Our goal in producing the World Development Indicators is to put useful information about the world in the hands of policymakers, development specialists, students, and the general public. This new volume—together with its companion publications, the World Bank Atlas and the World Development Indicators CD-ROM—has been totally redesigned, based on extensive consultation with partners inside and outside the World Bank and in close collaboration with the Bank’s sector specialists and research staff. We have expanded the coverage of the World Development Indicators to provide an overview of the main themes of development that are the focus of the World Bank’s work: the welfare of people, the use and preservation of the environment, the growth and structure of the economy, the complementary roles of states and markets, and the growing links between economies. Guiding our selection of indicators is a desire to present the most useful and interesting information available on trends in development. Over the coming years we expect the coverage to evolve and grow, reflecting emerging issues in the global economy and greater availability of data.
Previously published as an appendix to the World Development Report, the World Development Indicators now takes its place as the World Bank’s principal statistical survey of world development. It contains most of the data previously published in the Bank’s World Tables and Social Indicators of Development. Unlike the World Tables, which presented tables for each economy containing long time series of macroeconomic data, the World Development Indicators follows a cross-sectional format, with tables arranged topically.
Most tables show indicators for a recent year and an earlier year, covering 148 economies with populations of more than one million. Where possible, the indicators are in growth rates or shares. This format is designed to facilitate comparative analysis of important economic trends across countries and over time. For researchers who need time series of primary data, the World Development Indicators CD-ROM contains time series of all indicators available in the World Development Indicators database. And for those who want a brief overview of the world economy, the World Bank Atlas summarizes 34 current indicators for 209 economies in maps, graphs, and tables.
We have tried to ensure that the indicators are consistent with international standards and are reasonably comparable across economies and over time. But the state of international statistics is not good. Many statistical offices are underfunded, and their staffs undertrained. In some areas the importance of accurate measures of social and economic aggregates for policy formulation is not recognized—or worse, statistics are manipulated to support policy. It is not possible to correct for all possible sources of error, but where difficulties are known in collecting and reporting data, we have—in what is another new feature—provided warnings in general notes or in specific footnotes to the tables. When data have been found to be unreliable or to deviate seriously from accepted norms, they have been omitted. We have limited our selection of indicators to those that are available for most of the principal economies.
We welcome your suggestions and comments on these new products. Please write to us at World Bank headquarters or send us email at info@worldbank.org or complete the user survey form at http://www.worldbank.org/wdi/, click on survey.
Masood Ahmed
Director
International Economics Department
Shaida Badiee
Senior Manager
Development Data Group