The mission of the World Bank is to help developing countries alleviate poverty and improve living standards. Although it is often thought of as a single entity the World Bank group is an association of five organizations. This page has sections for World Bank Projects and Documents, Statistics and Data, Working Papers and Surveys, Business and Privatization, and more.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). Largest branch of the world bank group. Provides loans and advisory assistance to middle income and selected poorer countries.
International Development Association (IDA). Branch of the World Bank that helps the poorest countries by providing loans aimed at boosting economic growth and improving living conditions.
International Finance Corporation. Private sector arm of the World Bank Group, dedicated to promoting private sector investment.
Multiltateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA. Branch of the World Bank charged with providing political risk insurance and dispute mediation for foreign investors.
International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. Provides for the conciliation and arbitration of disputes between member countries and investors.
World Bank Documents and Reports. Main information source for World Bank projects.
World Bank Country Portal (Where we Work). Portal to World Bank Information by country.
World Bank Country Partnership Frameworks (CPFs). Scroll down - list of key world bank country strategy papers (now called frameworks).
World Bank Project Cycle Explained. From the Bretton Woods Project, an NGO that scrutinizes the work of the World Bank and other international financial organizations.
Key documents tied to states in the project cycle include the following.Other key documents include Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers,Resettlement Plans, and Environmental Assessments.
IEG Evaluations. Project evaluations the "Independent Evaluation Group," which oversees the results for all World Bank Group projects.
IFC Project Information and Data Portal. Projects sponsored by the International Finance Corporation, the branch of thew World Bank that funds private sector development in developing countries.
MIGA Projects Database. Database of investment guarantees from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Association.
Enterprise Surveys. Firm-level surveys of representative samples of an economy’s private sector covering a range of business climate and political risk topics. Microdata is available (restricted to qualified users).
Living Standards Measurement Studies (LSMS). Household data surveys and working papers collected by country governments and financed by the World Bank on poverty and development. Data is in the microdata catalog.
International Household Survey Network. Catalog of online household survey data. Joint effort of several international government organizations (including the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and others).
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (wayback machine archive). Also archived on UNESCO's Planipolis database.
Policy Research Reports. World Bank reports on development policy, designed to contribute to the debate on appropriate public policies for developing economies
Policy Research Working Papers. Most important working papers series by the World Bank: thousands of reports on development issues worldwide.
World Bank/IMF Library. Joint library of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
World Bank Archives. See especially the Archives Holdings website, a platform which facilitates online access to original primary source material. Includes online delivery model and a catalog that provides information about the Archives and finding aids .
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository. World Bank’s open access repository for research. Includes annual reports, books, flagship publications, and articles published in the World Bank Economic Review and World Bank Research Observer.
IFC Publications. Portal for publications from the International Finance Corporation.
IEG Evaluations. Project evaluations the "Independent Evalation Group," which oversees the results for all World Bank Group projects.
Investment Dispute Cases. From the International Center for Investment Disputes. List and database of all cases between member countries and investors.
The World Bank Data Catalog is a source of aggregate data for international development, poverty and global macroeconomic datas. Highlights and related sources are listed below but are not exhaustive.
See also the World Bank Microdata Library with detailed descriptions of studies. The International Household Survey Network also provides accross to many studies.
Global Economic Prospects. Include forecasts for the global economy and long-term global scenarios. Chapters vary from year on topics on development and poverty reduction.
Global Financial Development Report. Analysis of recent trends and prospects for capital flows to developing countries with a commentary on policy issues. Preceded by Global Development Finance.
World Bank Annual Report. See also the reports of the International Finance Corporation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.
World Bank Economic Review. Widely read scholarly economic journal specializing in quantitative development policy analysis and economic development.
World Bank Research Observer. Nonspecialist publication on research within and outside the Bank, in areas of economics relevant for development policy.
World Development Report. World Bank flagship publication, hailed by the bank as "an invaluable guide to the economic, social and environmental life of the world today."
The World Bank publishes a substantial amount of information on business and investment climate, trade restrictions, regulatory conditions, and more. Much of this information is published by World Bank sister organization, the International Finance Corporation (IFC).