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WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2025
Standards for Development
By the World Bank
Standards make everyday life run smoothly. You rarely notice them: the credit card that works in any corner of the world, the Wi-Fi signal that connects a remote village to the cloud, or the vaccine vial that fits syringes from Dakar to Delhi. When standards work, they build trust. They free people and firms to focus on creating, trading, and innovating, confident that the systems around them will hold. When standards fail, the effects are immediate and draining. Payments are declined, signals drop, vaccines spoil—and instead of being productive, people spend their energy just meeting their basic needs.
Standards, in short, are the hidden infrastructure of modern economies— and they have never been more important. Developing countries today must contend with a thicket of increasingly stringent international standards, a product of globalization and rapid technological change. Using standards— and shaping them—is now a prerequisite for export growth, technology diffusion, and the efficient delivery of public services. Yet standards are too often overlooked by policy makers, especially in developing countries.
World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development provides the most comprehensive assessment of the global landscape of standards today and how they can be used to accelerate economic development. It offers a practical framework for countries at all stages of development. Countries at the earliest stage should adapt international standards to suit local conditions when needed, whereas at more advanced stages, they should aim to align domestic markets with international standards. Meanwhile, all countries should author international standards in priority areas.
ALSO AVAILABLE IN THIS SERIES
WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2024
The Middle-Income Trap
October 2024. 272 pages. Stock no. C212078 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2078-6). US$54.95
GLOBAL ECONOMIC PROSPECTS, JANUARY 2026
By the World Bank
GLOBAL ECONOMIC
February 2026. 246 pages. Stock no. C212267 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2267-4). US$49.50
The global economy has shown notable resilience to heightened trade tensions and policy uncertainty. Last year’s faster-than-expected pace of growth capped a recovery from the 2020 recession unmatched in more than six decades, even if vulnerable emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) are lagging behind. This year, global growth is projected to edge down, in part as firms scale back inventory accumulation and tariff effects intensify. Growth could falter further if trade tensions escalate, barriers rise further, or financial market sentiment deteriorates.
Global action to improve the trade environment, ease financing constraints, and mitigate climate risks, together with domestic reforms to diversify trade; strengthen monetary and fiscal policy frameworks, including the use of fiscal rules; and remove structural bottlenecks will be essential to catalyze private investment, sustain growth, and foster robust job creation in EMDEs. For frontier market economies, EMDEs with limited but growing integration into global financial markets and better physical and human capital than other developing economies, fully harnessing these advantages is key.
Global Economic Prospects examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on EMDEs, on a semiannual basis (in January and June). Each edition includes analytical pieces on topical policy challenges faced by these economies.
JUNE 2026
June 2026. 250 pages. Stock no. C212315 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2315-2). US$49.50
WOMEN, BUSINESS AND THE LAW 2026
Benchmarking Laws for Jobs and Inclusive
Growth
By the World Bank
Women, Business and the Law 2026 is the 11th in a series of annual studies measuring the laws and policies that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. The 2026 edition presents a new framework that assesses three pillars capturing both de jure and de facto dimensions of gender equality: legal frameworks, supportive frameworks, and enforcement perceptions.
Women, Business and the Law 2026 updates its index of 10 topics structured around a working woman’s life cycle: Safety, Mobility, Work, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. This edition also includes important methodological updates, including a new partial-credit scoring approach and revisions to several questions across topics.
By examining laws affecting the economic decisions that women make throughout their lives, the frameworks supporting the implementation of those laws, and the perceptions of experts on the extent to which those laws are enforced, Women, Business and the Law continues to gather new evidence of the critical relationship between legal gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. Data in Women, Business and the Law 2026 are current as of October 1, 2025.
Human capital —the health, knowledge, skills, and experience that people accumulate throughout their lives—is essential for individual well-being and national development. No country has achieved sustained growth or reduced poverty without first investing in its people. But building human capital is not just about “what” we do; it is also about “where” we do it.
This new flagship report complements the traditional sectoral or life cycle approaches to human capital by focusing on the places where human capital is built: home, neighborhoods, and work. These spaces shape people’s opportunities to learn, grow up healthy, and earn a living—and are often overlooked in traditional policy approaches. By shifting attention to the places where human capital is built, the report broadens the menu of policy tools and unlocks new ways to improve lives and livelihoods. Supportive homes, stronger neighborhoods, and better work environments are an untapped source of better future jobs, productivity, and living standards. By unlocking this potential, people and economies will be better off. Taking action to build human capital where people grow, live, and work is both necessary and long overdue.
COLLAPSE AND RECOVERY
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Eroded Human Capital and What to Do about It
February 2023. 186 pages. Stock no. C211901 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-1901-8). US$43.95
Norbert Schady, Alaka Holla, and Joana Silva
THE RETURN IMPERATIVE
Moving Infrastructure From a Resource-Gap to a Priority-Based Approach
By Stephane Straub, Chris Dann, Manuel Garcia Santana, He He, Yue Li, Xinxin Lyu, Harris Selod, Jevgenijs Steinbuks, and Estefania Vergara Cobos
Infrastructure is fundamental to development, encompassing sectors like energy, transport, and digital infrastructure, which connect rural and urban populations and drive economic growth and poverty reduction. This report compiles the first exhaustive global database on physical infrastructure assets, including energy generation capacity, transmission lines, roads, railroads, and digital infrastructure such as cell towers, data centers, and fiber-optic cables. Assets are geolocated down to local administrative levels, enabling spatial analysis of infrastructure gaps. The report provides a comprehensive global analysis of infrastructure stocks, costs, and social returns, covering more than 150 countries with detailed datasets.
The report presents a prioritization framework for investment decisions, using this data, together with output elasticities from a meta-analysis, to compute social rates of return at the country-sector level and to derive efficiency ratios by comparing these returns to the cost of borrowing. Social rates of return calculated for around 150 countries indicate higher levels for transport in developing countries and more-nuanced patterns for energy. Efficiency ratios comparing social rate of return to borrowing costs reveal that most countries have investment opportunities exceeding costs across the three sectors, signaling underinvestment and the opportunity for a big-push strategy, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. In terms of priorities, transport appears to have higher efficiency ratio in regions where the overall capital stock is smaller, while energy dominates in richer regions with larger capital stocks.
Understanding How Markets and Places Can Lower Transport Costs in Developing Countries
September 2024. 191 pages. Stock no. C212124 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2124-0). US$43.95
Stephane Straub, Chris Dann, Manuel Garcia Santana, He He, Yue Li, Xinxin Lyu, Harris Selod, Jevgenijs Steinbuks, and Estefania Vergara Cobos
REBOOT DEVELOPMENT
The Economics of a Livable Planet
By Richard Damania, Ebad Ebadi, Kentaro Mayr, Jason Russ, and Esha Zaveri
September 2025. 280 pages. Stock no. C212271 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2271-1). US$49.50
Reboot Development: The Economics of a Livable Planet explores how the foundational natural endowments of land, air, and water—long taken for granted—are under growing threat, putting at risk the very progress they helped create. For generations, natural resources have powered development, supporting health, food, energy, and economic opportunity. Today, strains on these resources are intensifying. This report argues that failing to maintain a livable planet is not merely a distant environmental concern but also a present economic threat.
Drawing on new data, the report shows that more than 90 percent of the world is exposed to poor air quality, degraded land, or water stress. Loss of forests cuts rainfall, dries soils, and worsens droughts, costing billions of dollars. The nitrogen paradox emerges—fertilizers boost yields, but overuse in some regions harms crops and ecosystems. Meanwhile, air and water pollution silently damage health, productivity, and cognition, sapping human potential. The report warns that these hidden costs are too large to ignore.
Yet the message is not one of constraint but of possibility. Nature, when wisely stewarded, can drive growth, create jobs, and build resilience. The report shows that more efficient resource use like better nitrogen management and forest restoration yields benefits that far exceed the costs. It also urges a shift to cleaner sectors and producing “better things,” noting that these provide new sources of growth, creating more jobs per dollar invested. The findings are clear: Investing in nature is not only good for the planet, it is also smart development.
TIDES OF CHANGE
Igniting Productivity Growth in Europe and Central Asia
By Leonardo Iacovone, Henry Aviomoh, Matias Belacin, Laurent Bossavie, Ana Cusolito, Rafael de Hoyos, Gianmarco Ottaviano, Fabian Scheifele, Iván Torre, and Yutaka Yoshino
Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is at a turning point. After a period of convergence and reform-driven growth during the first decade of the 2000s, the region’s productivity engine has lost momentum. Total factor productivity growth has halved since the global financial crisis, and the gains from capital deepening and labor expansion are no longer sufficient to sustain economic growth. If pre-2008 trends in productivity growth had continued, average incomes would be around 60 percent higher today. Instead, misallocated resources, incomplete integration into global markets, and weak firm capabilities during a period of stalled reforms have left the region below its potential.
This report lays out a new agenda for boosting productivity. Drawing on unique firm-level data from across the region, it shows how deeper trade integration, smarter investment, and adoption of technology, coupled with improved firm capabilities and investments in workers’ skills, can unlock significant productivity gains. The report highlights the need to face the challenges of the unrealized potential of exports and foreign direct investment, insufficient level of digital technology adoption, and limited investment in skills training (offered by only one in five firms in ECA today), coupled with weak foundational skills. The evidence is clear: Addressing these challenges through targeted reforms in improving market functioning, technology adoption, export promotion, and skills development is crucial for unlocking the region’s productivity potential.
The path forward is captured by the policy framework of trade, investment, digitalization, efficiency, and skills (TIDES)—the levers that can help boost the region’s productivity. This flagship report is not just a diagnosis of what went wrong; it is a call to action for what must come next. Focusing on TIDES, with the right policies and political will, ECA can reclaim its momentum and deliver a new era of shared prosperity.
Sustained economic growth can’t happen without productivity growth, and this report explains in detail where it has happened, where it has not (yet), and—importantly—what can be done to improve it for a broad set of economies in the Europe and Central Asia region.
—Chad Syverson, Professor of Economics, University of Chicago
Productivity growth requires seizing trade and investment opportunities at a time of rapid digital transformation that needs efficient institutions and life-long skill development. This report lays out how countries in Europe and Central Asia can ride the TIDES to turn their lagging productivity growth.
—Kalina Manova, Professor of Economics, University College London
EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA STUDIES
December 2025. 242 pages. Stock no. C212287 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2287-2). US$49.50
WHY LABOR INFORMALITY PERSISTS
Self-Employment and Job Quality in Latin America and the Caribbean
By Guillermo Beylis, Nathalie Gonzalez-Prieto, William Maloney, and Andres Zambrano
The ubiquity of self-employed workers and persistence of informality in the Latin American and Caribbean region are enduring and closely related features of developing country labor markets, reflecting both choice and constraint. Rather than representing a developing country pathology, this report views these phenomena through a nuanced lens of job quality: As in advanced countries, for most workers, self-employed jobs offer highly valued amenities such as independence, flexibility, and autonomy that they weigh against the often poorly designed system of benefits offered in the formal salaried sector. It also documents the dynamic nature of sectoral participation: For young salaried workers, informality represents a transient “entry sector” from which they will eventually graduate into formality or self-employment.
Drawing on new data and modeling, the report challenges the traditional view of informality as a homogenous and primarily disadvantaged sector and provides a framework for understanding its logic and dynamics. It provides policy makers and researchers with insights and quantitative estimates of the impacts of reforms to guide strategies that balance protection, productivity, and worker preferences—acknowledging informality as a central, adaptive component of the region’s evolving economies.
June 2026. 150 pages. Stock no. C212322 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2322-0). US$43.95
RECLAIMING THE LOST CENTURY OF GROWTH
Building Learning Economies in Latin America and the Caribbean
June 2025. 191 pages. Stock no. C212205 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2205-6). US$43.95
Guillermo Beylis, Nathalie Gonzalez-Prieto, William Maloney, and Andres Zambrano
BRAVING THE STORMS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Labor Markets and Shocks in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
By Roberta Gatti, Asif Islam, Jesica Torres, Nelly Elmallakh, and Sumin Chun
This report focuses on the impact of environmental degradation on the poorest populations and the sustainability of the economic development model. The global pattern of development observed over the past 25 years has yielded impressive returns but has come at a high cost of environmental degradation. Yet, we find that the environmental costs of development are disproportionately borne by the extreme poor and that the changing quality of local natural capital plays a determining role in the process of poverty reduction. Importantly, regardless of the definition of sustainability used, the historical model of development does not appear to be sustainable in the poorest areas of the world.
Therefore, achieving the World Bank’s poverty goals in a sustainable manner will require more aggressive policy changes than are commonly appreciated. No single set of policy recommendations can apply for all countries, as de-coupling economic and poverty alleviation growth from environmental damages depends on the country context.
Still, one truism does apply to all countries: The Twin Goals of poverty alleviation and shared prosperity simply cannot be achieved in an economy and environment that is unsustainable. Maintaining the sustainable use of natural capital and healthy ecosystems is a fundamental part of what countries need to achieve the Twin Goals.
Braving the Storms in the 21st Century
April 2026. 150 pages. Stock no. C211246 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-1246-0). US$43.95
Labor Markets and Shocks in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
By Roberta Gatti, Asif Islam, Jesica Torres, Nelly Elmallakh, and Sumin Chun
FROM RISK TO RESILIENCE
Helping People and Firms Adapt in South Asia
Edited by Megan Lang, Jonah Rexer, Siddharth Sharma, and Margaret Triyana
South Asia is the most climate-vulnerable region among emerging market and developing economies. With governments having limited room to act due to fiscal constraints, the burden of climate adaptation will fall primarily on households and firms. Awareness of climate risks is high; more than three-quarters of households and firms expect a weather shock in the next 10 years. Climate adaptation is widespread, with 63 percent of firms and 80 percent of households having taken action. However, most rely on basic, low-cost solutions rather than leveraging advanced technologies and public infrastructure.
Market imperfections and income constraints limit access to information, finance, and technologies needed for more effective adaptation. If these obstacles were removed, private sector adaptation could offset about onethird of the potential damage from rising global temperatures on South Asian economies.
The policy priority for governments is, therefore, to facilitate private sector adaptation through a comprehensive policy package. The package includes climate-specific measures such as improving weather information access, promoting resilient technologies and weather insurance, and investing in protective infrastructure in a targeted manner. Equally important are broader developmental initiatives with resilience co-benefits: in other words, policies that generate double dividends. These include strengthening core public goods like transportation, water systems, and healthcare; addressing barriers to accessing markets, inputs, and finance without causing unintended responses that increase vulnerabilities; and supporting vulnerable groups through shock-responsive social protection.
INDUSTRIAL POLICY FOR DEVELOPMENT
Empowering People for a Changing Climate
By Ana Margarida Fernandes and Tristan Reed
This report asks a pivotal question: When should a country whose goal is economic development pursue industrial policy, and if so, how? It examines the economic rationales, prerequisite market conditions, and institutional capacity that underpin successful industrial policy implementation, distilling best practices where they exist.
Based on a review of national development plans from various countries, the report argues that policies targeting productivity growth in narrowly defined industries can yield broader development benefits than strategies that focus only on economy-wide fundamentals. It also suggests that this targeted approach can be more valuable for low- and middle-income countries than for high-income countries.
This book restores structural transformation and diversification to the center of the development agenda.
—Professor Ricardo Hausmann, Director, Harvard
Growth Lab
RETHINKING RESILIENCE
Adapting to a Changing Climate
By Forhad Shilpi, Matthew Kahn, and Claudia Berg
In development discussions, resilience to climate change is often framed in defensive and reactive terms, focusing on top-down measures that treat individuals as passive victims unable to anticipate or protect themselves from shocks. This report addresses a critical aspect that this narrow approach overlooks: the capacity of firms, farms, and households to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to disruptions. True resilience is about enabling people to take proactive measures—preparing for disruptions, recovering from shocks, and adapting to changing circumstances. However, this requires access to the right tools and resources, such as financial means, actionable information, insurance, and credit. When these are lacking, communities are left vulnerable. This report proposes policies that can help bridge this gap.
Addressing this challenge requires a change in perspective: moving from reactive defense to proactive empowerment. This approach recognizes people as agents of change, capable of anticipating risks and acting on them when provided with the necessary tools. With adequate resources and better access to climate and weather information, individuals can assess risks; make informed decisions; and seize opportunities to invest in new skills, expand businesses, or relocate to safer environments offering better prospects.
ACCELERATING INVESTMENT
Challenges and Policies
Edited by Amat Adarov
Developing economies have an acute need for higher investment. Investment is the engine that builds productive capacity, modernizes infrastructure, sets the stage for job growth, and advances countries toward development and climate goals. Yet as development needs have expanded, investment growth has been in a deep slump—a call to action for policy makers, investors, and development practitioners. This book presents the World Bank’s most comprehensive assessment yet of investment in developing economies. It explores why investment matters, why it has stalled in many countries, and what it will take to reignite it.
The book documents how robust investment spurts have historically led to faster growth, higher productivity, and more rapid poverty reduction. But it also shows that investment growth has been sluggish in much of the developing world since the global financial crisis. With the right policies, however, developing economies can boost investment. The book highlights the criticality of good business and governance conditions to attract private investment. It underscores the need for credible fiscal and monetary frameworks and well-targeted public investment. It also stresses the importance of international cooperation to mobilize finance. Reigniting investment is not just a domestic challenge; it is a global imperative.
NOURISH AND FLOURISH
By Amal Talbi,
Billion People on a Livable Planet
Nourish and Flourish addresses the urgent challenge of sustainably feeding a projected 10 billion people by 2050—something current agricultural water management (AWM) practices can only support for less than half the current population and only about a third of the 10 billion people projected in 2050. It reframes AWM not merely as a production input but also as a platform to deliver economy-wide gains. The report introduces a Water/Food Nexus framework that categorizes countries by water stress (high/low) and food trade position (net importer/exporter), enabling tailored, contextspecific solutions rather than one-size-fits-all approaches.
The analysis shows that strategic AWM investments can unlock major development dividends. The report also identifies high-return opportunities to repurpose existing public expenditures. By transforming how countries manage the continuum of green and blue water, policy makers can simultaneously boost food production, create jobs, build climate resilience, cut emissions, and protect ecosystems—nourishing people while enabling economies and landscapes to flourish on a livable planet.
Pieter Waalewijn, Poolad Karimi, IJsbrand De Jong, Francois Onimus, Esha Zaveri, Bogachan Benli, Amadou Ba, and Ruyi Li
INTEGRATING AFRICA
From Threads to Hubs
By Woubet Kassa, Hiau Looi Kee, and Jean Christophe Maur
This report argues that Africa’s binding integration constraint is not insufficient openness but a structural disconnect between trade and transformation. While Africa’s trade openness is comparable to East Asia’s, its export composition remains concentrated in low complexity commodities, and intra-African trade—where manufactures and processed goods dominate—is too small to generate scale, learning, and production linkages.
Against a backdrop of global fragmentation, rising trade uncertainty, and the urgency of resilience, the book reframes regional integration as a strategic development response rather than a continuation of past models. It provides an actionable policy blueprint organized around four mutually reinforcing pillars: building regional value chains; reducing trade frictions through interoperability; deepening and enforcing regional agreements, including the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement; and delivering regional public goods such as security, energy pools, and transport corridors. Combining new diagnostics and empirical evidence, the book offers layered strategies for national governments, regional institutions, and continental platforms for turning fragmented markets into functional regional production networks capable of driving structural transformation.
GREEN CHINA
Transforming Energy, Industry, and Ecosystems for a Low-Carbon Future
By the World Bank and Development Research Center of the State Council, People’s Republic of China
Building on four decades of rapid modernization, China is now advancing a structural transition to green, low-carbon development in recognition of the environmental limits of its earlier model. In 2020, the government set ambitious goals to have carbon emissions peak before 2030 and to reach carbon neutrality before 2060.
This report focuses on three critical challenges for China as it strives to achieve its “dual carbon” goals: advancing towards a carbon-neutral power sector, abating industrial emissions, and enhancing nature-based carbon sinks. The power and industry sectors account for 80 percent of national carbon emissions because of their heavy use of coal, and nature-based sinks are needed to offset emissions that direct reductions cannot eliminate. The report provides policy options with the greatest impact for meeting China’s climate goals while sustaining economic growth and rising living standards.
A HEALTHY FUTURE
Primary Health Care and the Chronic Disease Epidemic in East Asia and Pacific
By Zelalem Debebe, Damien de Walque, Young Eun Kim, Sang Minh Le, Aaditya Mattoo, Aakash Mohpal, Ronald Mutasa, Somil Nagpal, Son-Nam Nguyen, Elina Pradhan, Erin Sowers, and Ajay Tandon
EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
January 2026. 160 pages.
In the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, people are living longer but not necessarily healthier lives. As populations age and urbanize, an epidemic of chronic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, is taking hold, affecting workers in their prime, eroding productivity, and escalating health care costs. The most effective strategies to address this health crisis—prevention, screening, early diagnosis, and care management—are best implemented by a strong primary health care system.
However, many EAP countries are using outdated models, focusing on cure rather than prevention, and monitoring inputs instead of patient outcomes. Providers lack the capacity and incentives to deliver quality services, and patients lack the knowledge and motivation to adopt healthy lifestyles.
Drawing on proven approaches, A Healthy Future: Primary Health Care and the Chronic Disease Epidemic in East Asia and Pacific proposes reforms of primary health care to help deliver a healthier and more prosperous future for people in the EAP region.
SKILLS FOR DEVELOPMENT IN EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC
AMID RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE Moving to Scale in Uncertain Times
By Cristian Aedo, Diego Ambasz, Omar Arias, and Aaditya Mattoo
Skills development has been uneven in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region. Some countries like Viet Nam are striving to enhance higher-level skills, while others like Cambodia and the Philippines are struggling to fix basic skills. Cambodia exemplifies the trade trap, where people drop out of school to earn a relatively high wage making T-shirts for export. Indonesia illustrates innovation inertia: Ignorance and uncertainty about new technologies result in an underinvestment in skills.
This study will examine how enhanced workforce capacities can match evolving economic opportunities. It will examine the evolution of skills supply and demand, benchmarked against global patterns; the dynamic interplay between skills supply and demand, highlighting the role of trade and technology; and reforms to address market and governance failures, such as coordination gaps between industry and education systems that hinder skills development and alignment.
EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
June 2026. 150 pages.
no. C212317 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2317-6). US$43.95
SHIFTING SANDS
The East Asia and Pacific Trade Challenge
By Alessandro Barattieri and Aaditya Mattoo
The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region’s remarkable export-led, labor-intensive growth was based on access to predictably open international markets and the relative abundance of workers with basic skills. Today, increased protection and policy uncertainty threatens access to these markets. Technological change is redefining the relevant skills. Together with aging and climate risks, these developments are affecting EAP’s comparative advantage and, hence, growth and jobs in the EAP region as well.
This report examines the implications of these shifts and explores the benefits of a synchronized, three-pronged response: harnessing new technologies, pursuing domestic reforms, and deepening international cooperation.
EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
June 2026. 150 pages.
SMALL GOVERNMENTS, BIG AMBITIONS
Fiscal Policy in East Asia and Pacific
By Ergys Islamaj, Aaditya Mattoo, Agustin Samano, and Matthew Wai-Poi
Over the past three decades, most countries in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region have achieved high growth, while taxing little and spending within their means. The region has relied on low tax rates and used the limited revenues for public investment, especially on infrastructure. While this restrained fiscal stance has supported growth and macroeconomic stability, it has also led to underinvestment in education, health, social protection, and adaptation to climate change. One result has been the uneven development of human capital, which hinders the transition to more skill-intensive growth. Another is heightened exposure to shocks for both countries and individuals in a region that is rapidly aging and increasingly vulnerable to extreme climate events. The report examines how EAP economies can reform their fiscal frameworks to support growth and ensure that it is inclusive and resilient. Given the constraints on direct taxation in a world where capital and skills are mobile, revenue mobilization could rely more on uniform indirect taxes. However, with the political difficulty of widening indirect taxes in a region where inequality is high, the tax effort would need to be credibly complemented by targeted transfers to meet social protection goals, as well as investments in human capital and climate adaptation, all of which can contribute to higher and more inclusive growth.
DATA FOR BETTER GOVERNANCE
Building Government Analytics Ecosystems in Latin America and the Caribbean
By Juan Francisco Santini, Flavia Sacco Capurro, Daniel Rogger, Timothy Lundy, Galileu Kim, Jorge de León Miranda, Serena Cocciolo, and Chiara Casanova
Governments in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region face significant developmental and institutional challenges, such as slowing growth, fiscal constraints, and inefficiencies in the public sector. At the same time, governments have invested significantly in government technologies (GovTech), making LAC a global pioneer in management information systems (MISs). This creates an opportunity for governments to leverage MIS data to strengthen the functioning of government and achieve development goals—that is, government analytics.
Part of the Government Analytics Collection, this edition provides a conceptual framework to assess and provide guidance on the regional government analytics agenda and how to harvest the benefits of GovTech investments. First, it examines how government analytics can inform policy-making and improve accountability and efficiency, drawing on survey data and successful applications of government analytics. Next, it considers the enabling conditions for government analytics—data infrastructure and analytical capabilities— and how to strengthen them. Finally, it provides practical guidance on how to holistically develop a government analytics agenda.
GOVERNMENT ANALYTICS COLLECTION
January 2025. 128 pages. Stock no. C212159 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2159-2). US$35.00
SPANISH EDITION
April 2026. 137 pages. Stock no. C212278 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2278-0). US$43.95
PORTUGUESE EDITION
March 2026. 127 pages. Stock no. C212323 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2323-7). US$43.95
COMPETITION AND PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (SPANISH EDITION)
By Ekaterina Vostroknutova, James Sampi, Charl Jooste, and Jorge Thompson Araujo
Competition is a core element of economic growth, but empirical evidence on how competition affects productivity is limited. This publication presents new empirical research that shows how competition policy in Latin America and the Caribbean has boosted productivity growth and improved market outcomes.
A must-read if you are interested in understanding the relationship between competition law, competition enforcement, growth, and productivity in Latin America. A report rich with data, analysis, and recommendations that will guide policy makers in the region
—Antonio Capobianco, Deputy Head of the Competition Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
ALSO AVAILABLE
COMPETITION AND PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (ENGLISH EDITION)
April 2025. 165 pages. Stock no. C212081 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2081-6). US$43.95
RETHINKING TAXATION FOR GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (SPANISH EDITION)
Objectives, Behavioral Responses, and Technological Advances
By Guillermo Vuletin
The report re-evaluates taxation in Latin America and the Caribbean, emphasizing economic growth alongside revenue collection and equity. It underscores the influence of taxpayer behavior and technological advancements on tax effectiveness. Targeted cash transfers are identified as crucial for achieving equity, while the traditional view of value-added tax as regressive is challenged. The report recommends adopting competitive corporate income tax rates, expanding the personal income tax base, and utilizing property taxes. This approach aims to transcend conventional trade-offs, fostering more effective and growth-oriented tax systems.
ALSO AVAILABLE
RETHINKING TAXATION FOR GROWTH IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (ENGLISH EDITION)
Objectives, Behavioral Responses, and Technological Advances
October 2025. 190 pages. Stock no. C212253 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2253-7). US$43.95
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS
The International Development in Focus series comprises original, well-developed studies that highlight current development issues and are intended to influence programs and policy. These books result from research and analysis carried out as part of the World Bank’s operational work around the world.
ADAPTING TO ADVERSITY
Poverty and Climate Risks in Latin America and the Caribbean
By Alejandro de la Fuente, Samuel Freije, and Miki Khanh Doan
This book explores how climate hazards threaten progress against poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean. Using new data, original and past research, and real-world examples, it shows who is most at risk and how better policies can protect vulnerable families and secure lasting progress toward a more resilient and equitable future.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS
March 2026. 192 pages. Stock no. C212314 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2314-5).
US$41.95
DELIVERING HOPE IN FRAGILE TIMES
The Story of the Sudan Family Support Program
By Suleiman Namara, Endeshaw Tadesse, Alvin Etang Ndip, Kevwe Sylvester Pela, and Yvonne Catherine Kirabo
This book describes the approaches of the Sudan Family Support Program, which offers a valuable model for adaptive, inclusive, and resilient social protection in crisis-affected settings. Its innovations provide a roadmap for future efforts to build systems that not only respond to immediate needs but also withstand political shocks.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS
February 2026. 108 pages. Stock no. C212302 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2302-2).
US$41.95
PROSPERITY UNEARTHED (ARABIC EDITION)
Wealth-Sharing Mechanisms for Peace and Equitable Growth in the Middle East and North Africa
By the World Bank
Discover how the Middle East and North Africa region can transform its vast oil and gas wealth into sustainable, inclusive prosperity. This book explores strategies for equitable resource distribution, transparent governance, and strong economic policies and institutions to foster peace and growth in the region.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS
January 2026. 82 pages. Stock no. C212256 (ISBN: 978-1-4648-2256-8).
US$35.00
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EUROPE, AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, ASIA, & OCEANIA
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