The world's income map has shifted since 1987. Low-income countries went from 30% to 11% High-income economies went from 25% to 41% Learn more with the recently launched 2026-2027 @WorldBankGroup Country Income Classifications: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

#LLMs are making data analysis easier than ever. But technology alone won't democratize data. Without connectivity, affordable compute, quality data, and digital skills, many countries risk being left behind. Read more: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

How polluted is the air in your city? New World Bank data track daily PM₂.₅ concentrations across more than 32,000 cities worldwide, covering 2018–2026. The dataset can help identify hotspots and monitor changes in urban air quality: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

AI may be a general-purpose technology. But does it work equally well in every language? Languages spoken in poorer countries are often vastly underrepresented online—even when they have hundreds of millions of speakers. See the data: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend… #WBGAtlas

Not all public institutions perform equally, even w/in the same country.  Focusing on individual ministries & agencies can help policymakers identify constraints and target practical reforms that strengthen the private sector: worldbank.org/en/topic/gover…

From October 12–18, the @WorldBankGroup gathers global leaders, civil society, private sector & academia to discuss the challenges facing global development. You’re invited to join this year’s #WBGMeetings. Sign up for updates: live.worldbank.org/en/series…

More than 824 million people—about one in ten worldwide—lived in extreme poverty in 2024. Our @WorldBankGroup September 2026 poverty update shows global extreme poverty declining only marginally through 2026. Explore the latest estimates in PIP: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

#SaudiArabia’s private sector is growing—but the picture inside firms is uneven. Sales growth reached 6%, while productivity remained limited and smaller firms continued to face significant constraints. See the 2025 @WorldBankGroup Enterprise Survey: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

Making every dollar work harder for development.  @WorldBankGroup mobilized a record $112B in private capital in FY26. Together with our own financing, that brought the total to well over $200B.  See how we’re bringing more capital to work: bit.ly/4h8DTUG

Cities can connect workers to more firms, occupations, and opportunities. But when housing and transport costs absorb the urban wage premium, density stops delivering on its promise. Good urban planning is also jobs policy: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend… #WBGAtlas

36.2% of people in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community or #CEMAC are estimated to live on less than $3 a day. Learn what is needed to change the course in this report: worldbank.org/en/region/afr/…

Our latest @WorldBankGroup poverty update revises the 2024 global extreme poverty rate down by 0.3 percentage points—from 10.4% to 10.1%. That equals about 22.5 million fewer people than previously estimated. What changed and why in our new PIP update: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

How can we measure multidimensional poverty when the data we need are scattered across different surveys? A @WorldBankGroup Data Blog by Ben Brunckhorst, Minh Cong Nguyen , Nishant Yonzan, Hai-Anh H. Dang, and @ChristophLakner explores a promising approach: combining indicators from separate datasets to estimate how monetary poverty, education, and infrastructure deprivations overlap. The challenge is significant. While individual indicators used in the World Bank’s Multidimensional Poverty Measure cover at least 85% of the global population, complete data are available to estimate the full measure for only about two-thirds of the world. Using more than 570 surveys spanning 1989–2024, the authors show that data fusion can produce credible estimates—particularly when datasets share some overlapping indicators. The approach could help extend multidimensional poverty measurement to countries and years where complete survey data are unavailable, and potentially incorporate additional dimensions such as health and security. Better poverty measurement depends not only on collecting more data, but also on finding rigorous ways to make better use of the data that already exist. Read it here: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

826 million people still live in extreme poverty. In dozens of countries, extreme poverty rates remain above 40%—and progress among the poorest populations has slowed sharply. Why the $3-a-day benchmark still matters: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

US$30 million a year. That’s what Guinea-Bissau could gain from making two agricultural value chains work better. What is making this chain less effective and more challenging?: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

Administrative data hold potential for better statistics & policy. In our upcoming LET'S TALK DATA event, former UK Office for National Statistics Chief Data Officer Roberto Pitea shares practical lessons on making government data sharing work. Register: worldbank.org/en/events/2026…

Did you know that data sharing initiatives can generate an estimated US$5 in social returns for every dollar invested. But realizing that value takes more than APIs and platforms. Check our five-part roadmap for turning government data into public value: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

Can mobile phone records help identify people living in poverty? Evidence from Afghanistan, Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi, and Togo suggests they can — especially when the goal is to identify chronic poverty and vulnerability where survey data are limited: wrld.bg/hUEA50ZeeCX

Fresh data. Better decisions. The latest World Development Indicators update brings new figures on national accounts, poverty, population, financial indicators, entrepreneurship, migration, and much more. See what's new: blogs.worldbank.org/en/opend…

From October 12–18, the @WorldBankGroup gathers global leaders, civil society, private sector & academia to discuss the challenges facing global development. You’re invited to join this year’s #WBGMeetings. Sign up for updates: bit.ly/4xcFpuQ

Geospatial building footprints are revolutionizing infrastructure planning. From disaster risk to energy access, satellite-derived data is changing how governments use microdata. Learn more: wrld.bg/KKAI50Z5z55