That selfie you took on an idyllic white sand beach, in a sprawling city park, or atop a mountain range at sunset? It’s more than just a photo of you. It reflects nature’s magnetic pull on people across the world and its role in fueling global tourism. Tourism is a vital driver of economic growth, […]
Developing economies today face an investment shortfall of historic proportions. Meeting even the most modest development goals will require a huge investment push—equal to about 5 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) per year. For low-income countries, the financing gap is about 8 percent of GDP annually. It’s a prohibitive price tag that runs into trillions of […]
Education is a foundation for good jobs and the surest way out of poverty. We know a good education equips learners with important foundational skills—literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional competencies—which are essential for work and life. These skills help today’s children become tomorrow’s productive workers and enable workers to reskill or upskill later in life. Investing […]
Over the past year, I’ve seen a growing interest in, and a stronger demand for, better tools to prepare for and respond to crises. Our partners in government, the private sector, civil society, foundations, and other development organizations send us the same message time and time again: In the face of crisis, we need greater […]
According to the UNDP’s Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), the Republic of Chad has a poverty score of 0.517. But what does this number mean? Is it a good score or a bad one? If you have no clue, you aren’t alone. While the concept of poverty is easy to grasp, quantifying it is actually pretty hard. […]
Every year on United Nations World Bicycle Day (June 3), we celebrate the transformative benefits of the bicycle. At the World Bank Group headquarters in Washington, DC, staff from across the institution gathered in the main atrium—as per a growing tradition—to recognize the tremendous contribution the bicycle can make to the World Bank’s mission of ending extreme […]
Imagine your favorite open-air market. Stalls hustle for customers, prices fall, and shoppers win—until one fragile roof gives way and everyone scrambles. Banking is similar. Lean rivalry makes credit cheaper; cut-throat rivalry slashes margins so deeply that lenders may gamble to survive. Finding the sweet spot is not guess-work. A new World Bank working paper – Navigating […]
Low-income households in US cities tend to be segregated in low-opportunity neighbourhoods with worse access to good schools and desirable urban amenities. Public transportation is often expected to bridge inequalities, but sparsely distributed public transit networks may end up concentrating poverty further if high- and low-income households sort differently between driving-accessible and transit-accessible residential neighbourhoods. […]
Africa is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty. While many countries were successful in reducing poverty during the years before the pandemic, its economic disruptions coupled with climate disasters and food and fuel inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have put spanners in the wheels. Growing vulnerabilities to […]
