World Development Indicators 2014

Six Categories of Development

While the World Bank is a development-oriented institution capable of responding to global economic emergencies, its fundamental goals are to “end extreme poverty” – defined by the number of people living on less than $1.25 per day – and to foster “shared prosperity” – judged by the income growth of the bottom 40% of populations. As part of the monitoring process toward those objectives, the World Bank developed a database of indicators organized into the following six distinct categories:

1. “World View”

The World Bank Group works to help achieve the United Nation’s eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), targeted for attainment by 2015:

• “Eradicate extreme poverty” – Though it is still widespread, extreme poverty was cut in half between 1990 and 2010.
• “Achieve universal primary education” – Most developing nations have reached close to 90% of this goal.
• “Promote gender equality and empower women” – That starts with educating girls: In developing countries, by 2011, girls’ primary school enrollment rates had reached 97% of boys’ enrollment rates, and their secondary school enrollment...