumption. New indicators are available for mortality rate by cause and sex, and alcohol consumption by sex.

World Development Indicators: November 2018

On November 14 new external debt data from the International Debt Statistics database was included in the WDI, including data on external debt stocks and flows, key debt ratios, as well as updates on other financial flows indicators such as foreign direct investment and portfolio equity. 

World Development Indicators: October 2018

On October 19 a new update of the World Development Indicators has been released. This version features data for the Human Capital Index (HCI) disaggregated by sex. The index measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18, given the risks to poor health and poor education that prevail in the country where the child lives. It is designed to highlight how improvements in current health and education outcomes shape the productivity of the next generation of workers, assuming that children born today experience over the next 18 years the educational opportunities and health risks that children in this age range currently face. Please visit the Human Capital Project website for further information.

Other data updates include refugee population, prevalence of undernourishment, personal remittances, portfolio equity, and foreign direct investment series. Revisions and corrections of selected national accounts data and international finance statistics indicators have also been included. 

World Development Indicators: September 2018

On September 19 the quarterly update of the World Development Indicators has been released. This version features new poverty estimates and new child mortality data, as well as updates for consumer price index, financial indicators, balance of payments, demography, HIV, labor force participation and unemployment, mobile and internet, and electricity production series. New indicators are available for homicide rate by sex, mortality due to environmental pollution, and military expenditure.

World Development Indicators: August 2018

On August 28 a database update was conducted to reflect new estimates and revisions for selected indicators including data on terrestrial and marine protected areas, as well as GNI and value added series. 

World Development Indicators: July 2018

On July 26 a minor update was made to the World Development Indicators database to reflect corrections for selected indicators in Environment, National Accounts, and States and Markets. Additionally, data on financial risk protection for surgical care have been updated with trends.

World Development Indicators: June 2018

On June 29 data for 2017 for population and national accounts, including GDP and GNI-related indicators, have been released for countries and aggregates. The methodology for presenting value added for the services sector has been revised, and financial intermediary services indirectly measured (FISIM) are presented separately. Historically, FISIM was used in the calculation of the “Services, etc” indicator. Starting with July 2018 update of the WDI, FISIM is presented as a separate series, where available. In addition, the “Final consumption expenditure, etc” and “Household consumption expenditure, etc” data included any existing statistical discrepancy between GDP according to production methodology and GDP according to expenditure methodology. Starting with this update, these two series will no longer be published. Instead, indicators for final consumption expenditure and household consumption expenditure are now available. Users can find the statistical discrepancy listed as a separate indicator. You can access the latest list of indicator additions, deletions, descriptions and code changes here. The methodology for calculating value added shares has also been updated

Other data that have been updated include FDI, tariffs, monetary and prices indicators, balance of payments, trade, health, military expenditure, air traffic, CPIA ratings, and fisheries. Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) for OECD and Eurostat countries show the latest release. The country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect the new fiscal year 2019 income classifications. Historical data have been revised as necessary.

World Development Indicators: May 2018   

On May 2 a minor update has been completed for select poverty and states and market indicators. 

World Development Indicators: April 2018

On April 20 the quarterly update of the World Development Indicators has been released. This includes updates for national accounts, balance of payments, labor market, poverty and shared prosperity, remittances, military personnel, stock market, and tourism series. New estimates are also available for access to electricity-related indicators, adjusted net savings, law and regulation towards gender equality, ownership of financial accounts, mobile and internet, and education series. New indicators include data on health expenditures, value added per worker by sector, sex-disaggregated indicators on the completeness of birth registration, export/import unit value index, population exposed to PM2.5 pollution by interim target level, and net ODA provided.

World Development Indicators: February 2018 

On 15 February an update was processed. During this release, the 2011 Purchasing Power Parities and related extrapolations for West Bank and Gaza were restored. National Accounts data for West Bank and Gaza are still reported in USD. Select indicators in national accounts, environment, social, poverty monitoring, international finance statistics, debt, states and markets, aid, universal health coverage, and tourism were updated. Specific indicators for select countries including OECD members and Belarus were revised.

World Development Indicators: December 2017

On December 18 an update was processed which includes indicators in the Economy, Environment, Finance, Health, Labor, States and Markets, and Global Links sections. A few new indicators have been introduced, while the descriptions for some series has been revised.

World Development Indicators: November 2017      

On November 21 an update was processed which includes select indicators in the Child Mortality, Doing Business, Environment, and Statistical Capacity sections of the database. The country grouping has been revised.

World Development Indicators: October 2017


On October 30 an update was processed which includes the latest dissemination of the Bulletin Board on Statistical Capacity (BBSC). It also covers financial, prices, and monetary data from the IMF International Financial Statistics database, as well as select indicators from the International Debt Statistics database.

On October 24 an update was processed which covers a set of financial indicators in the Global Links section of the WDI including data on external debt stocks and flows, major economic aggregates, key debt ratios, as well as updates on other financial flows indicators such as foreign direct investment, portfolio equity, and remittance data.

On October 19 new child mortality estimates were released with two additional indicators: Probability of dying at age 5-14 years (per 1,000 children age 5) and Number of deaths ages 5-14 years.

On October 12 the Poverty and Shared Prosperity data was updated. Estimates are available for updated data and a revised set of indicators, including for new international poverty lines. Some indicators in Environment section have also been refreshed. Select corrections have been made to the historical countries classification files.

World Development Indicators: September 2017  

On September 15  a set of indicators were updated, primarily in the Social, State and Markets, and Environment areas, including data on population, intentional homicides, battle-related deaths, access to water, health, CO2 emissions, gender, technology, and communications. Minor corrections have also been implemented for a few countries.

World Development Indicators: July 2017 

    
A minor update was processed on July 21 to reflect changes in reporting foreign exchange reserves in select countries. New data for workers' remittances and compensation of employees have been posted, as well as Country Policy and Institutional Assessment ratings. A few country groupings have been revised.

On July 1 data for 2016 for population, GDP and GNI-related indicators have been released for countries and aggregates. Historical data have been revised as necessary. Other data that have been updated include balance of payments, monetary indicators, military expenditure, merchandise trade, air traffic, and internally displaced persons. The country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect the new fiscal year 2018 income classifications. New Public Private Partnership series were introduced in this release. The percentage of people with an account (SDG 8.10.2 from Findex) is also available and disaggregated by sex, income, and education level. Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) have been updated for OECD and Eurostat countries to reflect their latest release. Purchasing Power Parities (PPP) and related indicators in PPP terms for Cuba (expenditures, income, etc.) have been removed.

World Development Indicators: May 2017 

An update was processed on May 26: Child malnutrition aggregate estimates have been updated with the most recent WHO-Unicef-World Bank joint estimates. We also included in this release changes in Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Net DAC donor flows (Total), Fishery and Aquaculture production data, and Gross National Income for Nigeria.”

World Development Indicators: April 2017 

A minor update was processed on April 27 to revise national accounts data for Russian Federation and education data for income group aggregates. Corrections were also made for access to electricity and access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking for Cote d'Ivoire and Curacao.

A full update of development data to coincide with publication of the World Development Indicators 2017 book was made on April 17. New indicators include those for trademark and industrial design applications, access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, male and female population shares by five-year age intervals, social protection coverage by quintiles from ASPIRE, and trade compliance indicators from Doing Business. External debt data for Thailand have been revised. Additionally, a set of three new indicators have been developed for GDP in current local currency, the implicit GDP deflator, and inflation based on the implicit GDP deflator. These series have been linked to produce consistent time series to counteract breaks in series over time due to changes in base years, source data and methodologies. The new linked series may not be comparable with other national accounts series in the database for historical years.

World Development Indicators: March 2017 

On March 29 new country codes were introduced to align World Bank 3-letter codes with ISO 3-letter codes: Andorra (AND), Dem. Rep. Congo (COD), Isle of Man (IMN), Kosovo (XKX), Romania (ROU), Timor-Leste (TLS), and West Bank and Gaza (PSE).

A minor update was processed on March 23 to revise 2014 and 2015 foreign direct investment data for United Arab Emirates. Indicators related to cereal production were also revised; and missing data for debt forgiveness grants were added. 

World Development Indicators: February 2017 

A update was processed on February 1 to revise PPP data for OECD/Eurostat countries and related aggregates. Revisions were also made for land area indicators, air freight, total greenhouse gases, and national accounts data for Japan. Indicators for social protection and labor and for natural resource rents have been updated for 2015 and revised for historical years. 

World Development Indicators: January 2017


A minor update was processed on January 3 to correct additional government finance data for Japan and Spain, and related aggregates. 


World Development Indicators: December 2016  

A minor update was processed on December 28 to revise historical data for Doing Business indicators for Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russian Federation, and United States, and related aggregates.  

A minor update was processed on December 21 to correct government finance data (including military spending as a percentage of central government expenditure) for Japan and Spain, debt data for China, and related aggregate calculations for these sets of indicators.

The release on December 16 features new external debt data from the International Debt Statistics database, and revised data for national accounts, PPP series, balance of payments, FDI inflows, remittances, and monetary indicators. Updates have also been made for government finance indicators, malnutrition series, education aggregates, Enterprise Surveys, commercial banks, refugees, high-technology exports, and other trade-related indicators. IDA and IBRD group data have been adjusted to reflect Syrian Arab Republic's reclassification as an IDA only country.

World Development Indicators: November 2016

 
On November 17 data have been updated for Doing Business indicators, and series related to fertilizer consumption, ambient PM2.5 air pollution, population in largest city, and population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million. World aggregate data for greenhouse gases series, surface area, and land area have been revised. Monetary data for Cyprus from 2001 to 2004, and market capitalization data for Slovak Republic from 1993 to 2006, were also corrected. Purchasing power parity data for Argentina have been restored and updated.

World Development Indicators: October 2016


On October 14 an update was processed for national poverty and child mortality series, and to add 2016 data for Enterprise Surveys and women in parliament and 2014 data for freshwater resources and withdrawals. 2015 world values in U.S. dollars for gross capital formation, gross domestic savings, gross fixed capital formation, gross savings, and household final consumption expenditure were removed; they were misleading because there are no 2015 data available yet for China and India and implicitly gap-filled aggregate values did not properly reflect expected trends.

On October 4 data have been updated for international poverty and shared prosperity indicators, balance of payments series, monetary indicators, Enterprise Surveys, FDI and portfolio equity flows, remittances, and indicators for education, health expenditure, HIV, immunization, CO2 emissions, statistical capacity, telecommunications, threatened species, private participation in infrastructure, research and development, intentional homicides, and battle -related deaths. New indicators have been added for HIV, gender, and educational attainment. Argentina, which was temporarily unclassified in July 2016 pending release of revised national accounts statistics, is classified as upper middle income for FY17 based on alternative conversion factors. OECD group data have been updated to reflect the addition of Latvia.

World Development Indicators: August 2016

On August 10 an update was processed for all monetary series, including corrections for reserves including gold and domestic credit to the private sector by banks, for 2015 and recent historical years. Other corrections were made for gross fixed capital formation in constant local currency, U.S. dollars, and growth rate for Ukraine for 2013 and 2014; listed domestic companies for the United States in 1983; and high-technology exports for Hong Kong SAR, China for 2014 and 2015. Related aggregate data were also revised. World values for gross savings as a percentage of GDP and GNI in 2015 were removed due to insufficient availability of country-level data.

World Development Indicators: July 2016


On July 22 an update was processed to revise Zambia's GDP growth rates and related national accounts and PPP data from 2011 to 2015.

On July 19 an update was processed to correct balance of payments data that were misaligned by one year for all countries and aggregates, and to add correct balance of payments data for 2015. Liberia's monetary data for 2015, and related aggregate calculations for low income, IDA, and HIPC countries, and Russian Federation's net transfers from abroad from 2007 to 2014, were also corrected.

On July 8 an update was processed to correct the scale of national accounts GDP expenditure and value added components for Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Switzerland, and United States from 2010 to 2015; constant price GNI and GNI per capita (including PPP), GNI growth rates, and current price net income from abroad for United States from 2013 to 2015; constant price GDP and GDP per capita, GDP growth rates, Atlas method GNI per capita, GDP deflator, and inflation for Isle of Man for years before 2010; and all aggregate calculations for these sets of national accounts indicators.

2015 data (plus revised historical data, where necessary) for all countries and groups for population-, GDP- and GNI-related indicators have been released on July 5. Other data that have been updated include balance of payments, monetary indicators, CPIA indicators, military expenditure, merchandise trade, and foreign direct investment. Constant US dollar national accounts series are now based in 2010 prices. Country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect new fiscal year 2017 income classifications. (Note: Argentina, which was classified as high income in FY16, is temporarily unclassified pending the expected release of revised national accounts statistics.) Aggregate groups based on IBRD and IDA lending categories have also been introduced, along with groups for pre-, early-, late-, and post-demographic dividend countries. The two high-income-specific groups for OECD and nonOECD countries have been removed. 

World Development Indicators: June 2016

A minor update was processed on June 14 to correct 2015 statistical capacity indicator data for Brazil; military expenditure data from 1988 to 1993 for the Democratic Republic of Congo; and related aggregate calculations for these two sets of indicators. Data for forestry and air traffic indicators have also been updated.

A minor update was processed on June 1 to correct 1994 poverty data for Philippines; and 2012 births attended by skilled health staff data for Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and related aggregate groups. Other corrections were made to Angola's DEC alternative conversion factor and related national accounts data for 1985 to 1997; Oman's data for GNI and net income from abroad from 2008 to 2014; and 2005 historical PPP conversion factors (those with ".05" extensions) to express them in the latest local currency units for Latvia (euros), Liberia (US$), and Lithuania (euros). Data for high-technology exports and migrants have also been updated.

2016 Little Data Book

The table for United Kingdom (page 218) contains a partial set of data. Click here for the complete table.

2016 World Development Indicators Book

Figure 14c map (page 31) is missing green shading denoting the human footprint. Click here for the corrected figure.

World Development Indicators: May 2016

A minor update was processed on May 10 to correct stock market index data for 2015 for France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, world surface area for 2015, and international migrant stock as a percentage of the population for Northern Mariana Islands for 2010. Missing data for net FDI outflows and the consumer price index have also been added.

A minor update was processed on May 2 to revise and update national poverty, adjusted savings, and aggregate forest indicators. Missing data for value added shares for United Arab Emirates have also been added.

World Development Indicators: April 2016

Full update of development data to coincide with publication of the World Development Indicators 2016 book. New indicators include those for urban and rural land area, greenhouse gas emissions, fisheries, financial inclusion, education, health, and gender. Government finance data are now based on the 2014 GFS Manual.

World Development Indicators: February 2016

Data have been updated for grants indicators and forestry indicators. External debt data for Malaysia, Romania, and aggregate groups have been revised. Corrections have been made to international poverty data for Peru for 1985; GDP-related data for New Zealand from 2012-15; the PPP price level ratio for Myanmar for 2011; value added data for The Gambia and Lesotho; the consumer price index and inflation rates for Sierra Leone from 2006 to 2014; and data for other greenhouse gases from 1970 to 2010. National poverty data for Dominican Republic for 2014 have been removed pending further review.

World Development Indicators: December 2015

This release features new external debt data from the International Debt Statistics database, and revised national accounts, PPP series, monetary indicators, FDI inflows, and remittances. Stock market data, which had been discontinued from Standard & Poor’s, have been re-sourced and updated to 2014 from the World Federation of Exchanges. Updates have also been made for demographic and labor series, science and technology indicators, refugees, Enterprise Surveys, financial access and soundness indicators, entrepreneurship, homicides, tuberculosis series, and railways.

On December 22 data have been updated for malnutrition, national poverty indicators, and threatened species. Revisions and corrections include CO2 data for Democratic Republic of Korea, FDI data for United Arab Emirates, and population-related data (including GNI per capita) for Croatia and Maldives.

On December 29 national accounts data for Eritrea from 2012 to 2014 have been removed pending further review. Data for series derived from the national accounts indicators, including PPP conversion factors, have also been removed.

World Development Indicators: November 2015

Data have been released for maternal mortality indicators as published in "Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2015" in joint coordination with WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Division. Updates have also been made for Doing Business indicators, poverty and shared prosperity, employment by sector, and women in parliament.

World Development Indicators: October 2015

Poverty, shared prosperity, and income distribution data have been updated and revised on October 9 to now be based on 2011 PPP data. International poverty lines are expressed as $1.90 per day (from the previous line of $1.25 based on 2005 PPP) and $3.10 per day (from $2.00). Please note some countries continue to use the 2005-based estimates, as well as the 2005-based survey mean consumption or income per capita series for shared prosperity; see database notes. Data have also been updated for statistical capacity indicators, surface area, land area and related indicators, including population density, and social protection indicators. Corrections have been made to national accounts data for Guinea and Sierra Leone.

World Development Indicators: September 2015

Data have been updated on September 18 for malnutrition-related indicators, population-related indicators (including per capita series, such as GNI per capita and GDP per capita), balance of payments, monetary indicators, immunization, HIV-related indicators, and PM 2.5 air pollution. National accounts data for Liberia have been corrected, with local currency values now reported in U.S. dollars. On September 9, child mortality data, including estimates for 2015, were released in coordination with the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. Other updates included those for access to an improved water source, access to improved sanitation facilities, and education aggregates.

World Development Indicators: July 2015

2014 data (plus revised historical data, where necessary) for all countries and groups for population-, GDP- and GNI-related indicators have been released. Other data that have been updated include balance of payments, monetary indicators, CPIA indicators, military expenditure, CO2 emissions, fuel prices, electricity access, air traffic, merchandise trade, and foreign direct investment. Country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect new fiscal year 2016 income classifications.

A supplemental update includes adjusted savings, energy, electricity, sectoral CO2, natural resource rents, and telecommunications indicators. Corrections have also been made for the following issues: constant GNI related indicators (including PPP, GNI growth and net income from abroad) for Belgium and Estonia for 2014; historical national accounts data (including the DEC alternative conversion factor and US dollar derived series using GDP and GNI) up to 1990 for Argentina, Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nicaragua, and Peru; data for domestic credit to the private sector by banks for Zimbabwe for 2008 (removed); military expenditure as a percentage of GDP for Russian Federation for 1988-90 (removed); and PM2.5 series. Aggregate data for indicators covered by these corrections, as well as aggregate data for scientific and technical journal articles, have also been revised.

World Development Indicators: April 2015

Full update of development data to coincide with publication of the World Development Indicators 2015 book. New indicators include those for education expenditure, children in employment, and firm-level financing and bribery incidence.

World Development Indicators: March 2015

Full update of development data to coincide with publication of the World Development Indicators 2015 book. New indicators include those for education expenditure, children in employment, and firm-level financing and bribery incidence.

National accounts data have been corrected and revised for Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, and Oman (local currency values, all years; with minor adjustments to purchasing power parity values); Kenya (constant values and growth rates, 1960-61); Mauritania (constant values and growth rates, 1960-93; and services value added); and Argentina (restoration of previously published current price values from 1994 to 2003). Other corrections include purchasing power parity household consumption data for Denmark, Germany, Spain, and aggregates from 1990 to 2002; and remittances data for Timor-Leste and aggregates for 2013. Debt to export ratios have been updated for 2013; and aggregates for statistical capacity indicators have been revised. Indicators sourced from the International Road Federation have been removed pending a review of their licensing agreement.

World Development Indicators: January 2015

Telecommunications data from ITU have been updated, along with data for pre-primary enrollment and lower secondary completion rates, and grants data for 2013. Corrections and revisions have been made to data for internal water resources and nationally protected areas. Data related to GNI and net income from abroad for Timor-Leste and Chad have also been corrected.

World Development Indicators: December 2014

This release features new external debt data from the International Debt Statistics database, and revised national accounts, PPP, balance of payments, monetary and government finance indicators, labor series, and trade indexes and trade facilitation indicators. Corrections have been made to China's historical GDP growth rate series before the year 2000. New series have been added for statistical capacity building, unemployment, particulate matter, and access to electricity and non-solid fuel. The latter indicators are now sourced from the World Bank's Sustainable Energy for All database. Water pollution indicators, which were from a research data set no longer being maintained, have been removed.

World Development Indicators: November 2014

Additional updates to poverty and income distribution have been published, along with name and metadata changes for urban and rural poverty indicators. Data have been updated for Doing Business indicators, including new figures for 2014; methodology changes have been introduced for strength of legal rights index (now 0-12 scale) and depth of credit information index (now 0-8 scale). 2014 data are also available for logistics performance indicators, threatened species, and average annual precipitation. Freshwater series have been updated for 2013. Corrections have been made to Argentina's GNI, gross national savings, and adjusted savings series, which also affect aggregate data; minor national accounts updates for Argentina for 2013 since September have also been included. Aggregate data for charges for the use of intellectual property for 2013 have been removed due to insufficient country-level data.

World Development Indicators: October 2014

Four new shared prosperity indicators have been added that show the level and annualized growth of survey mean consumption or income per capita for the total population and the bottom 40%. Data have also been updated for malnutrition and poverty indicators.

World Development Indicators: September 2014

New child mortality data, including 2013 estimates, have been released. Data have also been updated for national accounts, balance of payments, government finance and monetary indicators, urban and rural population, HIV-related indicators, land use, fresh water, literacy, Enterprise Surveys, and private participation in infrastructure.

World Development Indicators: July 2014

2013 data (plus revised historical data, where necessary) for all countries and groups for population-, GDP- and GNI-related indicators have been released. Other data that have been updated include balance of payments, government finance and monetary indicators, CPIA indicators, ICT indicators, military expenditure, air traffic, Enterprise Surveys, merchandise trade, homicides, and bilateral aid flows. Country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect new fiscal year 2015 income classifications. Kyrgyz Republic and South Sudan have moved from low income to lower middle income. Two additional aggregate groups have been added: Fragile and conflict affected situations (FCS); and Central Europe and the Baltics (CEB).

A supplemental update includes adjusted savings indicators, PM10, natural resources rents, education aggregates, personal remittances, population density, and research and development indicators. Corrections have been made for Ecuador's and Peru's national accounts series, which also affect aggregate data (most notably 2013 growth rates for exports, imports, and consumption for Latin America and the Caribbean); and China's constant price series for services and consumption before the year 2000. Constant price purchasing power parity data have been added for 2013.

World Development Indicators: May 2014

Purchasing power parity (PPP) indicators have been revised based on the 2011 International Comparison Program (ICP) estimates released on April 30, 2014. Annual estimates from OECD and Eurostat have previously appeared in the WDI database; for other countries annual estimates are derived from the 2011 benchmark year through a simple extrapolation method that applies the relative rate of inflation observed in the country compared with the United States to the base year PPP estimates. Extrapolation for the GDP conversion factor uses the GDP implicit deflator. Extrapolation for private consumption uses the consumer price index. PPP data are now provided only from 1990, as the longer the time period between the estimate and the benchmark, the greater the risk of inaccuracy. This database update also features revised estimates for maternal mortality indicators from 1990 to 2013 from the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group; revised life expectancy figures for Kazakhstan; updates for health expenditure and cause of death series; revised estimates for adjusted savings indicators; refined exchange rate and U.S. dollar conversions for euro area countries, along with corrections for Belarus, Estonia, Singapore and Republic of Yemen; revised national accounts data for Ethiopia and GNI corrections for Chad; corrected PM10 and metals depletion data for adjusted savings indicators; and national accounts revisions for Nigeria based on official government statistics released on 6 April, 2014. The new base year for Nigeria is 2010; and GDP estimates from 2010 to 2012 are 60 to 75 percent higher than previously reported.

The Little Data Book 2014

The cutoff date for data is February 1, 2014. For most economies PPP figures are extrapolated from the 2005 International Comparison Program (ICP) benchmark estimates or imputed using a statistical model based on the 2005 ICP. For 47 high- and upper middle-income economies conversion factors are provided by Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

World Development Indicators: April 2014

The April 2014 WDI database features a full update of development data to coincide with publication of the World Development Indicators 2014 book. New indicators include those for severe wasting, disaggregated by sex; and national estimates for labor force participation, ratios of employment to population, and unemployment. The topic Labor & Social Protection has been renamed Social Protection & Labor. Corrections have been made to constant price and purchasing power parity data for Armenia; constant price expenditure data for Nicaragua; and CO2 data for Palau. Constant price GDP and CPI data that are officially reported by the National Statistics and Censuses Institute of Argentina have be restored. The International Monetary Fund has, however, issued a declaration of censure and called on Argentina to adopt remedial measures to address the quality of the official GDP and CPI data. Alternative data sources have shown significantly lower real growth and higher inflation than the official data since 2008. In this context, the World Bank is also using alternative data sources and estimates for the surveillance of macroeconomic developments in Argentina. National accounts data for Nigeria are based on official government statistics as of 1 February 2014. New estimates of nominal and constant GDP released by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics on 6 April 2014 will be included in future editions of the WDI database.

Updates to the April WDI database also contain revisions to indicator coverage. Please click here to see the latest list of additions, deletions, and changes in codes, descriptions, definitions, sources and topics.

World Development Indicators: December 2013

This release features new external debt data from the International Debt Statistics database, updated energy and poverty series, and revised national accounts, PPP, balance of payments, monetary and government finance indicators, and education and labor statistics.

World Development Indicators: November 2013

Data have been updated for Doing Business indicators, including new figures for 2013. Doing Business now covers 189 countries. New HIV/AIDS data, including 2012 estimates, have been released. National accounts data have also been updated for Barbados. Corrections have been made to Bangladesh's poverty estimates for 1996.

World Development Indicators: October 2013

Data have been updated for malnutrition and poverty indicators. Corrections have been made to total reserves including gold and related indicators for 2012; government finance data for Liberia for all years; and monetary data, including domestic credit to the private sector, for Slovenia from 1992 to 2006.

World Development Indicators: September 2013

New child mortality data, including 2012 estimates, have been released. Data have also been updated for national accounts, balance of payments, government finance and monetary indicators, energy, CO2 emissions, land use, and military expenditures.

World Development Indicators: August 2013

Updates include access to an improved water source, access to improved sanitation facilities, access to electricity, tuberculosis, poverty, merchandise trade, and phone and Internet indicators. 2012 PPP indicators for OECD countries and aggregates have been revised. Corrections have been made for Philippines high-tech exports for 2010; and for national accounts data for Ghana, Pakistan, and Solomon Islands. Aggregate population growth rates for 2012 have been added.

World Development Indicators: July 2013

2012 data (plus revised historical data, where necessary) for all countries and groups for population-, GDP- and GNI-related indicators have been released. National accounts constant U.S. dollar data are now based to the year 2005. Other data that have been updated include balance of payments, government finance and monetary indicators, education, CPIA indicators, and bilateral aid flows. Country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect new fiscal year 2014 income classifications.

World Development Indicators: May 2013

Revisions and corrections have been made to poverty data and metadata; aggregate rates for the lifetime risk of maternal death; Guatemala's value added national accounts data from 2009 to 2011; and to the calculation of adjusted savings aggregates for gross savings, particulate emissions damage, and adjusted net savings.

World Development Indicators: April 2013

The April WDI database features a full update of development data to coincide with publication of the World Development Indicators 2013 book. Of note are new poverty data, including regional estimates for 2010. Balance of payments data are now based on the IMF's 6th edition of the Balance of Payments manual. New indicators include child malnutrition and under-five mortality series by gender, and additional series for children in employment.

Updates to the April WDI database also contain revisions to indicator coverage. Please click here to see the latest list of additions, deletions, and changes in codes, descriptions, definitions, sources and topics.

In the WDI 2013 book on page 115, Sint Maarten's listing for latest population census should be 2011, and it's listing for latest demographic, education, or household survey should be blank.

World Development Indicators: March 2013

The national poverty headcount ratio for Vietnam was revised from 14.2 to 20.7 for the year 2010.

World Development Indicators: February 2013

Data for youth labor force participation rates for ages 15-24 have been added.

World Development Indicators: January 2013

New data for threatened species and missing data for constant value private consumption series for OECD countries have been added. 2012 data only are available now for threatened species. National poverty data, including urban and rural values, have been updated. These poverty series now only include estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time. Corrections have been made for balance of payments group data for all years and market capitalization data for United Kingdom and groups for 2011. Malnutrition data for height, weight, overweight, and wasting have also been corrected. The previous data from December 2012 were for three standard deviations below the median for the international reference population instead of two standard deviations.

World Development Indicators: December 2012

This update features new external debt data from the newly-released International Debt Statistics publication, updated energy, emissions, freshwater, poverty, immunization, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS series, and revised national accounts, PPP, balance of payments, monetary and government finance indicators, and education statistics. [Note: Even though Global Development Finance (GDF) is no longer listed in the WDI database name, all external debt and financial flows data continue to be included in WDI. The GDF publication has been renamed International Debt Statistics (IDS), and has its own separate database, as well.]

World Development Indicators: October 2012

New 2012 data for Doing Business and Logistic Performance indicators have been released. Net national savings data have been corrected.

World Development Indicators: September 2012

New child mortality estimates by the UN Inter-agency group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) have been released for neonatal, infant and under-five mortality; and new malnutrition estimates have been jointly released by WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank. Other series that have been updated include education statistics, military expenditure, private participation in infrastructure, balance of payments series, monetary indicators, government finance indicators, and PPP related series. GNI and GDP were updated in July, but there are minor updates for some countries, including China. Corrections have been made for rural and urban population series, and 2011 national accounts for Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama.

World Development Indicators: July 2012

2011 data (plus revised historical data, where necessary) for all countries and groups for population-, GDP- and GNI-related indicators have been released. Other data that have been updated include balance of payments and monetary indicators, water and sanitation, education, CPIA indicators, bilateral aid flows, and logistics performance. Country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect new fiscal year 2013 income classifications. Gibraltar and Mayotte have been removed from the database—Gibraltar's population has fallen below 30,000; and Mayotte became an overseas department of France on March 31, 2011.

World Development Indicators: May 2012

Maternal mortality updates for 2010 and revised historical data have been released to coincide with the publication of "Trends in Infant Mortality: 1990-2010, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and The World Bank estimates." A new series for number of maternal mortality deaths has also been added to the database. PPP conversion factors for Cyprus, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, and Malta (for GDP) and Iceland and Ireland (for private consumption) have been corrected. All PPP-related series for these eight countries have also been recalculated. The series unit values for road sector energy consumption per capita (diesel fuel, gasoline fuel, and total) have been corrected to kilograms of oil equivalent per capita.

World Development Indicators: April 2012

This version features a full WDI update to coincide with publication of the World Development Indicators 2012 book (though some indicators were updated beforehand, such as external debt data in December 2011, and poverty data in March 2012). National accounts growth rates and shares data published in December 2011 for some Sub-Saharan Africa countries (most notably Lesotho, Mauritania and Zimbabwe) were not properly aligned with base data. These inconsistencies have been corrected in this release. Constant price GNI and GNI per capita data have also been corrected to reflect the proper application of deflated factor income values. Click here for revisions to WDI book table 4.10.

Updates to the April WDI & GDF database also contain revisions to indicator coverage. Please click here to see the latest list of additions, deletions, and changes in codes, descriptions, definitions, sources and topics.

On page 14 of the WDI book, chart and text references to carbon dioxide emissions are in billions of metric tons.

World Development Indicators: March 2012

Poverty data have been updated and revised to 2011. Grants data from OECD have been updated and revised to 2010. Electric power transmission and distribution loss data have been corrected to the proper scale. National accounts data for OECD countries from 1960 to 1969 have been restored. A correction has been made to the national accounts constant price series for United States from 1960 to 1981; group aggregate growth rates for 1981 were also corrected. A correction was also made to Venezuela's constant price manufacturing value added series from 1965 to 1997. Aggregate values for lifetime risk of maternal death (1 in: rate varies by country) - SH.MMR.RISK have been rounded to integer values to properly reflect the precision of the country values. South Sudan's population estimate for 2010 has been removed pending review of the data. A new estimate will be published July 1, 2012.

World Development Indicators: December 2011

This update features new external debt data, Doing Business and Enterprise Surveys indicators, immunization and tuberculosis series, and revised national accounts, balance of payments, monetary and government finance indicators, and education statistics. Emissions and energy-related data, including twenty new indicators, have been updated to coincide with the release of The Little Data Book on Climate Change.

World Development Indicators: September 2011

Population related indicators have been revised based on the United Nations World Population Prospects 2010. These population revisions also affect per capita series, such as GNI per capita and GDP per capita. Other series that have been updated include life expectancy, total fertility rates, mortality indicators, education statistics, poverty and income distribution series (major revisions), balance of payments series, monetary indicators, government finance indicators, PPP related series, trade indices and tariff indicators, FDI and portfolio equity flows, remittance related series, official development assistance and other official flows (from OECD), tourism related indicators, trade within region/outside region related series, and refugee related indicators. GNI and GDP were updated in July, but there are minor updates for some countries. [Note: Shortly after the initial release of the September 2011 database, corrections were made to FDI net inflows for Turkmenistan for 2007 and 2008, and for Guinea-Bissau and Guyana for 2009 and 2010. These corrections also affected FDI net inflows as a percentage of GDP, as well as aggregate values for both series.]

World Development Indicators: July 2011

2010 data (plus revised historical data, where necessary) for all countries and groups for population-, GDP- and GNI-related indicators are released. Country classification hierarchies and group aggregate data reflect the World Bank's fiscal year 2012 income classifications. Netherlands Antilles (ANT) is removed. Curacao (CUW), Sint Maarten (Dutch part) (SXM), and St. Martin (French part) (MAF) are added. 2009 income distribution data for Chile, and the unit descriptions for terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area) and marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) have been corrected. 2010 ranking table figures for population, GNI and GNI per capita for Timor-Leste posted on July 1 have also been corrected.

World Development Indicators: April 2011

Updates to the WDI & GDF database may contain revisions to indicator coverage. Please click here to see the latest list of additions, deletions, and changes in codes, descriptions, definitions, sources and topics.

Table 2.8: For India, poverty gap at $1.25 a day is 13.6 for 1994 and 10.5 for 2005; and poverty gap at $2 a day is 34.1 for 1994 and 29.5 for 2005. For Mexico, population below $1.25 a day is 3.2 for 2006 and 3.4 for 2008; poverty gap at $1.25 a day is 1.1 for 2006 and 1.7 for 2008; population below $2 a day is 9.0 for 2006 and 8.1 for 2008; and poverty gap at $2 a day is 2.9 for 2006 and 3.2 for 2008.

Table 2.9: Gini index for Chile for 2009 is 52.1; Liberia for 2007 is 38.2; and Seychelles for 2007 is 65.8. A database only correction for Kyrgyz Republic for 1988 is 26.0.

Table 2.22: Data columns for adult mortality rate and survival to age 65 on the first page of the table between Hong Kong SAR, China and Honduras are incorrectly aligned by country. Data for the four columns should be shifted down one row (i.e, data shown for Hong Kong SAR, China are actually for Colombia, etc.), with the last row of data (Honduras) moved up to Hong Kong SAR, China.

Table 6.11: Total external debt as % of GNI for low income is 87.6 for 1995 and 32.7 for 2009; middle income is 37.3 for 1995 and 21.9 for 2009. Total debt service as % of exports of goods, services and income for low income is 25.6 for 1995 and 5.1 for 2009; middle income is 17.8 for 1995 and 11.5 for 2009.

Table 6.16: Net ODA as % of central government expense for El Salvador for 2009 is 6.1.

Monetary data (i.e., series beginning with FM and FS codes) contained errors for Cyprus (to 2008) , Germany (to 1998), Greece (2001), Ireland (to 1998), Italy (1999), Luxembourg (to 1998), Malta (2008-09), Portugal (1999), Slovak Republic (1993), Slovenia (1991), Spain (1999),Turkmenistan (1993) and Venezuela, RB (1960-61).

Pakistan's current price data for imports of good and services for 2008 was incorrect, which also affected related trade series and final consumption expenditure figures.

Health expenditure data for Somalia (1995-2001) should be presented as not available.

Constant price GNI per capita series for Cyprus, France, Georgia, Moldova, Morocco and Tanzania used incorrect population denominators.

Adjusted net national income in constant 2000 U.S. dollars used the wrong values for the 2000 base year. The growth rate series was not affected.

2011 Little Data Book on Private Sector Development

New business density label: The unit value should be new registrations per 1,000 working-age population. [Note: This correction also applies to the 2009 and 2010 books.]

2011 Little Data Book

Marshall Islands page: The unit value for forests should be sq. km.

World Development Indicators: December 2010

The December 2010 update of the World Development Indicators database contained an error for Zimbabwe's data for the following indicators: GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2005 international $); GDP per capita, PPP (current international $); GDP, PPP (constant 2005 international $); GDP, PPP (current international $); GNI per capita, PPP (current international $); GNI, PPP (current international $); Household final consumption expenditure, PPP (constant 2005 international $); Household final consumption expenditure, PPP (current international $); PPP conversion factor, GDP (LCU per international $); PPP conversion factor (GDP) to market exchange rate ratio; PPP conversion factor, private consumption (LCU per international $). Zimbabwe's data for these indicators should be presented as not available for all years in the WDI database.

Constant price GDP series from 1960 to 1964 for Ghana were linked incorrectly. 1965 growth rates and 1965-66 Atlas GNI and Atlas GNI per capita values were also affected.

Coverage for domestic credit provided by the banking sector and domestic credit to the private sector as percentages of GDP was incomplete.

China's gross capital formation series in constant prices were derived using incorrect deflators.

2009 WDI CD-ROM

Aggregate totals for telephone lines, mobile cellular subscriptions, mobile and fixed-line telephone subscribers, and Internet users were incomplete or were calculated using sparse country-level data.

Aggregate totals for electricity production (kWh) were calculated incorrectly.

Aggregate land and surface area data for 1960 were calculated using sparse country-level data and should be ignored.

Constant price series from 1960 to 1964 for Dominican Republic, Republic of Korea, Myanmar and Uruguay were linked incorrectly. 1965 growth rates and 1965-66 Atlas GNI and Atlas GNI per capita values for these countries were also affected.

WDI Online: September 2009

The September update of the WDI 2009 database contained an error for China's current U.S. dollar GDP for 2007 and 2008. The correct 2007 figures are: GDP: US$ 3,382,267 million; Atlas GNI: US$ 3,179,866 million; Atlas GNI per capita: US$ 2,410. The correct 2008 figures are: GDP: US$ 4,326,187 million; Atlas GNI: US$ 3,899,289 million; Atlas GNI per capita: US$ 2,940.

2009 Little Data Book

The correct income and regional groups for the following countries are: Malawi (Sub-Saharan Africa, Low income); Senegal (Sub-Saharan Africa, Low income); Singapore (High income); and Uganda (Sub-Saharan Africa, Low income).

2009 World Development Indicators Book

Figure 4.7a: Dollar figures for the charts are billions.

Table 5.12: Macedonia, FYR's expenditure for R&D percentage of GDP is 0.25.

Primary Data Documentation: The correct national currencies for the following economies are: Comoros (Comorian franc); Djibouti (Djibouti franc); Ghana (new Ghanaian cedi); Samoa (Samoan tala); and Suriname (Suriname dollar). Liberia's SNA price valuation is VAP.

Global Purchasing Power Parities and Real Expenditures: 2005 International Comparison Program (2008)

In table G1 (page 191), the GDP per capita, PPP value for Angola in the column ICP '05 should read 3,533. A corrected table is available online.

2008 Global Development Finance Book

In the income groups classification, low-income countries should include Afghanistan; middle-income countries should exclude Barbados, Estonia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Syrian Arab Republic: The published data in GDF 2008 are incomplete and based on estimates. These data should not be used for analysis or assessment. GDF 2009 will not include external debt data for Syrian Arab Republic. Reporting will resume in the next edition (GDF 2010) with data provided by the government of Syria. As a result, Syria will not be included in regional aggregations in the upcoming GDF 2009 publication.

2008 World Development Indicators Book

Table 1.4: HIPC decision point for Guyana is November 2000. Tariff data for agricultural products are incorrect.

Table 2.15: Bulgaria physicians per 1,000 people is 3.6.

Table 2.17: Tanzania births attended by skilled health staff (% of total) is 43.

Table 4.8: Columns are incorrectly labeled as 1990; data are for 1995.

Table 4.14: Tanzania's consumer price index, average annual % growth for the period 2000-06 is 5.2. The consumer price index and inflation figures for Tanzania that were published are inconsistent with those obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). As a result, the data should be replaced with the NBS figures.

Table 5.11: Data for secure Internet servers per million people are from 2006; corrected file has 2007 data; value for Republic of Korea is 498. Internet price basket data are incorrect.

Table 6.9: Present value of debt ratios have been revised for countries receiving debt relief as part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.

2007 World Development Indicators Book

Tables 1.1 and 1.6: PPP gross national income totals and per capita values (and PPP rankings in Table 1.1) are based on previously published data.

Table 4a: The column years indicated should be 2005 and 2006. Total reserves data are for 2006.

Table 4.10: Madagascar central government finance data as a percentage of GDP for 2004 should be as follows: revenue (12.1), expense (12.6), cash surplus or deficit (-4.5), net incurrence of domestic liabilities (-0.7), and net incurrence of foreign liabilities (6.4).

Table 5.6: Madagascar tax revenue as a percentage of GDP should be 11.3 for 2000 and 10.9 for 2004.

Table 5.10: Price basket for mobile data are for 2006.

2007 WDI CD-ROM

Czech Republic has graduated from IBRD lending and no longer reports external debt data to the World Bank's Debtor Reporting System. The external debt data should not have appeared in the WDI database. Debt ratios are not valid.

Country level data for female population (% of total) are missing.

The description for agricultural machinery, tractors per arable land is incorrect. The data are shown per 100 sq. km of arable land, not hectares.

The description for the level of electric power transmission and distribution losses is incorrect. The data are shown in kWh, not million kWh.

Government finance data in local currency and as a percentage of GDP for Madagascar are five times too large due to a change in currency. Revised data use Madagascar ariary.

2007 Little Data Book

Group level stock market capitalization (% of GDP) for 2005 should be as follows: World (99.6); East Asia & Pacific (41.3); Europe & Central Asia (45.8); Latin American & Caribbean (44.6); Middle East & North Africa (49.1); South Asia (60.4); Sub-Saharan Africa (137.0); Low income (54.2); Middle income (49.5); Lower middle income (41.1); Upper middle income (60.1); Low & middle income (50.1); Europe EMU (64.8); and High income (112.9).

Madagascar central government revenue as a percentage of GDP should be 11.7 for 2000 and 12.1 for 2004; cash surplus/deficit as a percentage of GDP should be -2.0 for 2000 and -4.5 for 2004.

Mongolia should be listed as belonging to the East Asia & Pacific region.

2006 World Development Indicators Book

Table 1.2: Ratio of female to male enrollments in primary and secondary school are incorrect for Hong Kong, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Egypt, Arab Rep., Congo, Dem. Rep., Congo, Rep., Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, and Greece.

Table 1.4: The country names for Burundi and Cameroon are in reverse order.

Table 2.7: India population below $2 a day is 79.9% and the poverty gap at $2 a day is 35.3%.

Table 4.a: South Africa total reserves for 2005 is $20,624 million.

Table 4.15a: The country with the third largest current account deficit is Australia (not Austria).

Tables 5.2 and 5.3: Data appearing for Korea, Dem. Rep. should instead be shown under Korea, Rep.; and Korea, Dem. Rep. should be shown as ".." (not available).

Table 5.8: United Kingdom total road network (km) for 2003 is 392,342.

Table 5.10: Internet users per 1,000 people for 2004 for Iran, Islamic Rep. is 82; World 140; Middle income 92; Lower middle income 76; Low and middle income 63; and Middle East and North Africa 58.

Photo credits for the WDI CD-ROM are: Shaida Badiee, Alex Baluyut, Curt Carnemark, Stan Constantio, Arne Hoel, Miso Lisanin, Bill Lyons, Eric Miller, Shehzad Noorani and Thomas Sennett (World Bank).

2006 WDI CD-ROM

Chile: constant price national accounts data have breaks in series for some indicators as a result of improper linking of different data with different base years.

2006 Little Data Book

Page 7: Saudi Arabia should not be included in the regional listing for Middle East and North Africa.

Korea, Dem. Rep.: data for starting a business should be shown as ".." (not available).

2005 World Development Indicators Book

Table 2.5: International poverty line estimates were revised for Azerbaijan, Belarus, Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Gambia, India, Moldova, Nepal, Niger, Philippines, Portugal, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Turkey survey year is 2001.

Table 2.7: Turkey survey year is 2001.

Table 5.4: S&P Investable index percentage change estimates for 2004 for South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey are 50.1, -6.4, and 32.9, respectively.

Table 5.10: Benin transmission and distribution losses for 2002 should be shown as ".." (not available).

Table 6.7: Belgium foreign direct investment for 2003 includes Luxembourg.

Table 6.13: Net migration figures are the number of migrants during the period, not an annual average.

2005 WDI CD-ROM

International poverty line estimates in the HTML and PDF files for Table 2.5 are incomplete. They should also include the new figures reported above for Gambia, India, Moldova, Tanzania, and Uganda. (Note: Poverty figures in the time series database are correct for all countries.)

2005 Global Development Finance Book

Maldives should be classified as less indebted.

2004 World Development Indicators Book

Table 4.15: Botswana net current transfers and current account balance for 2002 should be shown as ".." (not available).

Table 5.12: Hong Kong, China researchers in R&D per million people is 93.

2004 WDI CD-ROM

Botswana: net current transfers (BoP, current US$) and current account balance (BoP, current US$ and as % of GDP) for 2000 to 2002 should be shown as ".." (not available).

Estonia: inflation, food prices (annual %) for 1998 is 4.9%.

Population breakdown levels by age for male, female and total are incorrect before the year 2000 for numerous countries.

Reference: in the country classification table, Northern Mariana Islands should be listed as upper middle income; and Isle of Man and Malta should be listed as high income.

Reference: in the Excel and PDF files showing the list of countries, the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should be listed by its new name, Serbia and Montenegro.

Thank you for visiting the World Bank's Data Help Desk. Please review the terms of use for this website. Your continued use of this website constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions.

Developer Info

Feedback and Knowledge Base