World Development Indicators
The numbers behind the diplomacy
88,768 observations across 11 indicators, every member state, mostly from 1960. Chosen for what they explain about the United Nations rather than for being interesting numbers — GNI per capita is the basis of the scale of assessments that decides what each state pays, and the refugee series are UNHCR’s and UNRWA’s own.
| Indicator | Why it is here | States | Years | Observations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net official development assistance received
DT.ODA.ODAT.CD |
Aid received, against which a state's own statements about development financing can be read. | 156 | 1960–2023 | 8,466 |
| CO2 emissions per capita
EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5 |
Emissions per person excluding land use, which is the figure the General Debate argues about rather than the national total. | 186 | 1970–2024 | 10,230 |
| Military expenditure (% of GDP)
MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS |
Published by SIPRI and carried by the World Bank. | 163 | 1960–2024 | 7,892 |
| GDP
NY.GDP.MKTP.CD |
Gross domestic product in current US dollars. | 192 | 1960–2025 | 10,962 |
| GNI per capita
NY.GNP.PCAP.CD |
The basis of the United Nations scale of assessments, which decides what each member state contributes to the regular budget. | 191 | 1962–2025 | 10,110 |
| Adult literacy rate
SE.ADT.LITR.ZS |
Reported irregularly, so a sparse series is the source being honest. | 162 | 1970–2024 | 1,082 |
| Refugees hosted (UNHCR mandate)
SM.POP.RHCR.EA |
Refugees under the mandate of UNHCR, by country of asylum. | 181 | 1960–2025 | 7,347 |
| Refugees originating (UNHCR mandate)
SM.POP.RHCR.EO |
Refugees under the mandate of UNHCR, by country of origin. | 193 | 1960–2025 | 7,202 |
| Refugees hosted (UNRWA mandate)
SM.POP.RRWA.EA |
Refugees under the mandate of UNRWA, by country of asylum. A separate series because UNRWA's mandate is separate; these are not added to the UNHCR figures. | 3 | 1960–2025 | 198 |
| Life expectancy at birth
SP.DYN.LE00.IN |
The single most summarising development figure there is. | 193 | 1960–2024 | 12,541 |
| Population
SP.POP.TOTL |
The denominator behind almost every other figure on this page. | 193 | 1960–2025 | 12,738 |
Data from the World Bank, available under CC BY 4.0. Many of these series are compiled rather than produced by the Bank: the population figures are the UN Population Division’s and the military expenditure is SIPRI’s. Each indicator page says whose they are.
Where this page comes from
- World Bank Open Data — CC BY 4.0 · source