A partnership with academia

OF GLOBAL

DEVELOPMENT

A
T

L
A

S

Fourth Edition

© 2013 International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development /
The World Bank
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Fourth edition 2013

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Contents

People

Population growth and transition

Rich and poor

Measuring income | Growth and opportunity

Where is the wealth of nations? | How poor is poor?

Education

Children at work | Education opens doors

Health

Children under 5—struggling to survive

Improving the health of mothers

Communicable diseases

Economy

Structure of the world economy | Governance

Infrastructure for development | Investment for growth

The integrating world | People on the move

Aid for development | External debt

Environment

The urban environment

Feeding a growing world | A thirsty planet gets thirstier

Protecting forests | Energy security and climate change

Statistics

Key indicators of development

Ranking of economies by GNI per capita

Definitions, sources, notes, and abbreviations

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Guide to the online atlas

Classification of economies

The Millennium Development Goals

128

104

66

52

38

32

Gender

Gender equality and development

46

14

10

8

6

5

4

Index143

Acknowledgments
The text and data for the fourth edition of the Atlas of Global Development were prepared by the

Development Economics Data Group of the World Bank under the management of Shaida Badiee.

The team consisted of Liu Cui, Mahyar Eshragh-Tabary, Neil Fantom, Juan Feng, Shota Hatakeyama,

Masako Hiraga, Wendy Huang, Bala Bhaskar Naidu Kalimili, Buyant Erdene Khaltarkhuu, Soong Sup Lee,

Hiroko Maeda, Johan Mistiaen, Esther G. Naikal, Beatriz Prieto-Oramas, William Prince, Evis Rucaj,

Sun Hwa Song, Emi Suzuki, Jos Verbeek, Olga Victorovna Vybornaia, and Sergiy Zorya. Eric Swanson was

the general editor. Aziz Gökdemir, Stephen McGroarty, Santiago Pombo, Stuart Tucker, and Shana Wagger

from the World Bank’s Office of the Publisher managed the development and dissemination of the book

and its online companion. Jeff Lecksell, in the Bank’s Cartography Group, provided guidance on maps.

The Publishing, Design, Editorial, Creative Services, and Database teams at Collins Bartholomew,

HarperCollins Publishers, provided overall design direction, editorial control, mapping, and typesetting.

Picture credits
Front cover, top to bottom Simone D. McCourtie/World Bank; Curt Carnemark/World Bank; Curt Carnemark/

World Bank; Stanislas Fradelizi/World Bank; Back cover, top to bottom Julio Pantoja/World Bank; Aziz

Gökdemir; Yosef Hadar/World Bank; Curt Carnemark/World Bank; 16 Ami Vitale/World Bank; 20, 34, 106,

117 (top) Michael Foley/World Bank; 28 John Isaac/World Bank; 30 David A. Cieslikowski/World Bank;

36, 53, 94, 102, 109, 110, 114, 118, 126 Curt Carnemark/World Bank; 39, 68, 105 Scott Wallace/World Bank;

40 Tran Thi Hoa/World Bank; 43 Trevor Samson/World Bank; 44 Armine Grigoryan/World Bank; 48 Bill Lyons/

World Bank; 50 Steve Harris/World Bank; 54, 78 Eric Miller/World Bank; 56 Yosef Hadar/World Bank;

60, 75, 113 Arne Hoel/World Bank; 64 Masaru Goto/World Bank; 67 (top) William Taufic/Corbis; 67 (bottom)

Ray Witlin/World Bank; 71 Gennadiy Ratushenko/World Bank; 72 Lars Plougmann/Creative Commons license,

creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0; 76 Yuri Mechitov/World Bank; 80 Yang Aijun/World Bank;

86 Guiseppe Franchini/World Bank; 88 Cory Doctorow/Creative Commons license, creativecommons.org/

licenses/by-sa/2.0; 92 Shannon Stapleton/Reuters/Corbis; 98 UNHCR/T. Irwin; 117 (bottom) UNEP;

120 Julio Pantoja/World Bank; 123, 124 Dominic Sansoni/World Bank.

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Foreword

We are very pleased to bring you the fourth edition

of the Atlas of Global Development and the fortieth

atlas produced by the World Bank documenting

development trends over the past 50 years. The atlases

represent the longest continuing publication of the

World Bank. Data presented in an atlas help us to

understand the geographic relationships among

countries and their economic and social development.

In designing the atlas, we have illustrated these

relationships with maps, charts, tables, and photos.

Geography is not destiny, but geography strongly

influences the ways economies can and do develop.

Geography encourages exchange and human

interaction. It also creates barriers and nourishes

disputes and conflicts. Neighboring economies

may share common resources and interests, but

economies at great distance may also be linked by

historical ties of settlement and migration that still

influence political alliances and economic exchange.

Landlocked economies have a harder time bringing

their goods to markets and have generally been

slower to develop, but Botswana and Switzerland

are two examples of landlocked economies that

have flourished. Small island economies, because

of their isolation and limited internal markets, face

similar challenges, but Mauritius has overcome those

obstacles and prospered. And because climate and

geography are closely linked, economies in the same

region face similar risks from climate change and

from natural hazards such as storms, flooding, and

earthquakes. All of these are important reasons for

taking a comprehensive view of the geography of

global development.

Understanding the development process, formulating

policies, and evaluating outcomes require reliable data.

The Atlas of Global Development draws on the

World Development Indicators database, which has

been compiled from the work of the World Bank,

other international organizations, and the national

statistical offices of member countries. To improve

the quality of international statistics, the World Bank

in collaboration with national and international

partners supports programs for the development of

statistics in developing countries.

While new technologies have not eliminated

geographic barriers to the movement of goods and

peoples, they have made it possible for information

to move far more quickly and to reach a larger

audience. Online databases and electronic

publications can be accessed from anywhere in the

world. Nevertheless, barriers to information remain.

In some places economic and social statistics are

treated as privileged information, restricted in their

use or priced so as to limit access. Such policies deny

citizens the use of data collected with public funding

and prevent the development of innovative new

applications of benefit to all.

As part of the World Bank’s Open Data Initiative,

the World Bank has adopted a policy of providing

open, free, and unrestricted access to its databases,

which are available on the Web at data.worldbank.org.

You can also access the Atlas online at data.worldbank.

org/atlas-global. Throughout the Atlas you will find

links to other public sources of data. We encourage

you to explore these databases, to employ the data in

your own work, to disseminate them to others, and to

send us feedback on how we could improve our ways

to make data more accessible and usable.

Shaida Badiee
Director, Development Data Group
The World Bank

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6

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 2000 20051995 2010

Most migrants reside in high-income economies

International migrant stock (millions)

Source: World Bank estimates based on data from the UN Population Division

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140
High-income

Middle-income

Low-income

USER’S GUIDE TO THE WORLD BANK eATLAS OF
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT

Easy navigation from the home page (accessible via data.
worldbank.org/atlas-global)

• Usetheright-hand paneltoselectamaintopicand
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availabledataforeachcountry.Mouseoverthemapto
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Changing and viewing countries (figure 2)

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ranking tabletozoom,or
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toselectacountry,or
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toselectacountry.
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handpanel)

Figure1

Guide to the online atlas

7

Changing years, colors, intervals, and more (figure 2)

• Useperiods(abovethemap,graytoolbar)toselect
differentyearsand“latestavailable”data.

• Useoptions(abovethemap,graytoolbar)tochange
colors,intervals,andanalysismethods.

• Uselocations(abovethemap,graytoolbar)toselect
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Comparing maps and data

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Viewandseetwomaps.

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Using the time series chart (figure 2)

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NEW FOR THIS EDITION
TheAtlas of Global Developmentisalsoavailableaspart
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Forfurtherinformationandtechnicaladvicegoto
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Figure2

Uruguay

U n i t e d S t a t e s

United
Kingdom

Trinidad
and Tobago

Togo

Suriname

Spain

Sierra Leone

Senegal

R.B. de
Venezuela

Portugal

Peru

Paraguay

Panama

Nicaragua

The Netherlands

Morocco

Mexico

Mauritania

Mali

Liberia

Jamaica

Ireland

Iceland

Honduras

Haiti

Guyana

Guinea-Bissau
Guinea

Guatemala

Ghana

Fra nce

El Salvador

Ecuador

Dominican
Republic

Cuba

Côte
d'Ivoire

Costa Rica

Colombia

Chile

C a n a d a

Burkina Faso

B r a z i l

Bolivia

Benin

Belize

Argentina

Alg eria

Kiribati

Antigua and Barbuda

Dominica

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the GrenadinesGrenada

Cape Verde

The Gambia

São Tomé and Príncipe

Luxembourg

Guadeloupe (Fr)

Martinique (Fr)

French Guiana
(Fr)

Monaco

Liechtenstein

Andorra

Isle of Man (UK)

Channel Islands (UK)

Faeroe
Islands
(Den)

French Polynesia (Fr)

Aruba
(Neth)

Barbados

St. Kitts and Nevis

US Virgin
Islands (US)

Bermuda
(UK)

The Bahamas

Puerto
Rico (US)

Turks and Caicos
Islands (UK)

Cayman Islands (UK)

Curaçao
(Neth)

Sint Maarten (Neth)

St. Martin (Fr)

Greenland (Den.)

Western
Sahara

Gibraltar (UK)

British Virgin
Islands (UK)

Latin America & Caribbean

Europe & Central Asia

East Asia & Pacific

Other

no data

OECD

High-income economies

Middle East & North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

Low- and middle-income economies

classification of economies

8

to imply that all economies in the group are

experiencing similar development or that

other economies have reached a preferred or

final stage of development.

The regions used in this atlas are based

on the regions defined by the World Bank

for analytical and operational purposes.

The World Bank classifies economies as low-

income, middle-income (subdivided into

lower-middle and upper-middle), or high-

income based on gross national income

(GNI) per capita. Low- and middle-income

economies are sometimes referred to as

developing economies. This is not intended

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Vietnam

Uzbekistan

United Arab
Emirates

Ukraine

Uganda

TurkmenistanTurkey

Tunisia

Togo

Thailand

Tanzania

Tajikistan

Syrian
Arab Rep.

Switzerland

Sweden

Swaziland

Sri Lanka

South Africa

Somalia

Slovenia
Slovak Republic

Serbia

Saudi Arabia

Rwanda

R u s s i a n F e d e r a t i o n

Romania

Rep. of
Yemen

Rep. of
Korea

Poland

Philippines

Papua New
Guinea

Pakistan

Oman

Norway

Nigeria

Niger

Nepal

Namibia

Myanmar

Mozambique

Mongolia
Moldova

Malaysia

Malawi

Madagascar

Lithuania

Libya

Lesotho

Latvia

Lao
P.D.R.

Kyrgyz Republic

Kenya

Kazakhstan

Jordan

Japan

Italy

Islamic Republic
of Iran

Iraq

Indonesia

India

Hungary

Greece

Germany

Georgia

Gabon

FYR Macedonia

Fra nce

Finland

Ethiopia

Estonia

Eritrea

Equatorial Guinea

Djibouti

Denmark

Dem. Rep.
of Congo

Dem. People's
Rep. of Korea

Czech Republic

Croatia

C h i n a

Chad

Central
African

RepublicCameroon

Cambodia

Burundi

Burkina Faso

Bulgaria

Botswana

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bhutan

Belgium

Belarus

Bangladesh

Azerbaijan

Austria

A u s t r a l i a

New Zealand

Armenia

Arab Rep.
of Egypt

Angola

Alg eria

Albania

Montenegro

Afghanistan

Sudan

South
Sudan

Rep. of
Congo

Timor-Leste

Palau

Federated States of Micronesia

Marshall Islands

Solomon Islands

American Samoa (US)

Samoa

Tuvalu

Vanuatu
Fiji

Tonga

Kosovo

Lebanon

West Bank and Gaza

Maldives

Seychelles

Mauritius

Comoros

Israel

Réunion (Fr)

Mayotte
(Fr)

New
Caledonia

(Fr)

Singapore

Brunei Darussalam

N. Mariana Islands (US)

Guam (US)

Qatar

Kuwait

Bahrain

San
Marino

Malta

Cyprus

Nauru

Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist on October 10, 2010. Curaçao and St. Maarten
became autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire,
St. Eustatius, and Saba became special municipalities of the Netherlands.

9

These regions may differ from common

geographic usage or from the regions defined

by other organizations. Regional groupings and

the aggregate measures for regions include only

low- and middle-income economies.

Data are shown for economies as they were

constituted in 2011. Additional information

about the data is provided in World Development

Indicators 2012 or on the World Bank website

(data.worldbank.org).

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Source: UNESCO Institute of Statistics

Primary school completion rate (%)

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

To reach the goal of universal primary education,
children must remain in school

East Asia & Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

Latin America & Caribbean

Middle East & North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2015

All regions but Sub-Saharan Africa are on track to
reach the poverty reduction target

East Asia & Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

Latin America & Caribbean

Middle East & North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

People living on less than $1.25 a day (%)

Source: PovcalNet, an online poverty analysis tool developed by the World Bank
(iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm), and Global Monitoring Report 2012

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

10

The Millennium
Development Goals

The Millennium Declaration,

ratified in 2000 by the 189 member

states of the United Nations,

committed rich and developing

countries to work in partnership

to achieve a set of critical

development outcomes. Those

commitments are embodied in

the eight Millennium Development

Goals (MDGs) for 2015, supported

by 18 quantified targets and 60

indicators measuring progress

since 1990. Progress has been

uneven and many countries will

not reach the targets set for 2015,

but others have met or exceeded

the targets, improving the lives of

hundreds of millions of people.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Defined as average daily consumption of

$1.25 or less, extreme poverty means living

on the edge of subsistence. In 1990, more

than 1.9 billion people lived on less than

$1.25 a day. Since then, the poverty rate

in developing countries has fallen from

43 percent to 22 percent in 2008, reducing

the number of people in extreme poverty

to less than 1.3 billion. Between 2005 and

2008, poverty rates fell in all six developing

regions, the first time that has happened.

By 2015, the global rate of extreme poverty

is expected to be 16 percent and the number

of people living in poverty will fall to around

1 billion. At the global level, the goal of

halving the poverty rate has been reached,

and all regions except Sub-Saharan Africa are

expected to reach the target by 2015.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

More than 20 years ago, the world

community committed itself to providing

at least a primary school education to

every child. Providing all children with a

good quality education is the foundation

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Measles immunization rate
(% of children ages 12–23 months)

Source: WHO and UNICEF

East Asia & Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

Latin America & Caribbean

Middle East & North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

High-income

Measles is the leading cause of vaccine-
preventable deaths in children

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary enrollment

Gender parity in enrollment has improved, but gender gaps remain
large in some regions

East Asia &
Pacific

Europe &
Central Asia

Latin America
& Caribbean

Middle East &
North Africa

South Asia Sub-Saharan
Africa

High-
income

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

19
91

20
10

19
91

20
10

19
91

20
10

19
91

20
10

19
91

20
10

19
91

20
10

19
91

20
10

11

of sustainable development and poverty alleviation. In 2010,

the primary school completion rate reached 89 percent for

developing countries: 94 percent for middle-income countries

but just 68 percent for low-income ones. But 67 million

children worldwide were out of school in 2009—and about

half of them will receive no formal education.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empowering women

Promoting gender equality and empowering women are

important in their own right and because they foster progress

toward other MDG targets, such as those for reducing poverty,

hunger, and disease and improving access to education.

When women make decisions, household resources tend to

be shared more equitably. And educated women are better

able to care for children and more likely to send their children

to school.

Education opportunities for girls have expanded since 1990.

Enrollment patterns in upper-middle-income countries now

resemble those in high-income countries, and those in lower-

middle-income countries are nearing equity. But gender gaps

remain large in low-income countries, especially at the primary

and secondary levels.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Deaths of children under age 5 have been declining since

1990. By 1999, for the first time, the number of children who

died before their 5th birthday fell below 10 million. Child

mortality rates in developing countries

dropped nearly 35 percent between

1990 and 2010, from 98 to 64 per 1,000

live births. Though this progress is

impressive, it is insufficient to meet the

fourth MDG of reducing under-5 child

mortality by two-thirds.

Success in reducing infant and

child mortality is a general indicator

of progress toward the human

development outcomes under the

MDGs, reflecting falling poverty rates,

improved nutrition, increasing female

literacy, disease prevention, access to

medicine and health facilities, and safe

water and sanitation. Immunizations

for measles—a leading cause of

vaccine-preventable deaths among

children—continue to expand

worldwide. Coverage in all regions

now exceeds 70 percent, markedly

improving child survival rates.

For more information about the

Millennium Development Goals, see

the World Bank eAtlas of the MDGs:

data.worldbank.org/mdg-atlas

Source: UNAIDS and WHO

High-
income

Prevalence of HIV among population ages 15–49 (%)

Prevalence rates have risen as more people are
living with HIV/AIDS

Europe &
Central

Asia

East
Asia &
Pacific

Latin
America &
Caribbean

Middle
East &
North
Africa

South
Asia

Sub-
Saharan
Africa

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

19
90

20
09

19
90 2

00
9

19
90

20
09

19
90

20
09

19
90

20
09

19
90

20
09

19
90

20
09

Source: UNICEF, State of the World’s Children; Childinfo; and
Demographic and Health Surveys by Macro International

Births attended by skilled health staff (%)

Better care during childbirth improves mothers’
chances of survival

Europe &
Central

Asia

East
Asia &
Pacific

Latin
America &
Caribbean

Middle
East &

North Africa

South
Asia

Sub-
Saharan
Africa

0

20

40

60

80

100

20
00

20
10

20
00

20
10

20
00

20
10

20
00

20
10

20
00

20
10

20
00

20
10

12

high-income countries, yet continue to kill

millions a year in developing countries, and

HIV/AIDS remains a global pandemic.

Worldwide, more than 30 million people

have died from AIDS, and more than 16

million children have been orphaned since

AIDS was first reported more than three

decades ago. In 2010, 33 million people were

living with HIV, but less than half of them were

believed to be aware of their infection. With

better treatment, death rates are declining

and more people are living with AIDS. There

were 1.8 million AIDS-related deaths in 2010,

down from 2.2 million deaths in 2005. But

there were over 7,000 new HIV infections

every day, mostly among people in low- and

middle-income countries. Sub-Saharan Africa

contains just over one-tenth of the world’s

population but is home to two-thirds of the

people living with HIV/AIDS, with women far

more likely to be infected than men.

The World Health Organization estimates

that in 2010, there were 216 million cases of

malaria, leading to 655,000 deaths. Though

malaria is endemic in many tropical and

subtropical regions, most deaths occur

among children living in Africa, where a

child dies every minute from malaria.

The number of new tuberculosis cases

peaked globally in 2004 and is leveling off,

but prevalence is still high in Sub-Saharan

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Every year, hundreds of thousands of women

die from complications related to pregnancy

or childbirth. Some 99 percent of these deaths

occur in developing countries. And for every

woman who dies, about 20 suffer from

injury, infection, or disease. In developing

countries, pregnancy-related complications

are among the leading causes of death and

disability for women between 15 and 49.

Prenatal care and the presence of skilled

health workers at delivery is critical to

reducing maternal mortality. In developing

countries, the share of births attended by

skilled health staff rose from 58 percent

in 1990 to 65 percent in 2010, and the

proportion of pregnant women receiving

prenatal care is rising. Countries in Europe

and Central Asia have made the most

progress in ensuring safe deliveries. Most

have achieved universal coverage, and the

rest are on track to achieve it by 2015.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and

other diseases

For many reasons—including poverty, climate,

bad policies, and inadequate services—

people in developing countries are highly

susceptible to life-threatening diseases. Some

of these, such as malaria and tuberculosis,

have been eliminated or largely contained in

All DAC donors

Japan

Netherlands

Sweden

United Kingdom

United States

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

East Asia & Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

Latin America & Caribbean

Middle East & North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

High-income

19921990 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Source: WHO-UNICEF Joint Measurement Programme Source: OECD Development Assistance Committee

Population without access to improved drinking water source (millions)

Most regions will achieve the 2015 target for access to an improved
water source

19921990 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Official development assistance as a share of GNI (%)

Aid efforts by DAC donors have increased since
2000, but most still fall short of their commitments

0

250

500

750

1,000

1,250

13

Africa, and some South Asian countries appear to have returned

to 1990 levels. In 2010 there were 8.8 million cases of tuberculosis

globally—down from 14 million in 2007.

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

The 1992 Earth Summit adopted comprehensive global,

national, and local responses for every area where humans

affect the environment. This agenda was incorporated into the

Millennium Declaration along with commitments to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions, protect biodiversity, and prevent

desertification.

Also included among the MDGs’ targets are commitments

to reduce the number of people lacking access to improved

water and sanitation facilities. An improved water source meets

basic standards for access to a protected water supply, but

water from improved sources—such as public taps or hand

pumps—may not meet standards set by the World Health

Organization and may require considerable fetching and

carrying. In 1990, more than 1 billion people in developing

countries lacked access to such a minimal convenience. In

2010, 786 million people—42 percent of whom live in Sub-

Saharan Africa—still lack access to improved sources for

drinking water, but most regions made progress.

Around the world, 2.6 billion people lack access to toilets,

latrines, and other forms of improved sanitation, and more

than 40 percent of these people practice open defecation. In

developing countries, the share of people with access to improved

sanitation rose from 37 percent in 1990 to 56 percent in 2010.

To halve the proportion of people without basic sanitation by

2015, more than 1.3 billion people would have to gain access

to an improved facility—so the global target will be missed.

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership

for development

Prospects for sustaining the current

economic recovery will be enhanced

if advanced and developing countries

continue to cooperate in implementing

policies aimed at increasing growth,

protecting the poor and vulnerable,

maintaining infrastructure investment,

and sustaining private sector growth.

Private investment and remittances

from migrants have become

increasingly important sources of

financing for developing countries.

However, official development

assistance—grants and loans made

at low interest rates—remains an

important source of support for

development programs in the poorest

countries. In 2005, the leaders of the

richest industrial countries made

specific commitments to increase aid

to Africa. Aid received by all developing

countries has increased substantially in

real terms—from $79 billion in 2000

to $130 billion in 2010, measured in

constant 2010 U.S. dollars. Aid to

Africa increased to $45 billion in

2010, but remains far short of the

commitments made in 2005.

Sub-Saharan Africa 2%
South Asia 3%

Latin America &
Caribbean 7%

High-income
68%

East Asia &
Pacific

13%

* Middle East &
North Africa 2%

Europe &
Central Asia

5%

Sub-Saharan Africa 2%
South Asia 7%

Latin America &
Caribbean

9%

High-income
54%

East Asia & Pacific
18%

* Middle East &
North Africa

3%

Europe &
Central Asia

7%

* Middle East & North Africa data are 2009, latest available

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators database

GNI, Atlas method (current US$), 2011

Comparing incomes: The share of developing
economies is higher when measured using
purchasing power parity

GNI, PPP (current international $), 2011

2000 2009 20111990

Even measured using purchasing power parity,
large differences remain

GDP per capita measured at PPP (constant 2005 international $)

Note: GDP in constant prices measures the total volume of goods and services
produced in the global economy
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators database

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000 High-income economies

Low- & middle-income
economies

14

Measuring income

Standards of living vary

substantially across the globe.

Comparing income or consumption

or poverty levels among countries

requires a common unit of

measurement. Exchange rates

reflect the relative value of

currencies as traded in the market.

Purchasing power parities take into

account differences in price levels.

Both have important roles in

measuring the size of economies.

What is a developing country? Because

development encompasses many factors—

economic, environmental, cultural,

educational, and institutional—no single

measure gives a complete picture. However,

the total earnings of the residents of an

economy, measured by its gross national

income (GNI), is a good measure of its

capacity to provide for the wellbeing of its

people. The World Bank classifies countries

according to their average income, or

GNI per capita, converted to U.S. dollars

using three-year average market exchange

rates (commonly called the World Bank

Atlas method). Countries with average

incomes of less than $12,476 in 2011 are

classified as low- and middle-income

(often referred to as developing economies).

Countries with average incomes of $12,476

or more in 2011 are classified as high-

income or developed economies. In 2011,

the 1.1 billion people in high-income

economies had an average income of

$39,783 per person; the 5 billion residents

in middle-income economies had average

incomes of $4,121; and the 800 million

people in low-income economies earned

only $567, with some as low as $190.

GNI per capita (PPP $)

Each square represents one country

…. and higher net school enrollment rates in secondary education

Net enrollment rate for secondary school (%), 2009–2010

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators database

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Niger

Uzbekistan Norway

Qatar

United
States

United Kingdom

Countries with higher GNI per capita often have higher life expectancy at birth ….

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators database

Life expectancy at birth (years), 2010 Each square represents one country

GNI per capita (PPP $), 2010

Sub-Saharan countries with high prevalence of
HIV/AIDS: Angola, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland.

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

United States

United Kingdom

Swaziland

South
Africa

Luxembourg

15Rich and poor

To measure differences in welfare, comparisons of income

among economies should take into account differences in

domestic price levels. This is done using purchasing power

parities (PPPs). Using PPPs instead of market exchange rates,

the standard of living among countries can be compared in

real terms, as if the people purchased goods and services at

the same prices using a common currency. Measured using

PPPs, developing economies receive 46 percent of world

income. But when measured using the World Bank Atlas

method, they receive only 32 percent. The difference is due to

the lower cost of services and nontraded goods in developing

economies, a fact that travelers frequently observe.

As the most comprehensive measure of living standards,

GNI per capita is closely related to other, nonmonetary

measures of the quality of life, such as

life expectancy at birth, the mortality

rate of children, and enrollment rates

in school. Low incomes are both

a cause and effect of low levels of

health, education, and other human

development outcomes. Poor people

have a hard time obtaining good health

care and education, while poor health

and poor education leave them less

able to improve their incomes.

Gross national income
PPP current

international $ (billions)

Fishing village in the suburbs of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

United States

China

Japan

India

Germany

Russian Federation

France

United Kingdom

Brazil

Italy

15,232

11,325

4,539

4,488

3,283

2,845

2,346

2,316

2,261

1,966

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

CountryRank

Largest economies, 2011

Uruguay

U n i t e d S t a t e s

United
Kingdom

Trinidad
and Tobago

Togo

Suriname

Spain

Sierra Leone

Senegal

R.B. de
Venezuela

Portugal

Peru

Paraguay

Panama

Nicaragua

The Netherlands

Morocco

Mexico

Mauritania

Mali

Liberia

Jamaica

Ireland

Iceland

Honduras

Haiti

Guyana

Guinea-Bissau
Guinea

Guatemala

Ghana

Fra nce

El Salvador

Ecuador

Cuba

Côte
d'Ivoire

Costa Rica

Colombia

Chile

C a n a d a

Burkina Faso

B r a z i l

Bolivia

Benin

Belize

Argentina

Alg eria
Dominican
Republic

The Gambia

Kiribati

Cape Verde

São Tomé and Príncipe

Antigua and Barbuda

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Grenada

St. Lucia

Dominica

Greenland (Den)

Faeroe
Islands
(Den)

Isle of Man (UK)

Channel Islands (UK)

Luxembourg

Liechtenstein

Andorra

Monaco

French Polynesia (Fr)

Bermuda
(UK)

The Bahamas
Turks and Caicos

Islands (UK)

Puerto
Rico (US) US Virgin

Islands (US)

St. Kitts and Nevis

Sint Maarten (Neth)

St. Martin (Fr)

Guadeloupe (Fr)

Cayman Islands (UK)

Aruba
(Neth)

Curaçao
(Neth)

Barbados

Martinique (Fr)

French Guiana
(Fr)

British Virgin
Islands (UK)

Western
Sahara

Gibraltar (UK)

Middle East & North Africa
$7,097

Latin America & Caribbean
$8,645

Brazil
$10,720

Upper-middle-income countries ($4,036–$12,475)

Lower-middle-income countries ($1,026–$4,035)

Low-income countries ($1,025 or less)

High-income countries ($12,476 or more)

no data

GNI per capita, World Bank Atlas method, 2011

income

16

World Development Indicators data.worldbank.orgOf the 36 economies classified as low-income in 2011, 27 are in
Sub-Saharan Africa, eight are in Asia, and one is in Latin America
and the Caribbean.

Variations of income within each region can be large. For example,
in 2011, Botswana’s GNI per capita surpassed $7,480, while GNI
per capita in neighboring Mozambique was only $470.

Most economies in Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East
and North Africa, and Europe and Central Asia are middle-income
economies.

Average GNI per capita in the low- and middle-income countries
was $3,628 in 2011, while in high-income economies it was $39,783.

Since 1989, 26 economies had moved from developing to
high-income status, two of them in the last three years.

Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and
Development—Statistics

www.oecd.org/statistics

International Monetary Fund
Dissemination Standards
Bulletin Board

dsbb.imf.org

United Nations—
Statistics Division

unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama

International Comparison
Project

www.worldbank.org/data/icp

Facts Internet links

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Vietnam

Uzbekistan

United Arab
Emirates

Ukraine

Uganda

TurkmenistanTurkey

Tunisia

Togo

Thailand

Tanzania

Tajikistan

Syrian
Arab Rep.

Switzerland

Sweden

Swaziland

Sudan

South
Sudan

Sri Lanka

South Africa

Somalia

Slovenia
Slovak Republic

Serbia

Saudi Arabia

Rwanda

R u s s i a n F e d e r a t i o n

Romania

Rep. of
Yemen

Rep. of
Korea

Poland

Philippines

Papua New
Guinea

Pakistan

Oman

Norway

Nigeria

Niger

Nepal

Namibia

Myanmar

Mozambique

Mongolia
Moldova

Malaysia

Malawi

Madagascar

Lithuania

Libya

Lesotho

Latvia

Lao
P.D.R.

Kyrgyz Republic

Kenya

Kazakhstan

Jordan

Japan

Italy

Islamic Republic
of Iran

Iraq

Indonesia

India

Hungary

Greece

Germany

Georgia

Gabon

FYR Macedonia

Fra nce

Finland

Ethiopia

Estonia

Eritrea

Equatorial Guinea

Djibouti

Denmark

Dem. Rep.
of Congo

Dem. People's
Rep. of Korea

Czech Republic

Croatia

C h i n a

Chad

Central
African

RepublicCameroon

Cambodia

Burundi

Burkina Faso

Bulgaria

Botswana

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bhutan

Benin

Belgium

Belarus

Bangladesh

Azerbaijan

Austria

A u s t r a l i a

New Zealand

Armenia

Arab Rep.
of Egypt

Angola

Alg eria

Montenegro

Afghanistan

Albania

Rep. of
Congo

Comoros

Kosovo

West Bank and Gaza

Timor-Leste

Federated States of Micronesia

Marshall Islands

Solomon Islands

Vanuatu
Fiji

Tonga

Samoa

Tuvalu

American Samoa (US)

Palau

Maldives

Seychelles

Mauritius

Lebanon

San
Marino

Malta

Cyprus

Israel Kuwait

Bahrain

Qatar

Mayotte
(Fr)

Réunion (Fr)

Singapore

Brunei Darussalam

N. Mariana Islands (US)

Guam (US)

New
Caledonia

(Fr)

Nauru

Sub-Saharan Africa
$1,265

Europe & Central Asia
$23,562

South Asia
$1,299

East Asia & Pacific
$7,857

China
$4,930

India
$1,410

Russian Federation
$10,400

17Rich and poor

2007 2009 2011

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators database * 2011 data not available for Middle East & North Africa

Recovery from the financial crisis has been slow and uneven

GDP growth (%)

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

Latin America & Caribbean

* Middle East & North Africa

South Asia

Sub-Saharan Africa

High-incomeEast Asia & Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 20102007 2011

Global recession in 2007–2009 reversed years of
record economic growth

GDP growth rate (%)

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators database

Low- & middle-income economies

High-income economies World

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

18

Growth and opportunity

Economic growth reduces

poverty. As a result, fast-growing

developing countries are closing

the income gap with high-income

economies. But growth must be

sustained over the long term and

the gains from economic growth

must be shared to make lasting

improvements in the wellbeing

of all people. The recent financial

crisis has interrupted that process

and recovery has been uneven.

Sustained growth is essential to reducing

poverty, but few developing countries—

especially low-income countries—have

seen strong and steady growth in the

past. Fewer than one-third of low-income

countries have increased per capita income

by 3.0 percent a year or more since 1980.

For many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa,

the 1990s were a lost decade, with little or

no growth. But growth accelerated in the

following decade. Since 2000, more than

half of all developing countries achieved

an average growth of per capita income of

3.2 percent a year or more. In Sub-Saharan

Africa, three-quarters of the countries

grew faster than 3.2 percent a year, despite

formidable development challenges such as

conflict and epidemic disease.

The financial crisis, which began in 2007

and spread from high-income to low- and

middle-income economies in 2008, became

in 2009 the most severe global recession in

50 years. Gross domestic product (GDP) fell

by 3.7 percent in high-income economies

and grew by only 2.7 percent in developing

economies. The crisis was transmitted

from high-income countries to developing

countries as exports, private capital flows,

commodity prices, and workers’ remittances

all declined. Many developing countries

Less equal

More equal

Income inequality has fallen in roughly half of the developing countries from the late 1990s to late 2000s

Annual change in Gini coefficient in 74 developing countries, late 1990s to late 2000s

Percentage points per year

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators database
‘The late 1990s’ is the most recent year between 1995 and 1999, or 2000. ‘The late 2000s’ is the most recent year between 2005 and 2011

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

19Rich and poor

entered the crisis in better shape than in previous recessions,

but for countries with large portions of their populations

clustered around the poverty line, even brief periods of

economic slowdown can have severe effects. In the poorest

developing countries, health and education outcomes move

with the economic cycle; they deteriorate during economic

crises and take a long time to recover.

Since 2009, the global economy has shown signs of

recovery, expanding by 4.3 percent in 2010. However, the

pace of recovery has been uneven. High-income countries

grew only 3.3 percent while developing countries grew

7.6 percent. East Asia and the Pacific was the fastest-

growing region with 9.7 percent followed by South Asia and

Latin America and the Caribbean, which grew 8.7 and

6.2 percent, respectively. The recovery has proved to be

fragile; it suffered a setback in 2011, with global growth

slowing to 2.7 percent. High-income countries grew only

1.5 percent while developing countries showed more

resilience posting 6.2 percent growth. Weak recovery will

likely resume in 2012 in the major advanced economies, and

activity could remain relatively solid in most emerging and

developing economies. However, since commodity prices

are unlikely to continue the recent fast pace of growth, these

economies may have to adapt their policies to promote

economic growth in the post-crisis environment.

Economic growth reduces poverty. But in some countries,

high growth has been accompanied by rising inequality of

incomes, impeding the pace of poverty reduction. Moreover,

a country with high initial inequality will need to grow faster

than a country with more equal income distribution to achieve

the same poverty reduction. Rising

income inequality may also lead to

social tensions, undermining the

social impacts of economic growth and

poverty reduction. Therefore, policies

will need to simultaneously stem rising

inequality of income and accelerate

economic development and poverty

reduction. Since the late 1990s, income

inequality, measured by the Gini

coefficient, has increased in roughly

half of the developing countries with

available data, and decreased in the

other half.

In addition to inequality of

incomes, inequality of opportunities

is a challenge facing most developing

countries. Personal circumstances at

birth, such as gender, race, ethnicity,

location, wealth, and parents’

education, are associated with the level

of access to those services needed for

a productive life, such as safe drinking

water, sanitation, electricity, basic

education, and nutrition. Achieving

universal access to these services is

critical to the poverty reduction and

development agenda.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Average annual growth
rate (%), 2000–2009

Recent growth of GDP per capita
Small businesses, such as the one run by this dressmaker,
contribute to economic growth

Azerbaijan

Vanuatu

Equatorial Guinea

Turkmenistan

Armenia

Angola

China

Belarus

Kazakhstan

Cambodia

16.7

14.3

13.6

12.3

10.5

9.9

9.7

8.7

7.9

7.3

CountryRank

Uruguay

U n i t e d S t a t e s

United
Kingdom

Togo

Suriname

Spain

Sierra Leone

Senegal

R.B. de
Venezuela

Portugal

Peru

Paraguay

Panama

Nicaragua

The Netherlands

Morocco

Mexico

Mauritania

Mali

Liberia

Jamaica

Ireland

Iceland

Honduras

Haiti

Guyana

Guinea-Bissau
Guinea

Guatemala

Ghana

Fra nce

El Salvador

Ecuador

Cuba

Côte
d'Ivoire

Costa Rica

Colombia

Chile

C a n a d a

Burkina Faso

B r a z i l

Bolivia

Benin

Belize

Argentina

Alg eria
Dominican
Republic

Kiribati

The Bahamas

St. Kitts and Nevis

Antigua and Barbuda

Bermuda
(UK)

Guadeloupe (Fr)

Martinique (Fr)

Barbados

Grenada

St. Lucia

Puerto
Rico (US)

The Gambia

Channel Islands (UK)

Luxembourg

Liechtenstein

French Guiana
(Fr)

Greenland (Den)

Dominica

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

São Tomé and Príncipe

Andorra

Isle of Man (UK)

Monaco

Cape Verde

Trinidad
and Tobago

Gibraltar (UK)

Faeroe
Islands
(Den)

Turks and Caicos
Islands (UK)

Cayman Islands (UK)

Aruba
(Neth)

US Virgin
Islands (US)

British Virgin
Islands (UK)

French Polynesia (Fr)

Curaçao
(Neth)

Sint Maarten (Neth)

St. Martin (Fr)
Western
Sahara

0.0–1.9%

2.0–3.9%

4.0–5.9%

6.0% or more

less than 0.0%

no data

average annual growth of GDP per capita, 2000–2011

economic growth

20

In contrast to record economic growth from 2000 to 2007, the
global economy fell by 2.2 percent in 2009 as a result of the
2008 financial crisis.

While the global economy is showing signs of recovery, low-income
countries continue to suffer the consequences of the global recession.

Between 1990 and 2011, GDP per capita grew 4.7 times in East Asia
and the Pacific, but still ranked fourth among regions, behind Latin
America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, and
Europe and Central Asia.

Among 10 developing countries with the highest GDP per capita
growth in 2000–2011, two are from low-income economies, and
two are from Sub-Saharan Africa.

GDP fell by 3.7 percent in high-income economies and grew by
only 2.7 percent in developing countries in 2009.

World Bank—Global
Economic Prospects

www.worldbank.org/prospects

IMF World Economic Outlook www.imf.org/weo

OECD statistics www.oecd.org/statistics

The Commission on
Growth and Development

www.growthcommission.org/

World Development Indicators data.worldbank.org

Facts Internet links

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Vietnam

Uzbekistan

United Arab
Emirates

Ukraine

Uganda

TurkmenistanTurkey

Tunisia

Togo

Thailand

Tanzania

Tajikistan

Syrian
Arab Rep.

Switzerland

Sweden

Swaziland

Sri Lanka

South Africa

Somalia

Slovenia
Slovak Republic

Serbia

Saudi Arabia

Rwanda

R u s s i a n F e d e r a t i o n

Romania

Rep. of
Yemen

Rep. of
Korea

Poland

Philippines

Papua New
Guinea

Pakistan

Oman

Norway

Nigeria

Niger

Nepal

Namibia

Myanmar

Mozambique

Mongolia
Moldova

Malaysia

Malawi

Madagascar

Lithuania

Libya

Lesotho

Latvia

Lao
P.D.R.

Kyrgyz Republic

Kenya

Kazakhstan

Jordan

Japan

Italy

Islamic Republic
of Iran

Iraq

Indonesia

India

Hungary

Greece

Germany

Georgia

Gabon

FYR Macedonia

Fra nce

Finland

Ethiopia

Estonia

Eritrea

Equatorial Guinea

Djibouti

Denmark

Dem. Rep.
of Congo

Dem. People's
Rep. of Korea

Czech Republic

Croatia

C h i n a

Chad

Central
African

RepublicCameroon

Cambodia

Burundi

Burkina Faso

Bulgaria

Botswana

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bhutan

Belgium

Belarus

Bangladesh

Azerbaijan

Austria

A u s t r a l i a

New Zealand

Armenia

Arab Rep.
of Egypt

Angola

Alg eria

Montenegro

Afghanistan

Albania

Sudan

South
Sudan

Rep. of
Congo

Federated States of Micronesia

Brunei Darussalam

Comoros

Bahrain

San
Marino

Malta
Israel

Qatar

Réunion (Fr)

Mayotte
(Fr)

Palau
Marshall Islands

Tuvalu

Fiji

Tonga

Vanuatu

Cyprus

Mauritius

Seychelles

Lebanon

Kuwait

Singapore

Timor-Leste

Samoa

Solomon Islands

Maldives

Kosovo

New
Caledonia

(Fr)

American Samoa (US)

Nauru

N. Mariana Islands (US)

Guam (US)

West Bank and Gaza

21Rich and poor

30

28

25

21

20

20

18

17

17

17

2009

2008

2009

2009

2010

2006

2008

2010

2010

2006

Inequality
ratioYear

One commonly used measure of income inequality is the
inequality ratio, calculated as the ratio of income or
consumption shares of the richest 20 percent to the poorest
20 percent of the population. A ratio of 10 means that the top
20 percent of the population earns (or spends) 10 times as
much as the bottom 20 percent of the population.
Generally the higher this ratio, the more unequal the income
distribution. Countries with high inequality ratios are mostly
in Latin America and Africa. The highest inequality ratio
among Asian countries is 12.

Countries with highest inequality ratios

Honduras

Bolivia

South Africa

Brazil

Colombia

Guatemala

Central African Republic

Paraguay

Panama

Zambia

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Country with population
over 1 millionRank

Uruguay

U n i t e d S t a t e s

United
Kingdom

Trinidad
and Tobago

Togo

Suriname

Spain

Sierra Leone

Senegal

R.B. de
Venezuela

Portugal

Peru

Paraguay

Panama

Nicaragua

The Netherlands

Morocco

Mexico

Mauritania

Mali

Liberia

Jamaica

Ireland

Iceland

Honduras

Haiti

Guyana

Guinea-Bissau
Guinea

Guatemala

Ghana

Fra nce

El Salvador

Ecuador

Cuba

Côte
d'Ivoire

Costa Rica

Colombia

Chile

C a n a d a

Burkina Faso

B r a z i l

Bolivia

Benin

Belize

Argentina

Alg eria
Dominican
Republic

São Tomé and Príncipe

The Gambia

Cape Verde

Luxembourg

Greenland (Den)

Faeroe
Islands
(Den)

Isle of Man (UK)

Channel Islands (UK)

Liechtenstein

Andorra

Monaco

Gibraltar (UK)

French Polynesia (Fr)

Kiribati

The Bahamas
Turks and Caicos

Islands (UK)

Cayman Islands (UK)

Aruba
(Neth)

Puerto
Rico (US)

Dominica

St. Lucia

US Virgin
Islands (US)

British Virgin
Islands (UK)

St. Martin (Fr)

Sint Maarten (Neth)

Bermuda
(UK)

Curaçao
(Neth)

Grenada

Antigua and Barbuda

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Barbados

Guadeloupe (Fr)

Martinique (Fr)

French Guiana
(Fr)

Western
Sahara

4.0–5.9%

6.0–6.9%

7.0–7.9%

8.0% or more

less than 4.0%

no data

share of income going to the poorest quintile,
2000–2010, most recent year available

inequality

22

United Nations
Development Programme—
Human Development Report

World Bank—
World Development Report 2006

www.worldbank.org/wdr2006

www.hdr.undp.org

Inequality in Focus go.worldbank.org/CCKE912HN0

World Bank—Poverty
Reduction and Equity

www.worldbank.org/poverty

Poverty and Equity Data povertydata.worldbank.org/
poverty/home/

Human Opportunity Index,
Latin America and the
Caribbean

go.worldbank.org/A9Z0NUV620

Latin America and the Caribbean has persistently been the region
with highest average inequality within countries, but inequality has
been falling noticeably in the region since around 2000.

Between one-quarter and one-half of income inequality observed
among adults in Latin America and the Caribbean is due to personal
circumstances endured during childhood that fell outside their
control or responsibility, such as race, gender, birthplace, parents’
educational level, and father’s occupation.

East Asia started out as the region with lowest inequality within
countries in early 1980s, but has seen a steady rise in inequality
(side by side with a downward trend in inequality between countries).

In South Africa, circumstances at birth are important drivers for
the unequal opportunities in childhood and later reemerge to
contribute to unequal access to jobs.

Facts Internet links

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Vietnam

Uzbekistan

United Arab
Emirates

Ukraine

Uganda

TurkmenistanTurkey

Tunisia

Togo

Thailand

Tanzania

Tajikistan

Syrian
Arab Rep.

Switzerland

Sweden

Swaziland

Sri Lanka

South Africa

Somalia

Slovenia
Slovak Republic

Serbia

Saudi Arabia

Rwanda

R u s s i a n F e d e r a t i o n

Romania

Rep. of
Yemen

Rep. of
Korea

Poland

Philippines

Papua New
Guinea

Pakistan

Oman

Norway

Nigeria

Niger

Nepal

Namibia

Myanmar

Mozambique

Mongolia
Moldova

Malaysia

Malawi

Madagascar

Lithuania

Libya

Lesotho

Latvia

Lao
P.D.R.

Kyrgyz Republic

Kenya

Kazakhstan

Jordan

Japan

Italy

Islamic Republic
of Iran

Iraq

Indonesia

India

Hungary

Greece

Germany

Georgia

Gabon

FYR Macedonia

Fra nce

Finland

Ethiopia

Estonia

Eritrea

Equatorial Guinea

Djibouti

Denmark

Dem. Rep.
of Congo

Dem. People's
Rep. of Korea

Czech Republic

Croatia

C h i n a

Chad

Central
African

RepublicCameroon

Cambodia

Burundi

Burkina Faso

Bulgaria

Botswana

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bhutan

Benin

Belgium

Belarus

Bangladesh

Azerbaijan

Austria

A u s t r a l i a

New Zealand

Armenia

Arab Rep.
of Egypt

Angola

Alg eria

Montenegro

Afghanistan

Albania

Sudan

South
Sudan

Rep. of
Congo

Federated States of Micronesia

Qatar

Seychelles

Comoros

Israel

Maldives

Fiji

West Bank and Gaza

Timor-Leste

San
Marino

Malta

Kosovo

Cyprus

Lebanon

Kuwait

Bahrain

Mayotte
(Fr)

Mauritius
Réunion (Fr)

Brunei Darussalam

Singapore

N. Mariana Islands (US)

Guam (US)

Palau

Nauru

Marshall Islands

American Samoa (US)

Solomon Islands

Samoa

Tuvalu

New
Caledonia

(Fr)

Vanuatu

Tonga

23Rich and poor

Angola

Mongolia

Azerbaijan

KazakhstanZambia

China

Botswana

Vietnam

Energy and mineral rents (% of GDP), 2010
Source: World Bank estimates

Adjusted net saving is often low in countries with high exhaustible resource rents

Adjusted net saving (% of GNI), 2010

100 20 30 40 50 60
-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

Gross saving Net saving Net saving plus
educational

expenditures

Adjusted net
saving excluding

pollution damages

Adjusted
net saving

Source: World Bank, Little Green Data Book 2012

Adjusted net saving for a resource-rich country can be negative despite high gross saving

Adjusted net saving in Kazakhstan (% of GNI), 2010

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Pollution
damages

Depletion of
natural

resourcesEducational
expenditures

Depreciation
of fixed
capital

24

Where is the
wealth of nations?

Development can be seen as a

process of building and managing

a diversified portfolio of assets

that contribute to economic

wellbeing. For wellbeing to be

sustainable, the total value of

assets must be maintained at

a constant level or increased.

Adjusted net saving is a measure

of the net change in a country’s

assets and thus a powerful

indicator of sustainability.

A country’s wealth includes not only

physical capital such as buildings and

machinery, but also natural capital, such

as oil deposits, forests and crop land, and

human and social capital. The capacity of a

country to sustain and increase wellbeing

depends on how well these assets are

managed. Adjusted net saving (ANS)

provides a measure of net change in

wealth. It is defined as gross saving plus

investment in human capital (education

expenditures), minus depreciation of

produced capital, depletion of natural

capital (energy, mineral, and forest assets),

and damage from global and local pollution.

If ANS is negative, it means that the

country is exhausting its resources at the

cost of future generations; hence it is on

a path of unsustainable development.

Asia has sustained positive adjusted net saving rates over the past three decades

Source: World Bank estimates

Adjusted net saving (% of GNI) Sub-Saharan AfricaEast Asia & Pacific

Europe & Central Asia

Latin America & Caribbean

South Asia

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

20101980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

25Rich and poor

Countries rich in natural resources have an advantage

over others in financing development. Natural resource

rents can be effectively deployed for this purpose, but it is

important to reinvest such rents in other types of capital,

notably human capital and institutions. The data show that

natural resource abundance often leads to low or negative

ANS. This is true for many resource-rich countries in the

developing world. Adjusted net saving as a percentage of

gross national income (GNI) often has a negative relationship

with the share of energy and mineral resource rents of gross

domestic product (GDP). Countries such as Angola, Mongolia,

Kazakhstan, and Zambia, with resource rents greater than a

quarter of GDP, have negative ANS rates as low as –30 percent

of GNI. With relatively fewer natural resource endowments,

China has achieved a high ANS rate by investing in produced

and human capital. But natural resource abundance need not

be a curse. At the other end of the spectrum are countries

such as Botswana and Vietnam, rich in mineral wealth and

energy resources but with positive ANS rates. Those countries

are good examples of how reinvesting resource rents can

boost social and institutional capital with positive results

on growth. Vietnam’s GDP grew by 7.5 percent over the

past 10 years, and Botswana, one of the fastest-growing

economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, grew by 4.1 percent.

Adjusted net saving trends across regions have varied

widely over time. Sub-Saharan Africa generally has a

declining trend in ANS, suggesting that this region is on

an unsustainable development path.

But if one looks more closely, distinct

stories emerge. In Sub-Saharan Africa,

a relatively small handful of countries

have dragged down performance for

the entire region, relative to the rest

of the world. But nearly two-thirds of

African countries have had positive

saving rates over the decade. This

group was led by the largest African

economy, South Africa, and includes

others such as Botswana, Ethiopia,

Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, and

Uganda. The South Asia and East Asia

regions stand out as achieving almost

steadily increasing ANS rates generated

mostly via their high gross saving rates

in recent years. Other regions do not

show a clear trend.

Country, population
over 30 million

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Countries with the highest share of natural capital in total wealth

..

-3.6

..

..

29.8*

4.5

15.8

12.1

7.5

9.4

69

56

55

53

52

43

39

35

32

28

Congo, Dem. Rep.

Sudan

Nigeria

Iran, Islamic Rep.

Algeria

Russian Federation

Vietnam

Tanzania

Ethiopia

Pakistan

Rank
Natural capital as a share

of wealth (%), 2005
Adjusted net saving

(% of GNI), 2010

* 2009

Natural capital as a share of comprehensive
wealth is most important in low- and lower-
middle-income countries. But countries differ
substantially in terms of adjusted net saving.

Uruguay

U n i t e d S t a t e s

United
Kingdom

Trinidad
and Tobago

Togo

Suriname

Spain

Sierra Leone

Senegal

R.B. de
Venezuela

Portugal

Peru

Paraguay

Panama

Nicaragua

The Netherlands

Morocco

Mexico

Mauritania

Mali

Liberia

Jamaica

Ireland

Iceland

Honduras

Haiti

Guyana

Guinea-Bissau
Guinea

Guatemala

Ghana

Fra nce

El Salvador

Ecuador

Dominican
Republic

Cuba

Côte
d'Ivoire

Costa Rica

Colombia

Chile

C a n a d a

Burkina Faso

B r a z i l

Bolivia

Benin

Belize

Argentina

Alg eria

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Dominica Guadeloupe (Fr)

Martinique (Fr)

Luxembourg

The Gambia

French Guiana
(Fr)

French Polynesia (Fr)

Kiribati

Gibraltar (UK)

Monaco

Liechtenstein

Andorra

Isle of Man (UK)

Channel Islands (UK)

Faeroe
Islands
(Den)

São Tomé and Príncipe

Cape Verde

Grenada

St. Lucia

Barbados

Aruba
(Neth)

Cayman Islands (UK)

Turks and Caicos
Islands (UK)

The Bahamas

Puerto
Rico (US)

Bermuda
(UK)

US Virgin
Islands (US)

British Virgin
Islands (UK)

St. Kitts and Nevis

Antigua and Barbuda

Curaçao
(Neth)

Sint Maarten (Neth)

St. Martin (Fr)

Greenland (Den)

Western
Sahara

Latin America & Caribbean
6.3%

-5.0–0.0%

0.1–4.9%

5.0–9.9%

10% or more

less than -5.0%

no data

adjusted net saving, including particulate
emission damage, as a share of GNI,
2010 or latest available data

wealth of nations

26

Report of the Commission on the
Measurement of Economic and
Social Progress

Where Is the Wealth of Nations? go.worldbank.org/
2QTH26ULQ0

www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr

www.worldbank.org/
environmentaleconomics

Environmental Economics at the
World Bank

go.worldbank.org/
TF3U5N1AO0

The Changing Wealth of Nations

Natural capital constitutes a major component of wealth and is a
principal source of income in developing countries.

If Trinidad and Tobago had reinvested all resource rents from
oil and gas into manufactured capital, it would have accumulated
more than three times as much manufactured capital between
1980 and 2005.

In 2010, the ANS rate was 10.4 percent of GNI for the world as
a whole, 18 percent for low- and middle-income countries, and
7.1 percent for high-income countries.

Facts Internet links

Zimbabwe

Zambia

Vietnam

Uzbekistan

United Arab
Emirates

Ukraine

Uganda

TurkmenistanTurkey

Tunisia

Togo

Thailand

Tanzania

Tajikistan

Syrian
Arab Rep.

Switzerland

Sweden

Swaziland

Sri Lanka

South Africa

Somalia

Slovenia
Slovak Republic

Serbia

Saudi Arabia

Rwanda

R u s s i a n F e d e r a t i o n

Romania

Rep. of
Yemen

Rep. of
Korea

Poland

Philippines

Papua New
Guinea

Pakistan

Oman

Norway

Nigeria

Niger

Nepal

Namibia

Myanmar

Mozambique

Mongolia
Moldova

Malaysia

Malawi

Madagascar

Lithuania

Libya

Lesotho

Latvia

Lao
P.D.R.

Kyrgyz Republic

Kenya

Kazakhstan

Jordan

Japan

Italy

Islamic Republic
of Iran

Iraq

Indonesia

India

Hungary

Greece

Germany

Georgia

Gabon

FYR Macedonia