As part of the World Bank Group (WBG) Scorecard’s Spring Meetings data update, ten of the Client Context and Vision indicators have been refreshed with updated data. Up-to-date data are a vital input for evaluating pressing development challenges, offering insights on significant gains as well as areas for investment or focus. Understanding the evolution of trends across the Scorecard’s 15 outcome areas is a key premise of our commitment to more results-oriented and actionable reporting. Let’s delve into some of the new data published in this update.
Table 1. Summary of Data Updates for Vision and Client Context Indicators of the World Bank Group Scorecard.
#1: Access to electricity
The story of global electricity access is one of progress and challenges. This update extends the time series to 2023. Global electricity access reached 92%, reducing the number of people with electricity by 18.6 million from 2022. This progress aligns with access rates in WBG client countries (90.3%). However, disparities in access remain stark, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 85% of the global population without electricity reside. Only about half of the population of client countries in Sub-Saharan Africa had access to electricity per 2023 estimates (57.1% in Western and Central Africa and 50.7% in Eastern and Southern Africa). These trends stress the importance of investments in electrification: in collaboration with the African Development Bank, the WBG recently launched the Mission 300 initiative, which aims to connect nearly 600 million people in the region by 2030.
Figure 1. Data Story on Access to Electricity.
#2: State of online e-government service provision
The 2024 update to the UN’s Online Service Index (OSI) offers novel insights into the state of online e-government service provision. Relative to the average of the WBG client countries (0.50), Europe and Central Asia lead in e-governance initiatives with an index score of 0.71. By contrast, MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa face the greatest challenge, scoring 0.39 and 0.36, respectively. Regional OSI disparities reflect differences in digital infrastructure, capacity, and readiness, highlighting the need for targeted support to advance inclusive digital governance.
Figure 2. State of Online E-Government Service Provision in WBG Client Countries (by region, 2024).
#3: Wage and salaried workers
Methodological updates in the International Labour Organization’s latest release extend the time series to 2023 and enhance the international comparability of global employment statistics. While labor market trends appeared relatively stable in client countries (44.9%, up 0.2% from 2020), we observe decreases in employment in low-income countries (19.4%, down 0.7% from 2020). Data also show persistent disparities in access to waged employment for women. In 2023, just 12.8% of women in low-income countries and 27.0% in lower-middle-income countries held wage and salaried jobs, significantly lower than the overall rates of 19.4% and 32.8%, respectively.
Figure 3. Data Story on Wage and Salaried Workers.
This highlights a daunting challenge: only around one-fifth of the population and a tenth of women in low-income countries have access to stable employment. As noted by President Ajay Banga in a recent op-ed, job creation must take a central role in the WBG’s activities. Jobs are the most effective way to build self-sufficient economies, reduce humanitarian need and create demand for goods. Up-to-date labor statistics will provide a vital tool in evaluating progress towards this goal.
#4: Child malnutrition: stunting, height for age
Between 2000 and 2024, stunting among children under 5 declined from 36.6% to 25.3% in client countries, reflecting progress in child health and nutrition. Eastern and Southern Africa dropped from 46.0% to 34.2%, and Western and Central Africa from 39.2% to 29.5%, despite a 60% rise in the child population. South Asia saw a decrease from 49.1% to 32.3%, while East Asia and the Pacific recorded the steepest drop—from 26.8% to 14.0%. Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa, also showed steady improvements.
Figure 4. Prevalence of Stunting (children under the age of 5).
As highlighted by World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg, scaling up high-impact nutrition interventions could prevent 6.2 million child deaths and nearly 1 million stillbirths over the next decade. These efforts are central to human capital development and can impact future productivity and health, making them central to the global development agenda.
#5: Forcibly displaced people
As of 2023, more than 117 million people worldwide—including refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people (IDPs), and other people in need of international protection—are forcibly displaced due to conflict, violence, and persecution. While their limited economic participation and social inclusion place added social and economic pressures on host countries and communities, the burden is not evenly distributed: low-income economies host 51.1 million forcibly displaced people, and lower-middle-income economies host 26.7 million, underscoring the disproportionate impact on countries and territories with more limited resources. This concentration of forcibly displaced people in resource-constrained settings highlights the urgency of strengthening inclusive policies, international support, and long-term development solutions to enhance resilience and ease pressures on both displaced populations and host communities.
Figure 5. Number of Forcibly Displaced People in WBG Client Countries (by income group, 2023).
This update underscores the importance of global data collection—timely statistics are vital for identifying development challenges and shaping effective responses. Whether addressing electricity access and child malnutrition, improving e-governance, or understanding labor market dynamics and forcible displacement, the Scorecard's integration of new data ensures a comprehensive view of progress and areas needing attention.
The World Bank Group Scorecard is accessible via this page. The data can be further studied using the World Bank Group Scorecard Explorer.
[A] The term country, used interchangeably with economy, does not imply political independence but refers to any territory for which authorities report separate social or economic statistics.
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