Atlas of
Global Development 2026

The Atlas of Global Development 2026 presents interactive storytelling and data visualizations on key global trends related to people, prosperity, our planet, infrastructure, and digital transformation.

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Data stories on global development

Across the global development landscape, which countries are moving the fastest, and which are losing ground? The 2026 edition of the World Bank’s Atlas of Global Development puts progress at its center. Looking at how fast countries are moving toward better outcomes and facing different challenges, from their own individual starting points, this edition introduces a new framework to track development over the past 75 years, revealing how countries have advanced across key dimensions.

Explore the pace of progress, dive into the data, and discover the stories across the World Bank’s five themes: people, prosperity, planet, infrastructure, and digital.

Global Progress

Tracking Progress in Global Development

Explore progress data on key development areas from poverty reduction and life expectancy to education to understand the global progress slowdown.

Data for Development

The State of Development Data

For many economies, the data guiding budgets and regulations are years out of date, leaving millions of people invisible to policy makers.

Read more on Measuring Progress.

Progress is the slowest on record in

15 of 26

of the explored development indicators

Only 1 in 2

women are engaged in income-generating work

stories on

People

Learning and Work

Skills Are Used and Built on the Job

Each year of schooling that a worker attains improves productivity and wages. But learning does not end at school; workers acquire additional skills through on-the-job learning.

Gender and Jobs

Shaping the Future of Women in the Workplace

Women face persistent barriers to work and are more likely to be in vulnerable jobs, earn lower wages, and shoulder care burden.

Explore more data on People

1 in 2

of the world's extreme poor live in countries where poverty has increased in the past 10 years

stories on

Prosperity

Extreme Poverty

Past, Present, and Future: 100 Years of Challenges in Tackling Extreme Poverty

After 75 years of historic poverty reduction, shifting global dynamics threaten to reverse our progress.

Combining Income Growth with Inequality Reduction Benefits Everyone

The Prosperity Gap in Sub-Saharan Africa is at the same level as the world was in the 1980s, making the region roughly four decades behind the global average.

Explore more data on Prosperity

Around 50%

of countries with data (48 out of 94) face water quality challenges

stories on

Planet

Water Quality: A Foundation for Health and Development

Access to safe drinking water is essential for health and development, yet over 2 billion people still lack it. Water quality remains the main barrier to safely managed drinking water.

Exposure, Vulnerability, and Adaptation to Climate Hazards

Climate change intensifies extreme weather events, exposing more than half the global population, a large share of which is also vulnerable and in need of adaptation.

Explore more data on Planet

1 in 2

people in Sub-Saharan Africa live without electricity today

stories on

Infrastructure

Electricity Access

Access to Electricity: Who Remains Without Power?

Although global electricity access has expanded steadily over the past two decades, millions in rural Sub-Saharan Africa have been left behind.

Urban Development

Building Productive Cities for an Urbanizing World

Cities are the engine of global economic growth, but strategic investment in urban planning is essential to ensure cities deliver opportunity for all.

Explore more data on Infrastructure

1 in 4

people worldwide do not use the Internet

stories on

Digital

Internet Access

The Unfinished Digital Revolution: Expanding Internet Access

Internet access has grown at remarkable speed since the turn of the century, yet millions of people are shut out of the digital economy, especially in poorer countries.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Inequalities in Use of and Exposure to Artificial Intelligence

While high-income nations rapidly integrate AI, stark infrastructural and skills gaps are leaving low-income countries behind.

Explore more data on Digital