These selected world development indicators provide a core set of data covering three development themes: people, the environment, and the economy. The layout of the seventeen tables retains the tradition of past editions of World Development Report of presenting comparative socioeconomic data covering more than 130 economies for the most recent year or period for which data are available and one earlier year or period. An additional table presents basic indicators for seventy-six economies with sparse data or with populations less than 1 million.

Most of the indicators presented here have been selected from more than 500 indicators covered in the new, freestanding World Development Indicators 1997. Published annually, World Development Indicators is the World Bank's flagship statistical publication. It features a broader, more integrated approach to the presentation of development statistics. In its five main sections it recognizes the interplay of a wide range of issues: human capital development, environmental sustainability, macroeconomic performance, private sector development, and the global links that influence the external environment for development. It also features, for the first time, extensive documentation of the data to highlight potential pitfalls in intercountry and intertemporal comparisons. World Development Indicators is complemented by a new CD-ROM data base of over 1,000 data tables and 500 time-series indicators for 209 economies.

More about the Selected World Development Indicators

Tables 1 to 3, Summary of socioeconomic development indicators, offer an overview of key development issues: How rich or poor are the people? What is the life expectancy of newborns? What percentage of adults are illiterate? How has the economy performed in terms of growth and inflation? What kind of external economic environment do countries face?

Tables 4 to 7, Human resources, show the rate of progress in social development during the past decade. Data on population growth, labor force participation, and income distribution are included. Measures of well-being such as malnutrition and access to health care, school enrollment ratios, and gender differences with respect to adult illiteracy are also presented.

Tables 8 to 10, Environmental sustainability, include measures of human impacts on the environment-deforestation, changing land use patterns, freshwater withdrawals, and emissions of carbon dioxide-and of some of the activities that cause these impacts-energy use and urbanization. Also included is information on the extent of protected areas that preserve natural habitat and, hence, biodiversity.

Tables 11 to 17, Economic performance, present information on economic structure and growth, as well as on foreign investment, external debt, and degree of integration into the global economy.

Because the World Bank's primary business is providing lending and policy advice to low- and middle-income member countries, the issues covered focus mainly on these economies. Where available, information on the high-income economies is also provided for comparison. Readers may wish to refer to national statistical publications or publications of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union for more information on the high-income economies.

Classification of economies

As in the Report itself, the main criterion used to classify economies and broadly distinguish stages of economic development is GNP per capita. Countries are classified into three categories according to income. The GNP per capita cutoff levels in this edition of Selected World Development Indicators are as follows: low-income, $765 or less in 1995 (forty-nine economies); middle-income, $766 to $9,385 (fifty-eight economies); and high-income, $9,386 or more (twenty-six economies). Economies are further classified by region. For a list of all economies in each income group and region, including those with populations of fewer than 1 million, see the Classification of Economies table at the end of the Selected World Development Indicators.

Data sources and methodology

Socioeconomic data presented here are drawn from several sources: primary collection by the World Bank, member-country statistical publications, nongovernmental organizations such as the World Resources Institute, and other international organizations such as the United Nations and its specialized agencies, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (See Data Sources at the end of the Technical Notes for a complete listing of sources.) Although international standards of coverage, definition, and classification apply to most statistics reported by countries and international agencies, there are inevitably differences in coverage, currentness, and the capabilities and resources devoted to basic data collection and compilation. In some cases, competing sources of data require review by World Bank staff to ensure that the most reliable data available are presented. Where available data are deemed too weak to provide reliable measures of levels and trends, or do not adequately adhere to international standards, the data are not shown.

Data presented in these tables are consistent with those in World Development Indicators 1997. Differences between data in each annual edition reflect not only newly received information, but also revisions to historical series and changes in methodology. Thus data of different vintages may be published in different editions. Readers are advised not to compare data series between publications. Consistent time-series data are available on the World Development Indicators 1997 CD-ROM.

Considerable effort has been made to standardize the data, but full comparability cannot be ensured, and care must be taken in interpreting the indicators. For example, the indicators in Table 5, Distribution of income or consumption, are not strictly comparable across countries, because the underlying household surveys differ in method and in the type of data collected.

All dollar figures are in current U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated. The methods used for converting from national currency figures are described in the Technical Notes.

Summary measures

Summary measures, presented in the colored bands on each table, are either totals (indicated by t), weighted averages (w), or median values (m) calculated for groups of economies. Countries for which data are not shown in the main tables have been implicitly included in the summary measures on the assumption that they followed the trend of reporting economies during the period. The countries excluded from the main tables (those presented in Table 1a, Basic indicators for other economies) have been included in the summary measures when data are available or, when not, by assuming that they follow the trend of reporting countries. This gives a more consistent aggregate measure by standardizing country coverage for each period shown. Where missing information accounts for a third or more of the overall estimate, however, the group measure is reported as not available. The method used for computing the summary measures in each table is stated in the technical note for the table.

Terminology and country coverage

The term "country" is not meant to imply political independence but may refer to any territory for which authorities report separate social or economic statistics.

Data are shown for countries or economies as they were constituted in 1995, and historical data are revised to reflect current political arrangements. Throughout the tables, exceptions are noted.

Data for China do not include data for Taiwan, China, unless otherwise noted. As of July 1, 1997, Hong Kong is a part of China.

Data are shown separately whenever possible for the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, the countries formed from the former Czechoslovakia.

Data are shown separately for Eritrea whenever possible; in most cases prior to 1992, however, they are included in the data for Ethiopia.

Data for Germany refer to the unified Germany unless otherwise noted.

Data for Jordan refer to the East Bank only unless otherwise noted.

In 1991 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was formally dissolved into fifteen countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Whenever possible, data are shown for the individual countries.

Data for the Republic of Yemen refer to that country from 1990 onward; data for previous years refer to the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and the former Yemen Arab Republic, unless otherwise noted.

Whenever possible, data are shown for the individual countries formed from the former Yugoslavia: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia, and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro).

Table layout

The table format of this edition generally follows that of previous editions of World Development Report. Economies are listed in ascending order of GNP per capita in all tables except Table 1a. High-income economies marked by the symbol † are those classified by the United Nations, or otherwise regarded by their authorities, as developing. Economies with populations of fewer than 1 million and those with sparse data are not shown separately in the main tables but are included in the aggregates. Basic indicators for these economies may be found in Table 1a. The alphabetical list in the Key and Primary Data Documentation table shows the reference number for each economy.

Technical Notes

Because data quality and intercountry comparisons are often problematic, readers are encouraged to consult the Technical Notes, the Key and Primary Data Documentation table, the Classification of Economies table, and the footnotes to the tables. These describe the methods, concepts, definitions, and data sources used in compiling the tables. For more extensive documentation see World Development Indicators 1997. The Data Sources section at the end of the Technical Notes lists sources that contain more comprehensive definitions and descriptions of the concepts used.

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