Generalcomments: Note: Data for OECD countries are based on ISIC, revision 4.

IndicatorName: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP)

Limitationsandexceptions: Among the difficulties faced by compilers of national accounts is the extent of unreported economic activity in the informal or secondary economy. In developing countries a large share of agricultural output is either not exchanged (because it is consumed within the household) or not exchanged for money. Agricultural production often must be estimated indirectly, using a combination of methods involving estimates of inputs, yields, and area under cultivation. This approach sometimes leads to crude approximations that can differ from the true values over time and across crops for reasons other than climate conditions or farming techniques. Similarly, agricultural inputs that cannot easily be allocated to specific outputs are frequently "netted out" using equally crude and ad hoc approximations.

Longdefinition: Agriculture, forestry, and fishing corresponds to ISIC divisions 1-3 and includes forestry, hunting, and fishing, as well as cultivation of crops and livestock production. Value added is the net output of a sector after adding up all outputs and subtracting intermediate inputs. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or depletion and degradation of natural resources. The origin of value added is determined by the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 4. Note: For VAB countries, gross value added at factor cost is used as the denominator.

Source: World Bank national accounts data, and OECD National Accounts data files.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Gross domestic product (GDP) represents the sum of value added by all its producers. Value added is the value of the gross output of producers less the value of intermediate goods and services consumed in production, before accounting for consumption of fixed capital in production. The United Nations System of National Accounts calls for value added to be valued at either basic prices (excluding net taxes on products) or producer prices (including net taxes on products paid by producers but excluding sales or value added taxes). Both valuations exclude transport charges that are invoiced separately by producers. Total GDP is measured at purchaser prices. Value added by industry is normally measured at basic prices.


Aggregationmethod: Weighted average

IndicatorName: Adjusted savings: net forest depletion (% of GNI)

License_Type: CC BY-4.0

Limitationsandexceptions: A positive net depletion figure for forest resources implies that the harvest rate exceeds the rate of natural growth; this is not the same as deforestation, which represents a change in land use. In principle, there should be an addition to savings in countries where growth exceeds harvest, but empirical estimates suggest that most of this net growth is in forested areas that cannot currently be exploited economically. Because the depletion estimates reflect only timber values, they ignore all the external and nontimber benefits associated with standing forests.

Longdefinition: Net forest depletion is calculated as the product of unit resource rents and the excess of roundwood harvest over natural growth.

Periodicity: Annual

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on sources and methods in World Bank's "The Changing Wealth of Nations: Measuring Sustainable Development in the New Millennium" (2011).

Topic: Environment: Natural capital endowment and management


Developmentrelevance: Natural resources depletion is a critical component in the calculation of adjusted net national income. Adjusted net national income is calculated by subtracting from GNI a charge for the consumption of fixed capital (a calculation that yields net national income) and for the depletion of natural resources. The deduction for the depletion of natural resources, which covers net forest depletion, energy depletion, and mineral depletion, reflects the decline in asset values associated with the extraction and harvest of natural resources - this is analogous to depreciation of fixed assets.

IndicatorName: Adjusted savings: natural resources depletion (% of GNI)

Limitationsandexceptions:
Net forest depletion is not the monetary value of deforestation. Roundwood and fuelwood production are different from deforestation, which represents a permanent change in land use and, thus, is not comparable. Areas logged out but intended for regeneration are not included in deforestation figures; rather, they are counted as producing timber depletion. Net forest depletion includes only timber values and does not include the loss of nontimber forest benefits and nonuse benefits.

For both energy and mineral depletion, unit resource rent is calculated as (unit world price - average cost) / unit world price. Marginal cost should be used instead of average cost in order to calculate the true opportunity cost of extraction; however, marginal cost is difficult to compute and data are not readily available. Unit prices refer to international rather than local prices to reflect the social cost of natural resources depletion. This differs from methodologies of national accounts, which may use local prices to measure energy or mineral GDP. This difference explains eventual discrepancies in the values for energy or mineral depletion, verses energy or mineral GDP.

Longdefinition: Natural resource depletion is the sum of net forest depletion, energy depletion, and mineral depletion. Net forest depletion is unit resource rents times the excess of roundwood harvest over natural growth. Energy depletion is the ratio of the value of the stock of energy resources to the remaining reserve lifetime (capped at 25 years). It covers coal, crude oil, and natural gas. Mineral depletion is the ratio of the value of the stock of mineral resources to the remaining reserve lifetime (capped at 25 years). It covers tin, gold, lead, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, silver, bauxite, and phosphate.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Natural resources depletion is the sum of net forest depletion, energy depletion, and mineral depletion:

Net forest depletion is the product of unit resource rents and the excess of roundwood harvest over natural growth. In a country where incremental growth exceeds wood extraction, net forest depletion would be zero, no matter the absolute volume or value of wood extracted.

Energy depletion is the ratio of the present value of energy resource rents, discounted at 4 percent, to the exhaustion time of the resource (capped at 25 years). Rent is calculated as the product of unit resource rents and the physical quantities of energy resources extracted. It covers hard and soft coal, crude oil, and natural gas.

Mineral depletion is the ratio of the present value of mineral resource rents, discounted at 4 percent, to the exhaustion time of the resource (capped at 25 years). Rent is calculated as the product of unit resource rents and the physical quantities of mineral extracted. It covers tin, gold, lead, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, silver, bauxite, and phosphate.


Developmentrelevance: An economy's growth is measured by the change in the volume of its output or in the real incomes of its residents. The 2008 United Nations System of National Accounts (2008 SNA) offers three plausible indicators for calculating growth: the volume of gross domestic product (GDP), real gross domestic income, and real gross national income. The volume of GDP is the sum of value added, measured at constant prices, by households, government, and industries operating in the economy. GDP accounts for all domestic production, regardless of whether the income accrues to domestic or foreign institutions.

IndicatorName: GDP growth (annual %)

Limitationsandexceptions:
Each industry's contribution to growth in the economy's output is measured by growth in the industry's value added. In principle, value added in constant prices can be estimated by measuring the quantity of goods and services produced in a period, valuing them at an agreed set of base year prices, and subtracting the cost of intermediate inputs, also in constant prices. This double-deflation method requires detailed information on the structure of prices of inputs and outputs.

In many industries, however, value added is extrapolated from the base year using single volume indexes of outputs or, less commonly, inputs. Particularly in the services industries, including most of government, value added in constant prices is often imputed from labor inputs, such as real wages or number of employees. In the absence of well defined measures of output, measuring the growth of services remains difficult.

Moreover, technical progress can lead to improvements in production processes and in the quality of goods and services that, if not properly accounted for, can distort measures of value added and thus of growth. When inputs are used to estimate output, as for nonmarket services, unmeasured technical progress leads to underestimates of the volume of output. Similarly, unmeasured improvements in quality lead to underestimates of the value of output and value added. The result can be underestimates of growth and productivity improvement and overestimates of inflation.

Informal economic activities pose a particular measurement problem, especially in developing countries, where much economic activity is unrecorded. A complete picture of the economy requires estimating household outputs produced for home use, sales in informal markets, barter exchanges, and illicit or deliberately unreported activities. The consistency and completeness of such estimates depend on the skill and methods of the compiling statisticians.

Rebasing of national accounts can alter the measured growth rate of an economy and lead to breaks in series that affect the consistency of data over time. When countries rebase their national accounts, they update the weights assigned to various components to better reflect current patterns of production or uses of output. The new base year should represent normal operation of the economy - it should be a year without major shocks or distortions. Some developing countries have not rebased their national accounts for many years. Using an old base year can be misleading because implicit price and volume weights become progressively less relevant and useful.

To obtain comparable series of constant price data for computing aggregates, the World Bank rescales GDP and value added by industrial origin to a common reference year. Because rescaling changes the implicit weights used in forming regional and income group aggregates, aggregate growth rates are not comparable with those from earlier editions with different base years. Rescaling may result in a discrepancy between the rescaled GDP and the sum of the rescaled components. To avoid distortions in the growth rates, the discrepancy is left unallocated. As a result, the weighted average of the growth rates of the components generally does not equal the GDP growth rate.

Longdefinition: Annual percentage growth rate of GDP at market prices based on constant local currency. Aggregates are based on constant 2015 prices, expressed in U.S. dollars. GDP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Gross domestic product (GDP) represents the sum of value added by all its producers. Value added is the value of the gross output of producers less the value of intermediate goods and services consumed in production, before accounting for consumption of fixed capital in production. The United Nations System of National Accounts calls for value added to be valued at either basic prices (excluding net taxes on products) or producer prices (including net taxes on products paid by producers but excluding sales or value added taxes). Both valuations exclude transport charges that are invoiced separately by producers. Total GDP is measured at purchaser prices. Value added by industry is normally measured at basic prices. When value added is measured at producer prices.

Growth rates of GDP and its components are calculated using the least squares method and constant price data in the local currency. Constant price in U.S. dollar series are used to calculate regional and income group growth rates. Local currency series are converted to constant U.S. dollars using an exchange rate in the common reference year.

Topic: Governance: Economic Environment


IndicatorName: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism: Estimate

Longdefinition: Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

Source: Detailed documentation of the WGI, interactive tools for exploring the data, and full access to the underlying source data available at www.govindicators.org.The WGI are produced by Daniel Kaufmann (Natural Resource Governance Institute and Brookings Institution) and Aart Kraay (World Bank Development Research Group).  Please cite Kaufmann, Daniel, Aart Kraay and Massimo Mastruzzi (2010).  "The Worldwide Governance Indicators:  Methodology and Analytical Issues".  World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5430 (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1682130).  The WGI do not reflect the official views of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, the Brookings Institution, the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent.

Topic: Governance: Stability & Rule of Law


IndicatorName: Rule of Law: Estimate

Longdefinition: Rule of Law captures perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in particular the quality of contract enforcement, property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.


IndicatorName: Regulatory Quality: Estimate

Longdefinition: Regulatory Quality captures perceptions of the ability of the government to formulate and implement sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

Topic: Governance: Government Effectiveness


IndicatorName: Economic and Social Rights Performance Score

Shortdefinition: Economic and social human rights ensure that all people have access to the basic goods, services, and opportunities necessary to survive and thrive.

Source: Human Rights Measurement Initiative. https://humanrightsmeasurement.org/

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: For economic and social rights, HRMI draws on national statistics produced by governments and international agencies, and uses the award-winning SERF Index methodology to compare countries’ human rights outcomes with their income, to capture the concept of ‘progressive realisation’.

Topic: Governance: Human Rights

Unitofmeasure: Standardized scores


Developmentrelevance:
Literacy rate is an outcome indicator to evaluate educational attainment. This data can predict the quality of future labor force and can be used in ensuring policies for life skills for men and women.

It can be also used as a proxy instrument to see the effectiveness of education system; a high literacy rate suggests the capacity of an education system to provide a large population with opportunities to acquire literacy skills. The accumulated achievement of education is fundamental for further intellectual growth and social and economic development, although it doesn't necessarily ensure the quality of education.

Literate women implies that they can seek and use information for the betterment of the health, nutrition and education of their household members. Literate women are also empowered to play a meaningful role.

IndicatorName: Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)

Limitationsandexceptions: In practice, literacy is difficult to measure. Estimating literacy rates requires census or survey measurements under controlled conditions. Many countries report the number of literate people from self-reported data. Some use educational attainment data as a proxy but apply different lengths of school attendance or levels of completion. Ant there is a trend among recent national and international surveys toward using a direct reading test of literacy skills. Because definitions and methods of data collection differ across countries, data should be used cautiously.

Longdefinition: Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). UIS.Stat Bulk Data Download Service. Accessed September 19, 2023. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Literacy statistics for most countries cover the population ages 15 and older, but some include younger ages or are confined to age ranges that tend to inflate literacy rates. The youth literacy rate for ages 15-24 reflects recent progress in education. It measures the accumulated outcomes of primary education over the previous 10 years or so by indicating the proportion of the population who have passed through the primary education system and acquired basic literacy and numeracy skills. Generally, literacy also encompasses numeracy, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations.

Data on literacy are compiled by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics based on national censuses and household surveys and, for countries without recent literacy data, using the Global Age-Specific Literacy Projection Model (GALP). For detailed information, see www.uis.unesco.org.

Topic: Social: Education & skills


Developmentrelevance: The Gender Parity Index (GPI) indicates parity between girls and boys. A GPI of less than 1 suggests girls are more disadvantaged than boys in learning opportunities and a GPI of greater than 1 suggests the other way around. Eliminating gender disparities in education would help increase the status and capabilities of women.

IndicatorName: School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI)

Longdefinition: Gender parity index for gross enrollment ratio in primary and secondary education is the ratio of girls to boys enrolled at primary and secondary levels in public and private schools.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). UIS.Stat Bulk Data Download Service. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
This indicator is calculated by dividing female gross enrollment ratio in primary and secondary education by male gross enrollment ratio in primary and secondary education.

Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011.

The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).

Topic: Governance: Gender


Developmentrelevance: Gross enrollment ratios indicate the capacity of each level of the education system, but a high ratio may reflect a substantial number of overage children enrolled in each grade because of repetition or late entry rather than a successful education system. The net enrollment rate excludes overage and underage students and more accurately captures the system's coverage and internal efficiency. Differences between the gross enrollment ratio and the net enrollment rate show the incidence of overage and underage enrollments.

IndicatorName: School enrollment, primary (% gross)

Limitationsandexceptions: Enrollment indicators are based on annual school surveys, but do not necessarily reflect actual attendance or dropout rates during the year. Also, the length of education differs across countries and can influence enrollment rates, although the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) tries to minimize the difference. For example, a shorter duration for primary education tends to increase the rate; a longer one to decrease it (in part because older children are more at risk of dropping out). Moreover, age at enrollment may be inaccurately estimated or misstated, especially in communities where registration of births is not strictly enforced.

Longdefinition: Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Gross enrollment ratio for primary school is calculated by dividing the number of students enrolled in primary education regardless of age by the population of the age group which officially corresponds to primary education, and multiplying by 100.

Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011. Population data are drawn from the United Nations Population Division. Using a single source for population data standardizes definitions, estimations, and interpolation methods, ensuring a consistent methodology across countries and minimizing potential enumeration problems in national censuses.

The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).


Aggregationmethod: Median

Developmentrelevance: The share of government expenditure devoted to education allows an assessment of the priority a government assigns to education relative to other public investments, as well as a government's commitment to investing in human capital development. Countries with younger populations may spend more on education in relation to other sector such as health or social security, and vice-versa.

IndicatorName: Government expenditure on education, total (% of government expenditure)

Limitationsandexceptions: Data on government expenditure on education may refer to spending by the ministry of education only (excluding spending on educational activities by other ministries). In addition, definitions and methods of data on total general government expenditure may differ across countries.

Longdefinition: General government expenditure on education (current, capital, and transfers) is expressed as a percentage of total general government expenditure on all sectors (including health, education, social services, etc.). It includes expenditure funded by transfers from international sources to government. General government usually refers to local, regional and central governments.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Expenditure on education, total (% of government expenditure) is calculated by dividing total government expenditure on education by the total government expenditure on all sectors and multiplying by 100. Aggregate data are based on World Bank estimates.

Data on education are collected by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics from official responses to its annual education survey. All the data are mapped to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) to ensure the comparability of education programs at the international level. The current version was formally adopted by UNESCO Member States in 2011. Data on total general government expenditure were previously collected from countries through the annual questionnaire, but are from the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook database since January 2014. Therefore, current data cannot be compared with data in earlier editions.

The reference years reflect the school year for which the data are presented. In some countries the school year spans two calendar years (for example, from September 2010 to June 2011); in these cases the reference year refers to the year in which the school year ended (2011 in the example).


Developmentrelevance:
Despite much progress in recent decades, gender inequalities remain pervasive in many dimensions of life - worldwide. But while disparities exist throughout the world, they are most prevalent in developing countries. Gender inequalities in the allocation of such resources as education, health care, nutrition, and political voice matter because of the strong association with well-being, productivity, and economic growth. These patterns of inequality begin at an early age, with boys routinely receiving a larger share of education and health spending than do girls, for example.

Women are vastly underrepresented in decision-making positions in government, although there is some evidence of recent improvement. Gender parity in parliamentary representation is still far from being realized. Without representation at this level, it is difficult for women to influence policy.

A strong and vibrant democracy is possible only when parliament is fully inclusive of the population it represents. Parliaments cannot consider themselves inclusive, however, until they can boast the full participation of women. This is not just about women's right to equality and their contribution to the conduct of public affairs, but also about using women's resources and potential to determine political and development priorities that benefit societies and the global community.

Generalcomments:
Relevance to gender indicator: Women are vastly underrepresented in decision making positions in government, although there is some evidence of recent improvement. Gender parity in parliamentary representation is still far from being realized. Without representation at this level, it is difficult for women to influence policy.

This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 5.5.1 (a). [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%)

Limitationsandexceptions:
The number of countries covered varies with suspensions or dissolutions of parliaments. There can be difficulties in obtaining information on by-election results and replacements due to death or resignation. These changes are ad hoc events which are more difficult to keep track of. By-elections, for instance, are often not announced internationally as general elections are. Parliaments vary considerably in their internal workings and procedures, however, generally legislate, oversee government and represent the electorate. In terms of measuring women's contribution to political decision making, this indicator may not be sufficient because some women may face obstacles in fully and efficiently carrying out their parliamentary mandate.

The data is compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by National Parliaments. The percentages do not take into account the case of parliaments for which no data was available at that date. Information is available in all countries where a national legislature exists and therefore does not include parliaments that have been dissolved or suspended for an indefinite period.

Longdefinition: Women in parliaments are the percentage of parliamentary seats in a single or lower chamber held by women.

Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) (www.ipu.org).  For the year of 1998, the data is as of August 10, 1998.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments is the number of seats held by women members in single or lower chambers of national parliaments, expressed as a percentage of all occupied seats; it is derived by dividing the total number of seats occupied by women by the total number of seats in parliament.

National parliaments can be bicameral or unicameral. This indicator covers the single chamber in unicameral parliaments and the lower chamber in bicameral parliaments. It does not cover the upper chamber of bicameral parliaments. Seats are usually won by members in general parliamentary elections. Seats may also be filled by nomination, appointment, indirect election, rotation of members and by-election. Seats refer to the number of parliamentary mandates, or the number of members of parliament.


IndicatorName: Cause of death, by communicable diseases and maternal, prenatal and nutrition conditions (% of total)

Limitationsandexceptions: The limited availability of data on health status is a major constraint in assessing the health situation in developing countries. Surveillance data are lacking for many major public health concerns. Estimates of prevalence and incidence are available for some diseases but are often unreliable and incomplete. National health authorities differ widely in capacity and willingness to collect or report information. To compensate for this and improve reliability and international comparability, the World Health Organization (WHO) prepares estimates in accordance with epidemiological models and statistical standards.

Longdefinition: Cause of death refers to the share of all deaths for all ages by underlying causes. Communicable diseases and maternal, prenatal and nutrition conditions include infectious and parasitic diseases, respiratory infections, and nutritional deficiencies such as underweight and stunting.

Source: Derived based on the data from Global Health Estimates 2020: Deaths by Cause, Age, Sex, by Country and by Region, 2000-2019. Geneva, World Health Organization; 2020. Link: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates/ghe-leading-causes-of-death

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Data on cause of death are compiled by the WHO, based mainly on data from national vital registry systems, as well as sample registration systems, population laboratories, and epidemiological analysis of specific conditions. Data are classified based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision. Data have been carefully analyzed to take into account incomplete coverage of vital registration and the likely differences in cause of death patterns that would be expected in undercovered and often poorer subpopulations. Special attention has also been paid to misattribution or miscoding of causes of death in cardiovascular diseases, cancer, injuries, and general ill-defined categories. For further information, consult the original source.

Topic: Social: Health & Nutrition


Developmentrelevance: Mortality rates for different age groups (infants, children, and adults) and overall mortality indicators (life expectancy at birth or survival to a given age) are important indicators of health status in a country. Because data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. And they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries.

Generalcomments:
Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.2.1[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births)

Limitationsandexceptions: Complete vital registration systems are fairly uncommon in developing countries. Thus estimates must be obtained from sample surveys or derived by applying indirect estimation techniques to registration, census, or survey data. Survey data are subject to recall error, and surveys estimating infant/child deaths require large samples because households in which a birth has occurred during a given year cannot ordinarily be preselected for sampling. Indirect estimates rely on model life tables that may be inappropriate for the population concerned. Extrapolations based on outdated surveys may not be reliable for monitoring changes in health status or for comparative analytical work.

Longdefinition: Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.

Source: Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The main sources of mortality data are vital registration systems and direct or indirect estimates based on sample surveys or censuses. A "complete" vital registration system - covering at least 90 percent of vital events in the population - is the best source of age-specific mortality data.

Estimates of neonatal, infant, and child mortality tend to vary by source and method for a given time and place. Years for available estimates also vary by country, making comparisons across countries and over time difficult. To make neonatal, infant, and child mortality estimates comparable and to ensure consistency across estimates by different agencies, the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), which comprises the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank, the United Nations Population Division, and other universities and research institutes, developed and adopted a statistical method that uses all available information to reconcile differences. The method uses statistical models to obtain a best estimate trend line by fitting a country-specific regression model of mortality rates against their reference dates.


Developmentrelevance:
Water is considered to be the most important resource for sustaining ecosystems, which provide life-supporting services for people, animals, and plants. Global access to safe water and proper hygiene education can reduce illness and death from disease, leading to improved health, poverty reduction, and socio-economic development. However, many countries are challenged to provide these basic necessities to their populations, leaving people at risk for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)-related diseases. Because contaminated water is a major cause of illness and death, water quality is a determining factor in human poverty, education, and economic opportunities.

Lack of access to adequate drinking water services contributes to deaths and illness, especially in children. Water based disease transmission by drinking contaminated water is responsible for significant outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and typhoid and includes diarrheal diseases, viral hepatitis A, cholera, dysentery and dracunculiasis (Guineaworm disease). Improving access to clean drinking water is a crucial element in the reduction of under-five mortality and morbidity and there is evidence that ensuring higher levels of drinking water services has a greater impact.

Women and children spend millions of hours each year fetching water. The chore diverts their time from other important activities (for example attending school, caring for children, participating in the economy). When water is not available on premises and has to be collected, women and girls are almost two and a half times more likely than men and boys to be the main water carriers for their families.

Many international organizations use access to safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation facilities as a measure for progress in the fight against poverty, disease, and death. Access to safe drinking water is also considered to be a human right, not a privilege, for every man, woman, and child. Economic benefits of safe drinking water services include higher economic productivity, more education, and health-care savings.

Generalcomments:
Aggregate data by groups are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene.

This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 6.1.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: People using safely managed drinking water services (% of population)

Limitationsandexceptions: In order to meet the criteria for a safely managed drinking water service, an improved water source should meet three criteria: it should be accessible on the premises (accessibility), water should be available when needed (availability), and the water supplied should be free from contamination (quality).  Many countries lack data on one or more elements of safely managed drinking water.  The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) provide national estimates only when data are available on drinking water quality and at least one of the other criteria (accessibility and availability).  Regional and income group estimates are made when data are available for at least 30 percent of the population.

Longdefinition: The percentage of people using drinking water from an improved source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination. Improved water sources include piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, and packaged or delivered water.

Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (washdata.org).

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Data on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are produced by the Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) based on administrative sources, national censuses and nationally representative household surveys.  WHO/UNICEF defines a safely managed drinking water as an improved water source that is accessible on premises, available when needed and free from faecal and priority chemical contamination.  Improved water sources include: piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, and packaged or delivered water.

Topic: Social: Access to Services


IndicatorName: Hospital beds (per 1,000 people)

Limitationsandexceptions: Depending on the source and means of monitoring, data may not be exactly comparable across countries. For more information, see the original source.

Longdefinition: Hospital beds include inpatient beds available in public, private, general, and specialized hospitals and rehabilitation centers. In most cases beds for both acute and chronic care are included.

Notesfromoriginalsource: Depending on the source and means of monitoring, data may not be exactly comparable across countries. See listed source for country-specific details.

Source: Data are from the World Health Organization, supplemented by country data.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Health systems - the combined arrangements of institutions and actions whose primary purpose is to promote, restore, or maintain health (World Health Organization, World Health Report 2000) - are increasingly being recognized as key to combating disease and improving the health status of populations. The World Bank's Healthy Development: Strategy for Health, Nutrition, and Population Results emphasizes the need to strengthen health systems, which are weak in many countries, in order to increase the effectiveness of programs aimed at reducing specific diseases and further reduce morbidity and mortality. To evaluate health systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that key components - such as financing, service delivery, workforce, governance, and information - be monitored using several key indicators. The data are a subset of the key indicators. Monitoring health systems allows the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of different health system models to be compared. Health system data also help identify weaknesses and strengths and areas that need investment, such as additional health facilities, better health information systems, or better trained human resources.

Availability and use of health services, such as hospital beds per 1,000 people, reflect both demand- and supply-side factors. In the absence of a consistent definition this is a crude indicator of the extent of physical, financial, and other barriers to health care.


IndicatorName: Prevalence of overweight (% of adults)

Longdefinition: Prevalence of overweight adults is the percentage of adults ages 18 and over whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is more than 25 kg/m2. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height, or the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters.

Source: World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory Data Repository (http://apps.who.int/ghodata/).


Developmentrelevance:
Sanitation is fundamental to human development. Many international organizations use hygienic sanitation facilities as a measure for progress in the fight against poverty, disease, and death. Access to proper sanitation is also considered to be a human right, not a privilege, for every man, woman, and child.

Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and feces. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease world-wide and improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact on people's health. Basic and safely managed sanitation services can reduce diarrheal disease, and can significantly lessen the adverse health impacts of other disorders responsible for death and disease among millions of children. Diarrhea and worm infections weaken children and make them more susceptible to malnutrition and opportunistic infections like pneumonia, measles and malaria.

The combined effects of inadequate sanitation, unsafe water supply and poor personal hygiene are responsible for many of childhood deaths. Every year, the failure to tackle these deficits results in severe welfare losses - wasted time, reduced productivity, ill health, impaired learning, environmental degradation and lost opportunities. Fundamental behavior changes are required before the use of improved facilities and services can be integrated into daily life. Many hygiene behaviors and habits are formed in childhood and, therefore, school health and hygiene education programs are an important part of water and sanitation improvements.

Most basic sanitation technologies are not expensive to implement. However, those facing the problems of inadequate sanitation may not be aware of either the origin of their ills, or the true costs of poor sanitation and hygiene. As a result, in most of the developing countries those without sanitation are hard to convince of the need to invest scarce resources in sanitation facilities, or of the critical importance of changing long-held habits and unhygienic behaviors. Consequently, the people's representatives - governments and elected political leaders - rarely give sanitation or hygiene improvements the priority that is needed in order to tackle the massive sanitation deficit faced by the developing world.

Children bear the brunt of sanitation-related impacts - their health, nutrition, growth, education, self-respect, and life opportunities suffer as a result of inadequate sanitation. Without improved sanitation, many of the current generation of children in developing countries are unlikely to develop to their full potential. Countries that don't take urgent action to redress sanitation deficiencies will find their future development and prosperity impaired.

Generalcomments:
Aggregate data by groups are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene.

This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 6.2.1 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: People using safely managed sanitation services (% of population)

Limitationsandexceptions: There are three main ways to meet the criteria for having a safely managed sanitation service (People should use improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households, and the excreta produced should either be: treated and disposed of in situ; stored temporality and then emptied, transported and treated off-site, or transported through a sewer with wastewater and then treated off-site).  Many countries lack information on either wastewater treatment or the management of on-site sanitation. A national estimate is produced if information is available for the dominant type of sanitation system.  If no information is available, it is assumed that 50 percent is safely managed.  Regional and income group estimates are made when data are available for at least 30 percent of the population.

Longdefinition: The percentage of people using improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated offsite. Improved sanitation facilities include flush/pour flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines: ventilated improved pit latrines, compositing toilets or pit latrines with slabs.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Data on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene are produced by the Joint Monitoring Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) based on administrative sources, national censuses and nationally representative household surveys.  WHO/UNICEF defines safely managed sanitation facilities as improved sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated offsite.  Improved sanitation facilities include flush/pour flush to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines: ventilated improved pit latrines, compositing toilets or pit latrines with slabs.


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country. Income distribution measures are important background indicators for shared prosperity.

Generalcomments: The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

IndicatorName: Income share held by lowest 20%

Limitationsandexceptions:
Despite progress in the last decade, the challenges of measuring poverty remain. The timeliness, frequency, quality, and comparability of household surveys need to increase substantially, particularly in the poorest countries. The availability and quality of poverty monitoring data remains low in small states, countries with fragile situations, and low-income countries and even some middle-income countries. The low frequency and lack of comparability of the data available in some countries create uncertainty over the magnitude of poverty reduction.

Besides the frequency and timeliness of survey data, other data quality issues arise in measuring household living standards. The surveys ask detailed questions on sources of income and how it was spent, which must be carefully recorded by trained personnel. Income is generally more difficult to measure accurately, and consumption comes closer to the notion of living standards. And income can vary over time even if living standards do not. But consumption data are not always available: the latest estimates reported here use consumption data for about two-thirds of countries.

However, even similar surveys may not be strictly comparable because of differences in timing or in the quality and training of enumerators. Comparisons of countries at different levels of development also pose a potential problem because of differences in the relative importance of the consumption of nonmarket goods. The local market value of all consumption in kind (including own production, particularly important in underdeveloped rural economies) should be included in total consumption expenditure but may not be. Most survey data now include valuations for consumption or income from own production, but valuation methods vary.

Longdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Relatedsourcelinks: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform: https://pip.worldbank.org/

Shortdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption that accrues to the first (poorest) quintile.

Source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Inequality in the distribution of income is reflected in the share of income or consumption accruing to a portion of the population ranked by income or consumption levels. The portions ranked lowest by personal income receive the smallest shares of total income.

Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to directly calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data.

The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption.

The year reflects the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year data collection started.

Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Topic: Social: Poverty & Inequality


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country. Gini coefficients are important background information for shared prosperity.

IndicatorName: Gini index

Limitationsandexceptions:
Gini coefficients are not unique. It is possible for two different Lorenz curves to give rise to the same Gini coefficient. Furthermore it is possible for the Gini coefficient of a developing country to rise (due to increasing inequality of income) while the number of people in absolute poverty decreases. This is because the Gini coefficient measures relative, not absolute, wealth.

Another limitation of the Gini coefficient is that it is not additive across groups, i.e. the total Gini of a society is not equal to the sum of the Gini's for its sub-groups. Thus, country-level Gini coefficients cannot be aggregated into regional or global Gini's, although a Gini coefficient can be computed for the aggregate.

Because the underlying household surveys differ in methods and types of welfare measures collected, data are not strictly comparable across countries or even across years within a country. Two sources of non-comparability should be noted for distributions of income in particular. First, the surveys can differ in many respects, including whether they use income or consumption expenditure as the living standard indicator. The distribution of income is typically more unequal than the distribution of consumption. In addition, the definitions of income used differ more often among surveys. Consumption is usually a much better welfare indicator, particularly in developing countries. Second, households differ in size (number of members) and in the extent of income sharing among members. And individuals differ in age and consumption needs. Differences among countries in these respects may bias comparisons of distribution.

World Bank staff have made an effort to ensure that the data are as comparable as possible. Wherever possible, consumption has been used rather than income. Income distribution and Gini indexes for high-income economies are calculated directly from the Luxembourg Income Study database, using an estimation method consistent with that applied for developing countries.

Longdefinition: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.

Shortdefinition: The Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.

The Gini index provides a convenient summary measure of the degree of inequality. Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data.

The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption.

The year reflects the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year data collection started.


Developmentrelevance: The poverty rate as defined by national poverty lines reflects the share of the population that fails to meet the standard a country thinks is necessarty to cover basic needs.

Generalcomments: This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

IndicatorName: Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population)

Longdefinition: National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line(s). National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys. For economies for which the data are from EU-SILC, the reported year is the income reference year, which is the year before the survey year.

Source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Poverty headcount ratio among the population is measured based on national (i.e. country-specific) poverty lines. A country may have a unique national poverty line or separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas, or for different geographic areas to reflect differences in the cost of living or sometimes to reflect differences in diets and consumption baskets.

Poverty estimates at national poverty lines are computed from household survey data collected from nationally representative samples of households. These data must contain sufficiently detailed information to compute a comprehensive estimate of total household income or consumption (including consumption or income from own production), from which it is possible to construct a correctly weighted distribution of per capita consumption or income.

National poverty lines are the benchmark for estimating poverty indicators that are consistent with the country's specific economic and social circumstances. National poverty lines reflect local perceptions of the level and composition of consumption or income needed to be non-poor. The perceived boundary between poor and non-poor typically rises with the average income of a country and thus does not provide a uniform measure for comparing poverty rates across countries. While poverty rates at national poverty lines should not be used for comparing poverty rates across countries, they are appropriate for guiding and monitoring the results of country-specific national poverty reduction strategies.

Almost all national poverty lines in developing economies are anchored to the cost of a food bundle - based on the prevailing national diet of the poor - that provides adequate nutrition for good health and normal activity, plus an allowance for nonfood spending. National poverty lines must be adjusted for inflation between survey years to remain constant in real terms and thus allow for meaningful comparisons of poverty over time. Because diets and consumption baskets change over time, countries periodically recalculate the poverty line based on new survey data. In such cases the new poverty lines should be deflated to obtain comparable poverty estimates from earlier years.

This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. For economies for which the data are from EU-SILC, the reported year is the income reference year, which is the year before the survey year. For all other economies, the year reported is the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year in which data collection started.


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country.

Generalcomments: The comparability of welfare aggregates (consumption or income) for the chosen years T0 and T1 is assessed for every country. If comparability across the two surveys is a major concern for a country, the selection criteria are re-applied to select the next best survey year(s). Annualized growth rates are calculated between the survey years, using a compound growth formula. The survey years defining the period for which growth rates are calculated and the type of welfare aggregate used to calculate the growth rates are noted in the footnotes.

IndicatorName: Annualized average growth rate in per capita real survey mean consumption or income, total population (%)

Limitationsandexceptions: Because household surveys are infrequent in most countries and are not aligned across countries, comparisons across countries or over time should be made with a high degree of caution.

Longdefinition:
The growth rate in the welfare aggregate of the total population is computed as the annualized average growth rate in per capita real consumption or income of the total population in  the income distribution in a country from household surveys over a roughly 5-year period. Mean per capita real consumption or income is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries means are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The annualized growth rate is computed as (Mean in final year/Mean in initial year)^(1/(Final year - Initial year)) - 1.  The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported. The initial year refers to the nearest survey collected 5 years before the most recent survey available, only surveys collected between 3 and 7 years before the most recent survey are considered.

The coverage and quality of the 2017 PPP price data for Iraq and most other North African and Middle Eastern countries were hindered by the exceptional period of instability they faced at the time of the 2017 exercise of the International Comparison Program. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform for detailed explanations.

Shortdefinition: The growth rate in the welfare aggregate of total population is computed as annualized average growth rate in per capita real consumption or income of total population from household surveys over a roughly 5-year period.

Source: World Bank, Global Database of Shared Prosperity (GDSP) (http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-database-of-shared-prosperity).


Developmentrelevance: In most countries more boys are involved in employment, or the gender difference is small. However, girls are often more present in hidden or underreported forms of employment such as domestic service, and in almost all societies girls bear greater responsibility for household chores in their own homes, work that lies outside the System of National Accounts production boundary and is thus not considered in estimates of children's employment.

IndicatorName: Children in employment, total (% of children ages 7-14)

Limitationsandexceptions: Although efforts are made to harmonize the definition of employment and the questions on employment in survey questionnaires, significant differences remain in the survey instruments that collect data on children in employment and in the sampling design underlying the surveys. Differences exist not only across different household surveys in the same country but also across the same type of survey carried out in different countries, so estimates of working children are not fully comparable across countries. For detailed source information, see footnotes at each data point.

Longdefinition: Children in employment refer to children involved in economic activity for at least one hour in the reference week of the survey.

Source: Understanding Children's Work project based on data from ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Data are from household surveys by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank, and national statistical offices. The surveys yield data on education, employment, health, expenditure, and consumption indicators related to children's work. Since children's work is captured in the sense of "economic activity," the data refer to children in employment, a broader concept than child labor (see ILO 2009a for details on this distinction).

Household survey data generally include information on work type - for example, whether a child is working for payment in cash or in kind or is involved in unpaid work, working for someone who is not a member of the household, or involved in any type of family work (on the farm or in a business).

In line with the definition of economic activity adopted by the 13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, the threshold set by the 1993 UN System of National Accounts for classifying a person as employed is to have been engaged at least one hour in any activity relating to the production of goods and services during the reference period. Children seeking work are thus excluded. Economic activity covers all market production and certain nonmarket production, including production of goods for own use. It excludes unpaid household services (commonly called "household chores") - that is, the production of domestic and personal services by household members for a household's own consumption.

Country surveys define the ages for child labor as 5-17. The data here have been recalculated to present statistics for children ages 7-14.

Topic: Social: Employment


Developmentrelevance: Estimates of women in the labor force and employment are generally lower than those of men and are not comparable internationally, reflecting that demographic, social, legal, and cultural trends and norms determine whether women's activities are regarded as economic. In many low-income countries women often work on farms or in other family enterprises without pay, and others work in or near their homes, mixing work and family activities during the day. In many high-income economies, women have been increasingly acquiring higher education that has led to better-compensated, longer-term careers rather than lower-skilled, shorter-term jobs. However, access to good- paying occupations for women remains unequal in many occupations and countries around the world. Labor force statistics by gender is important to monitor gender disparities in employment and unemployment patterns.

Generalcomments: National estimates are also available in the WDI database. Caution should be used when comparing ILO estimates with national estimates.

IndicatorName: Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate)

Limitationsandexceptions:
Data on the labor force are compiled by the ILO from labor force surveys, censuses, and establishment censuses and surveys. For some countries a combination of these sources is used. Labor force surveys are the most comprehensive source for internationally comparable labor force data. They can cover all non-institutionalized civilians, all branches and sectors of the economy, and all categories of workers, including people holding multiple jobs. By contrast, labor force data from population censuses are often based on a limited number of questions on the economic characteristics of individuals, with little scope to probe. The resulting data often differ from labor force survey data and vary considerably by country, depending on the census scope and coverage. Establishment censuses and surveys provide data only on the employed population, not unemployed workers, workers in small establishments, or workers in the informal sector.

The reference period of a census or survey is another important source of differences: in some countries data refer to people's status on the day of the census or survey or during a specific period before the inquiry date, while in others data are recorded without reference to any period. In countries, where the household is the basic unit of production and all members contribute to output, but some at low intensity or irregularly, the estimated labor force may be much smaller than the numbers actually working.

Differing definitions of employment age also affect comparability. For most countries the working age is 15 and older, but in some countries children younger than 15 work full- or part-time and are included in the estimates. Similarly, some countries have an upper age limit. As a result, calculations may systematically over- or underestimate actual rates.

Longdefinition: Labor force participation rate is the proportion of the population ages 15-64 that is economically active: all people who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period.

Notesfromoriginalsource: Given the exceptional situation, including the scarcity of relevant data, the  ILO modeled estimates and projections from 2020 onwards are subject to substantial uncertainty.

Source: International Labour Organization. “ILO modelled estimates database” ILOSTAT. Accessed February 06, 2024. https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The labor force is the supply of labor available for producing goods and services in an economy. It includes people who are currently employed and people who are unemployed but seeking work as well as first-time job-seekers. Not everyone who works is included, however. Unpaid workers, family workers, and students are often omitted, and some countries do not count members of the armed forces. Labor force size tends to vary during the year as seasonal workers enter and leave.

The series is part of the "ILO modeled estimates database," including nationally reported observations and imputed data for countries with missing data, primarily to capture regional and global trends with consistent country coverage. Country-reported microdata is based mainly on nationally representative labor force surveys, with other sources (e.g., household surveys and population censuses) considering differences in the data source, the scope of coverage, methodology, and other country-specific factors. Country analysis requires caution where limited nationally reported data are available. A series of models are also applied to impute missing observations and make projections. However, imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty, and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. For more information: https://ilostat.ilo.org/resources/concepts-and-definitions/ilo-modelled-estimates/


IndicatorName: Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (modeled ILO estimate)

Longdefinition: Labor force participation rate is the proportion of the population ages 15 and older that is economically active: all people who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period. Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate is calculated by dividing female labor force participation rate by male labor force participation rate and multiplying by 100.

Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators database. Estimates are based on data obtained from International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT at https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/.


Developmentrelevance:
Paradoxically, low unemployment rates can disguise substantial poverty in a country, while high unemployment rates can occur in countries with a high level of economic development and low rates of poverty. In countries without unemployment or welfare benefits people eke out a living in vulnerable employment. In countries with well-developed safety nets workers can afford to wait for suitable or desirable jobs. But high and sustained unemployment indicates serious inefficiencies in resource allocation.

Youth unemployment is an important policy issue for many economies. Young men and women today face increasing uncertainty in their hopes of undergoing a satisfactory transition in the labour market, and this uncertainty and disillusionment can, in turn, have damaging effects on individuals, communities, economies and society at large. Unemployed or underemployed youth are less able to contribute effectively to national development and have fewer opportunities to exercise their rights as citizens. They have less to spend as consumers, less to invest as savers and often have no "voice" to bring about change in their lives and communities. Widespread youth unemployment and underemployment also prevents companies and countries from innovating and developing competitive advantages based on human capital investment, thus undermining future prospects.

Unemployment is a key measure to monitor whether a country is on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. [SDG Indicator 8.5.2]

IndicatorName: Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate)

Limitationsandexceptions:
The criteria for people considered to be seeking work, and the treatment of people temporarily laid off or seeking work for the first time, vary across countries. In many cases it is especially difficult to measure employment and unemployment in agriculture. The timing of a survey can maximize the effects of seasonal unemployment in agriculture. And informal sector employment is difficult to quantify where informal activities are not tracked.

There may be also persons not currently in the labour market who want to work but do not actively "seek" work because they view job opportunities as limited, or because they have restricted labour mobility, or face discrimination, or structural, social or cultural barriers. The exclusion of people who want to work but are not seeking work (often called the "hidden unemployed" or "discouraged workers") is a criterion that will affect the unemployment count of both women and men.

However, women tend to be excluded from the count for various reasons. Women suffer more from discrimination and from structural, social, and cultural barriers that impede them from seeking work. Also, women are often responsible for the care of children and the elderly and for household affairs. They may not be available for work during the short reference period, as they need to make arrangements before starting work. Further, women are considered to be employed when they are working part-time or in temporary jobs, despite the instability of these jobs or their active search for more secure employment.

Longdefinition: Unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment.

Source: International Labour Organization. “ILO Modelled Estimates and Projections database (ILOEST)” ILOSTAT. Accessed February 06, 2024. https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The standard definition of unemployed persons is those individuals without work, seeking work in a recent past period, and currently available for work, including people who have lost their jobs or voluntarily left work. In addition, persons who did not look for work but have an arrangement for a future job are also counted as unemployed. Still, some unemployment is unavoidable—at any time, some workers are temporarily unemployed between jobs as employers look for the right workers and workers search for better jobs. The labor force or the economically active portion of the population serves as the base for this indicator, not the total population.

The series is part of the "ILO modeled estimates database," including nationally reported observations and imputed data for countries with missing data, primarily to capture regional and global trends with consistent country coverage. Country-reported microdata is based mainly on nationally representative labor force surveys, with other sources (e.g., household surveys and population censuses) considering differences in the data source, the scope of coverage, methodology, and other country-specific factors. Country analysis requires caution where limited nationally reported data are available. A series of models are also applied to impute missing observations and make projections. However, imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty, and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. For more information: https://ilostat.ilo.org/resources/concepts-and-definitions/ilo-modelled-estimates/


Aggregationmethod: Sum

Developmentrelevance:
Movement of people, most often through migration, is a significant part of global integration. Migrants contribute to the economies of both their host country and their country of origin. Yet reliable statistics on migration are difficult to collect and are often incomplete, making international comparisons a challenge.

Global migration patterns have become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also millions of economic migrants. In most developed countries, refugees are admitted for resettlement and are routinely included in population counts by censuses or population registers.

But refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very differently under modern international law. Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom.

IndicatorName: Net migration

Limitationsandexceptions: International migration is the component of population change most difficult to measure and estimate reliably. Thus, the quality and quantity of the data used in the estimation and projection of net migration varies considerably by country. Furthermore, the movement of people across international boundaries, which is very often a response to changing socio-economic, political and environmental forces, is subject to a great deal of volatility. Refugee movements, for instance, may involve large numbers of people moving across boundaries in a short time. For these reasons, projections of future international migration levels are the least robust part of current population projections and reflect mainly a continuation of recent levels and trends in net migration.

Longdefinition: Net migration is the net total of migrants during the period, that is, the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including both citizens and noncitizens.

Shortdefinition: Net migration is the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including citizens and noncitizens.

Source: United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The United Nations Population Division provides data on net migration and migrant stock. Because data on migrant stock is difficult for countries to collect, the United Nations Population Division takes into account the past migration history of a country or area, the migration policy of a country, and the influx of refugees in recent periods when deriving estimates of net migration. The data to calculate these estimates come from a variety of sources, including border statistics, administrative records, surveys, and censuses.

When there is insufficient data, net migration is derived through the difference between the overall population growth rate and the rate of natural increase (the difference between the birth rate and the death rate) during the same period. Such calculations are usually made for intercensal periods. The estimates are also derived from the data on foreign-born population - people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population - that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside - are used as estimates.


Developmentrelevance: Good nutrition is the cornerstone for survival, health and development. Well-nourished children perform better in school, grow into healthy adults and in turn give their children a better start in life. Well-nourished women face fewer risks during pregnancy and childbirth, and their children set off on firmer developmental paths, both physically and mentally (UNICEF www.childinfo.org).

Generalcomments: This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 2.1.1[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Prevalence of undernourishment (% of population)

Limitationsandexceptions: From a policy and program standpoint, this measure has its limits. First, food insecurity exists even where food availability is not a problem because of inadequate access of poor households to food. Second, food insecurity is an individual or household phenomenon, and the average food available to each person, even corrected for possible effects of low income, is not a good predictor of food insecurity among the population. And third, nutrition security is determined not only by food security but also by the quality of care of mothers and children and the quality of the household's health environment (Smith and Haddad 2000).

Longdefinition: Prevalence of undernourishments is the percentage of the population whose habitual food consumption is insufficient to provide the dietary energy levels that are required to maintain a normal active and healthy life. Data showing as 2.5 may signify a prevalence of undernourishment below 2.5%.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#home).

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Data on undernourishment are from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and measure food deprivation based on average food available for human consumption per person, the level of inequality in access to food, and the minimum calories required for an average person.


IndicatorName: Life expectancy at birth, total (years)

Limitationsandexceptions: Annual data series from United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects are interpolated data from 5-year period data. Therefore they may not reflect real events as much as observed data.

Longdefinition: Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

Source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision, or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Life expectancy at birth used here is the average number of years a newborn is expected to live if mortality patterns at the time of its birth remain constant in the future. It reflects the overall mortality level of a population, and summarizes the mortality pattern that prevails across all age groups in a given year. It is calculated in a period life table which provides a snapshot of a population's mortality pattern at a given time. It therefore does not reflect the mortality pattern that a person actually experiences during his/her life, which can be calculated in a cohort life table.

High mortality in young age groups significantly lowers the life expectancy at birth. But if a person survives his/her childhood of high mortality, he/she may live much longer. For example, in a population with a life expectancy at birth of 50, there may be few people dying at age 50. The life expectancy at birth may be low due to the high childhood mortality so that once a person survives his/her childhood, he/she may live much longer than 50 years.

Topic: Social: Demography


Developmentrelevance: Reproductive health is a state of physical and mental well-being in relation to the reproductive system and its functions and processes. Means of achieving reproductive health include education and services during pregnancy and childbirth, safe and effective contraception, and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries.

Generalcomments: Relevance to gender indicator: it can indicate the status of women within households and a woman’s decision about the number and spacing of children.

IndicatorName: Fertility rate, total (births per woman)

Longdefinition: Total fertility rate represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.

Source: (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Total fertility rates are based on data on registered live births from vital registration systems or, in the absence of such systems, from censuses or sample surveys. The estimated rates are generally considered reliable measures of fertility in the recent past. Where no empirical information on age-specific fertility rates is available, a model is used to estimate the share of births to adolescents. For countries without vital registration systems fertility rates are generally based on extrapolations from trends observed in censuses or surveys from earlier years.


Developmentrelevance:
Patterns of development in a country are partly determined by the age composition of its population. Different age groups have different impacts on both the environment and on infrastructure needs.  Therefore the age structure of a population is useful for analyzing resource use and formulating future policy and planning goals  with regards infrastructure and development.

This indicator is used for calculating age dependency ratio (percent of working-age population). The age dependency ratio is the ratio of the sum of the population aged 0-14 and the population aged 65 and above to the population aged 15-64. In many developing countries, the once rapidly growing population group of the under-15 population is shrinking. As a result, high fertility rates, together with declining mortality rates, are now reflected in the larger share of the 65 and older population.

IndicatorName: Population ages 65 and above (% of total population)

Limitationsandexceptions: Because the five-year age group is the cohort unit and five-year period data are used in the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects, interpolations to obtain annual data or single age structure may not reflect actual events or age composition. For more information, see the original source.

Longdefinition: Population ages 65 and above as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Age structure in the World Bank's population estimates is based on the age structure in United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects. For more information, see the original source. Total population is based on the de facto population including all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates. For more information see metadata for total population (SP.POP.TOTL).


Generalcomments: Unmet need for contraception measures the capacity women have in achieving their desired family size and birth spacing. Many couples in developing countries want to limit or postpone childbearing but are not using effective contraception. These couples have an unmet need for contraception. Common reasons are lack of knowledge about contraceptive methods and concerns about possible side effects.

IndicatorName: Unmet need for contraception (% of married women ages 15-49)

Longdefinition: Unmet need for contraception is the percentage of fertile, married women of reproductive age who do not want to become pregnant and are not using contraception.

Source: Household surveys, including Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Largely compiled by United Nations Population Division.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Reproductive health is a state of physical and mental well-being in relation to the reproductive system and its functions and processes. Means of achieving reproductive health include education and services during pregnancy and childbirth, safe and effective contraception, and prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries.

Many couples in developing countries want to limit or postpone childbearing but are not using effective contraception. These couples have an unmet need for contraception. Common reasons are lack of knowledge about contraceptive methods and concerns about possible side effects. This indicator excludes women not exposed to the risk of unintended pregnancy because of menopause, infertility, or postpartum anovulation.


IndicatorName: Voice and Accountability: Estimate

Longdefinition: Voice and Accountability captures perceptions of the extent to which a country's citizens are able to participate in selecting their government, as well as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and a free media. Estimate gives the country's score on the aggregate indicator, in units of a standard normal distribution, i.e. ranging from approximately -2.5 to 2.5.

Source: Detailed documentation of the WGI, interactive tools for exploring the data, and full access to the underlying source data available at www.govindicators.org.The WGI are produced by Daniel Kaufmann (Natural Resource Governance Institute and Brookings Institution) and Aart Kraay (World Bank Development Research Group).  Please cite Kaufmann, Daniel, Aart Kraay and Massimo Mastruzzi (2010).  "The Worldwide Governance Indicators:  Methodology and Analytical Issues".  World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5430 (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1682130).  The WGI do not reflect the official views of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, the Brookings Institution, the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent.


IndicatorName: This ICP classification heading covers individual consumption expenditure by households; individual consumption expenditure by nonprofit institutions serving households (NPISHs); individual consumption expenditure by government; collective consumption expenditure by government; gross capital formation; balance of exports and imports.


IndicatorName: This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Rice; Other cereals, flour and other cereal products; Bread; Other bakery products; Pasta products and couscous; Beef and veal; Pork; Lamb, mutton and goat; Poultry; Other meats and meat preparations; Fresh, chilled or frozen fish and seafood; Preserved or processed fish and seafood; Fresh milk; Preserved milk and other milk products; Cheese and curd; Eggs and egg-based products; Butter and margarine; Other edible oils and fats; Fresh or chilled fruit; Frozen, preserved or processed fruit and fruit-based products; Fresh or chilled vegetables, other than potatoes and other tuber vegetables; Fresh or chilled potatoes and other tuber vegetables; Frozen, preserved or processed vegetables and vegetable-based products; Sugar; Jams, marmalades and honey; Confectionery, chocolate and ice cream; Food products n.e.c.; Coffee, tea and cocoa; Mineral waters, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Rice; Other cereals, flour and other cereal products; Bread; Other bakery products; Pasta products and couscous; Beef and veal; Pork; Lamb, mutton and goat; Poultry; Other meats and meat preparations; Fresh, chilled or frozen fish and seafood; Preserved or processed fish and seafood; Fresh milk; Preserved milk and other milk products; Cheese and curd; Eggs and egg-based products; Butter and margarine; Other edible oils and fats; Fresh or chilled fruit; Frozen, preserved or processed fruit and fruit-based products; Fresh or chilled vegetables, other than potatoes and other tuber vegetables; Fresh or chilled potatoes and other tuber vegetables; Frozen, preserved or processed vegetables and vegetable-based products; Sugar; Jams, marmalades and honey; Confectionery, chocolate and ice cream; Food products n.e.c.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Rice; Other cereals, flour and other cereal products; Bread; Other bakery products; Pasta products and couscous.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Beef and veal; Pork; Lamb, mutton and goat; Poultry; Other meats and meat preparations.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Fresh, chilled or frozen fish and seafood; Preserved or processed fish and seafood.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Fresh milk; Preserved milk and other milk products; Cheese and curd; Eggs and egg-based products.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Butter and margarine; Other edible oils and fats.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Fresh or chilled fruit; Frozen, preserved or processed fruit and fruit-based products.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Fresh or chilled vegetables, other than potatoes and other tuber vegetables; Fresh or chilled potatoes and other tuber vegetables; Frozen, preserved or processed vegetables and vegetable-based products.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Sugar; Jams, marmalades and honey; Confectionery, chocolate and ice cream.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Food products n.e.c.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Coffee, tea and cocoa; Mineral waters, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices.


IndicatorName: This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Spirits; Wine; Beer; Tobacco; Narcotics.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Spirits; Wine; Beer.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Tobacco.


IndicatorName: This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Clothing materials, other articles of clothing and clothing accessories; Garments; Cleaning, repair and hire of clothing; Shoes and other footwear; Repair and hire of footwear.


IndicatorName: This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Furniture and furnishings; Carpets and other floor coverings; Repair of furniture, furnishings and floor coverings; Household textiles; Major household appliances whether electric or not; Small electric household appliances; Repair of household appliances; Glassware, tableware and household utensils; Major tools and equipment; Small tools and miscellaneous accessories; Non-durable household goods; Domestic services; Household services.


IndicatorName: This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Motor cars; Motor cycles; Bicycles; Animal drawn vehicles; Fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment; Maintenance and repair of personal transport equipment; Other services in respect of personal transport equipment; Passenger transport by railway; Passenger transport by road; Passenger transport by air; Passenger transport by sea and inland waterway; Combined passenger transport; Other purchased transport services.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Motor cars; Motor cycles; Bicycles; Animal drawn vehicles.


IndicatorName: National accounts expenditure value is the best possible estimate provided by the national implementing agency. This ICP classification heading covers expenditures for Passenger transport by railway; Passenger transport by road; Passenger transport by air; Passenger transport by sea and inland waterway; Combined passenger transport; Other purchased transport services.