World Development Indicators Database Guide

Summary of CD-ROM Contents

The World Development Indicators (WDI) CD-ROM provides a comprehensive statistical survey of world development. It contains information on 224 countries and country groups for the 39 years from 1960 to the current year. There are 551 time series indicators covering five areas:

• People (indicators measuring a nation's populace (population, education, health)
• Environment (measuring a nation's land usage, energy usage, urbanization and pollution)
• Economy (measuring economic indicators such as national accounts, debt and trade)
• States and Markets (indicators on the size and nature of financial and other markets such as exchange rates, prices, taxation and trade)
• Global Links (measures of levels of aid in terms of donors and recipients)

Note that like most macro-economic data sets, not every series is available for every country for every year.

You can access the CD-ROM in the Library Reference Room.  (Go to the WDI record in Catalyst).

The CD-ROM uses the proprietary Win*STARS time series data retrieval program designed for systems running Microsoft Windows. 

Data extractions can be made in a variety of formats, including: Microsoft Excel, SAS, Microsoft  Access, dBase DBF, or raw ASCII.

Creating Queries

Retrieving data from the WDI begins with creating a query that will be used to extract your data.  The initial query window allows you to create a request to retrieve data in three simple steps, selecting Countries, Series and Years.

Initial Query Screen 
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I. Country Selection

When you click on the Countries icon on the query window, you are provided three different options for country selection: List, Classification, Criteria and Group.

• Use alphabetical List when you know in advance which country or countries you want to select.
• Use Classification to group countries across three types of classifications: region, income groups, and indebtedness. You are allowed one selection per category.
• Use Criteria to specify detailed criteria for selecting the countries in your query. You can specify values for a particular time series in a particular year, and retrieve only countries that match those criteria. You may combine up to two specific parameters in one query. Click the Submit button to view the countries that match the criteria you have entered.
• Use Group to select among 18 pre-determined groupings of countries: for example, "Middle Income" or "Latin American and Caribbean" or "All Developing Countries."

In all options, single-click on a country or group to highlight it, and use the Select button or double-click to add the country or group to your selections. When you select a country or a group, it will appear in the box on the right of the screen. Use the erase button to delete highlighted selections, or the OK button to confirm the selections and return to the main query screen.

Country selections will appear in the upper left-hand box on the main query screen.

Country Selection: Alphabetical Click to enlarge	Country Selection: Classification  Click to enlarge
Country Selection: Criteria  Click to enlarge	Country Selection: Group  Click to enlarge

II. Time Series Selection

After selecting countries, click the Series button on the main query screen to select which time series you wish to retrieve.

When you click on the Series button, you have two choices for how to make series selections: from an alphabetical List of series, or by series Category.

The List option lets you view an alphabetical listing of available time series available for selection. From the List screen, you can use the Find button to do keyword searching of available series titles, or the Definition button to view series definitions.

The Category option lets you view time series by pre-defined category. The categories are represented by icons (People, Environment, etc.).  After selecting the category, you can select subcategories and/or individual time series within a category.

Single-click on a series title to highlight it, and use the Select button or double-click to add the series to your selections. When you select a series, it will appear in the box in the lower half of the screen. Use the erase button to delete highlighted selections, or the OK button to confirm the selections and return to the main query screen.

As not every country has information on every series for every year; you may not have data for all of your selections. To find out how many of your selections actually have information, click on  Availability. It will show a percentage by default. If you'd like to know the observation count, select that in the  Options menu up top.

Series selections will appear in the lower box on the main query screen.

Series Selection: List  Click to enlarge

Series Selection: Category  Click to enlarge

III. Range of Years Selection

Click the Years button on the main query screen to select which years you wish to retrieve. The Year Selection screen lists the years from 1960 to the current year.  All data are annual.

Single-click on a year to highlight it, and use the Select button or double-click to add the series to your selections. When you select a year, it will appear in the box on the right side of the screen. Use the erase button to delete highlighted selections, or the OK button to confirm the selections and return to the main query screen.

Year selections will appear in the lower box on the main query screen.

Years Selection 
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Saving Your Queries

It can be useful to rerun or modify (add a country, remove a series, etc.) a query that you have already designed. Instead of starting from scratch, you can save your queries and load them again in future sessions.

To save a query:

• Highlight items in any of the countries, series, or years (or all three) selection screens and click on Select to drop them into the Selected screen.
• Click on the Save option in the menu bar and follow the naming prompts.

To load a query:

• Go to the selection screen in which your query is saved. For example, if you have saved a set of countries, go to the countries selection screen.
• Click on the Load icon, point to the drive where the query was saved, e.g. A:, select the query you want, and click on OK.

To modify a saved query:

• In the selection screen, highlight the items you want to remove and click on the erase button. Add new items, if necessary. Click on OK to complete and save the query.

Displaying the Data

As mentioned earlier, once the countries and series and years have been selected, you can use the Availability button to view the percentage of available data for your selections. (Remember, not every series is available for every country, for every year.)

Main Query Window with Selections
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You can display the data from the main query page by clicking the Show Data button, or clicking the Result tab. Either approach will display a spreadsheet of the requested data.

The spreadsheet display defaults to one spreadsheet per series, with countries down the side and years across the top.  The drop-down menu at the upper left allows you to switch between spreadsheets.

In the Result window, the data are initially presented in scientific notation. To change the scale, click on one of the pull-down lists at the top right of the screen.. You can change the number of digits after the decimal in the other pull-down list. If the column is too narrow to present all the digits, they will appear as ########. Double click on the column's guideline to widen it, or choose a larger scale.

You can view the results in six different orientations (countries down/years-across; series-down/countries-across, etc.). To change the orientation, click on the down arrow in the box at the bottom-left of the following screenshot.

From the Result screen, you can Export (Save), Chart or Map your data.

Results Display
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Exporting (Saving) the Data

The Export function can be found on the File menu, or by clicking the save button. You will be given the following choices for export formats on the Data Translator Utility screen: 

• Excel
• ASCII
• SAS
• Microsoft Access format
• dBase
• Text

You can choose to export the entire dataset, or the data on the displayed sheet only.

Click OK to proceed with exporting/saving the data. You will then return to the Result screen.

Export Window
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Charting the Data

To create a chart at the Result window, first highlight the fields in the spreadsheet that you wish to chart. Then click on the chart button. A two-dimensional bar graph will be displayed. If the selected series have different scales, the smaller scale will be converted to the larger scale before the graph is displayed. Numbers that are too large to fit in the available space on the left side of the graph will be converted to scientific notation.

There are a number of options available for type of graph, number of dimensions, and what aspects to display.

• To choose a type of graph (bar graph, line graph, pie chart, etc.) click with the right mouse button, and choose Wizard from the drop-down menu. The Wizard will display various charting options.
• To specify a two- or three-dimensional graph, click on the appropriate option.
• The Up and Dn buttons and the cursor arrows are enabled only for three-dimensional graphs and allow you to change the size and angle of the graph.
• The Close button returns you to the Result screen.

Chart
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Mapping the Data

The map function can be used to identify or locate a country and to provide the graphic display of a series. When series are mapped through the map button on the Result window, you can choose whether to map all series or only the series from the displayed result. Mapping series through the Map function tab at the top of any window will map all countries in the database.

In the Map window, you can select a country, view tables, or map a series. You can select a country on the map by moving the mouse cursor and clicking to highlight the country you want (the country name will be displayed on the lower-left corner of the screen). A message box will appear with a list of the tables available for the country. Alternatively, you can use the lower-left scroll box to select the country that you want. You can also click on the map button to obtain a list of key indicators that you can map.

The default interval range is an equal number of countries. To set an equal interval range or to map multiple years, press Recalculate. (Mapping multiple years is useful if there are not many data available in any given year.) Set your own intervals by editing the legend and pressing  Remap. To choose your own colors double click on the color boxes.

Map Window 
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Tables Function

The Tables window, available at the Tables tab, provides important information about definitions of time series, data-gathering methods, and so on via the World Development Indicators section.  Additionally, there are numerous "canned" tables created by the World Bank on a variety of subjects. The data in these tables are drawn from the same database as the Query function but presented in set format.

• Country-at-a-Glance Tables present two pages of key indicators tracing the trends in social and economic development over the last three decades. Aggregates for each country's regional and income groups are also included. The headings are: poverty and social, key economic ratios and long term trends, structure of the economy, prices and government finance, trade, balance of payments, and external debt and resource flows. Charts such as the "development diamond" make it easy to see the relationships between indicators and among countries.
• Economic Timeseries Tables are four-page country tables of annual time series from 1970 on for more than 200 economies. Data are provided under GNP per capita, population, origin and use of resources, domestic prices, monetary indicators, central government finances, foreign trade, balance of payments, external debt, and social indicators. Users of the printed World Tables will find these similar in content.
• Social Indicators datasheets are one-page tables prepared for close to 200 economies. They cover three periods of estimates for indicators including fertility, mortality, illiteracy, and shares of GDP for selected social expenditures. Comparative data for the country's income and regional group are also presented. This statistical compilation allows the user to monitor and evaluate social progress in the world, and will be familiar to users of the former Social Indicators of Development.
• The World Bank Atlas provides data for over 200 economies. It is organized under five development themes: People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links. Introductory texts explain the role each theme plays in world development and five tables present the data for the latest available year, usually 1996. Maps from the printed Atlas are not included.
• World Development Indicators provides most of the text and tables from the print version of WDI. The tables are grouped into six sections and usually present two years for comparison purposes. They cover close to 150 economies with populations of more than one million and 14 regional and income groups. An additional table covers key indicators for other economies. The WDI offers a broad overview of trends in development, the well-being of people and the environment, the evolving roles of government and the market, and factors linking developing and high-income countries.  Double-click on the Index of Indicators for detailed indicator definitions and methods. 
• Population Projection Tables project population growth and other demographic data at five-year intervals. They are disaggregated by age group and gender and cover approximately 200 economies. The input data used for the projections include a base year (mid-1995) population estimate by age and sex, and base period (1995-00) estimates of mortality, fertility and migration. For further information on the projections methodology see Eduard Bos and others, World Population Projections 1994-95, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, 1994.
• Education Tables offer country data and country group data aggregates on 29 indicators of educational development. These 180 country tables present a set of detailed education indicators, including more than a dozen that do not appear in the Query database. The indicators cover socio-economic context, structure and coverage of the system, student flow, public expenditure for education, pupil-teacher ratio, female enrollment, and private sector enrollment.
• Quick Reference Tables include GNP per capita (including PPP estimates), total GNP and GDP, and population data. Tables presenting data for all countries and groups for the latest year, and in rank order, are available in this window. For easy reference, the quick reference tables also provide lists of income and regional groups, country and series codes, and a set of approximately 150 country tables listing fiscal and accounting details, and the years of the latest demographic, environmental and other surveys, plus a table on adult illiteracy rates.

Tables Window
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Help Using the Software

• You can get information about features, special function keys, and the mouse by pressing F1 or clicking the help button.
• To exit Help, press Esc or close the help window.

Further Information

For further information about the WDI visit the World Bank website World Development Indicators page.

At the World Bank website you can also view a Listing of Indicators and a Listing of Countries, as well as an errata page.

Go to the World Development Indicators record in the online catalog -- CATALYST.