The World Development Indicators (WDI) serves as a premier source for cross-country and time-series development statistics. Covering nearly 1,500 indicators for 217 economies, WDI has grown substantially since it first appeared as a modest set of tables in the 1978 World Development Report. Over time, it has become an open, easily accessible resource for users worldwide, including economists, policymakers, social scientists, and practitioners in fields as diverse as health, poverty, climate, and education. What makes WDI particularly valuable is the quality, relevance, and breadth of its coverage of its indicators, which allows users to conduct cross-country comparisons, long-run analyses going back to the 1960s, and quick policy checks.
Yet as global development challenges diversify and data production expands, the list of potential indicators to include in the WDI grows too. From energy and digital access to specialized labor market statistics, WDI receives more potential indicators to include every year. Ultimately, this is an opportunity to grow our body of data and knowledge. However, unchecked expansion risks lowering quality or confusing users.
We’re excited to present our formalized framework for how we select indicators for the World Development Indicators (WDI). As data needs change and new data sources become available, we need to ensure that the indicators in the WDI are not only relevant but also reliable. This framework presents the criteria used to help achieve this.
By setting clear criteria, the WDI team can check if a proposed indicator offers enough coverage, solid methods, user relevance, and ease of use. This keeps WDI as the go-to reference for global development data. The details of this framework are available in a technical note (Welch et al., 2024), and for insight into how indicator selection was done in the past you can turn to a data blog by Fantom and Khokhar (2014). This selection framework was inspired by Jolliffe et al. (2023) and the 2021 World Development Report: Data for Better Lives.
So, what are our selection criteria?
Well, we're focusing on four key areas to make sure our indicators are top-notch. First up is "Ease of Use"—we want our indicators to be easily accessible, understandable, and interoperable. If the data isn't machine-readable and openly licensed, and doesn’t have detailed metadata, it just makes everything harder for everyone.
Next is "Trusted and Relevant." We’re making sure our indicators come from credible providers, who ensure unbiased and confidential data collection. These indicators should align with major development objectives like the World Bank’s mission.
Then there's "Adequate Coverage." A key goal of the WDI is to be a source of globally comparative data. It’s crucial that our data covers a substantial number of economies over multiple years, representing the target population comprehensively. Timely updates are also a must.
Finally, "High Quality." We’re committed to meeting rigorous methodological standards, ensuring data accuracy and comparability over time and across geographies. Plus, we don't want any redundancy—efficiency and clarity are key.
How do we apply these criteria?
We use both quantitative and qualitative checks that evaluate the above four areas. For quantitative metrics, indicators receive numerical “scores” based on coverage and timeliness (e.g., how many economies, how many years, how regularly updated). Simultaneously, the WDI team considers qualitative aspects like methodological rigor, alignment with major development goals, and data-provider reputation.
Whether or not an indicator is included in the WDI depends on a balanced evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative metrics, along with the trade-offs they entail. Table 1 below is taken from the technical note and gives an overview of the qualitative and quantitative metrics considered in each of the four areas.
What does this mean for you?
For researchers and policymakers, the value of this selection process lies in ensuring that WDI remains consistent, thorough, and evidence-driven. Since these criteria favor coverage, periodicity, and data quality, users can be more confident that a WDI indicator is suitable for cross-country and trend analysis.
The WDI is also dynamic. It adapts to emerging topics while retiring outdated or incomplete data. Consequently, a user may see new topics—learning poverty, for example—reflected in the database. At the same time, some series may be archived if they are no longer relevant or if methodological problems have surfaced. You can check out these series in the WDI database archives. By referring to this technical note, data users can better understand the reasons behind shifts in WDI. The technical note may also give guidance to other organizations looking to implement similar criteria for indicator selection for their data products.
Overall, the selection criteria serve to maintain WDI’s integrity while accommodating changing development agendas. Policymakers get robust, timely figures that inform strategies, while researchers gain consistent, recognized benchmarks that ground empirical work.
How can you monitor the quality of our indicators?
Maintaining and enhancing the World Development Indicators is a central priority for the World Bank’s data activities. The WDI team is committed to a transparent and rigorous selection process to ensure that every included statistic meets core standards of user-friendliness, trustworthiness, relevance, coverage, and quality.
A public dashboard is available that allows the dynamic monitoring of indicator coverage and openly displays each indicator’s quantitative metrics. New analytics and visualizations will be added over time. Through this platform, indicators will be continually evaluated, aligning with evolving data needs and maintaining alignment with strategic development goals.
For researchers, policymakers, and development professionals, these criteria mean greater clarity on how indicators are selected and why some might be discontinued and archived. Ultimately, these changes reinforce WDI’s position as a top-tier, go-to source for global development data, striving always to uphold methodological rigor while meeting the practical demands of the community it serves.
Excited to see how these criteria will enhance your experience with WDI? We sure are!
Join the Conversation