World Bank Indicators Search

Search the World Bank Open Data API for 29,000+ development indicators across 200+ countries and territories. Access GDP, population, life expectancy, CO2 emissions, poverty, trade, FDI, and 16 other preset indicators. Time series data from 1960 to present. No API key required.

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Data Source

World Bank Open Data API (api.worldbank.org). Official data published and maintained by the World Bank Group, covering economic, social, environmental, and governance indicators for virtually every country and territory in the world.

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Output Fields

Field	Type	Description
country	string	Country or territory name
countryCode	string	ISO3 country code
indicator	string	Indicator name
indicatorCode	string	World Bank indicator code (e.g., NY.GDP.MKTP.CD)
year	string	Year of observation
value	number	Data value in the indicator's native unit

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Preset Indicators

The actor supports 20 commonly used indicators by short name. You can also supply any valid World Bank indicator code directly.

Short Name	Description
gdp	GDP, current US$
gdp_per_capita	GDP per capita, current US$
gdp_growth	GDP growth rate, annual %
population	Total population
population_growth	Population growth rate, annual %
life_expectancy	Life expectancy at birth, years
infant_mortality	Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births
co2_emissions	CO2 emissions in kilotons
poverty_ratio	Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15/day (% of population)
gini_index	Gini index
inflation	Inflation (CPI), annual %
unemployment	Unemployment rate, % of labor force
trade_pct_gdp	Trade as % of GDP
fdi_net_inflows	Foreign direct investment net inflows, current US$
internet_users	Internet users as % of population
electricity_access	Access to electricity, % of population
forest_area	Forest area as % of land area
military_spending	Military expenditure as % of GDP
education_spending	Government expenditure on education as % of GDP
health_spending	Current health expenditure as % of GDP

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Use Cases

• Economic research and analysis -- pull GDP, inflation, trade, and FDI time series for macro-level country comparisons or regression analysis.
• ESG reporting and due diligence -- retrieve CO2 emissions, electricity access, and poverty data for ESG scoring or supply chain risk assessments.
• Market entry analysis -- compare consumer spending, internet penetration, unemployment, and GDP per capita across target markets.
• Policy research and advocacy -- analyze health spending, education spending, and poverty trends across country cohorts.
• Academic and institutional research -- construct panel datasets for economics, political science, or development studies.
• Data journalism -- surface readable, structured development data for comparative country stories.
• International business intelligence -- track macroeconomic indicators for existing or prospective operating countries.

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How to Use

Set the input fields and run the actor. Results are pushed to the Apify dataset and can be exported as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchType	string	indicator	indicator to retrieve time series data, country to list countries, search to find available indicators
indicator	string	gdp	Preset indicator name (see table above) or any World Bank indicator code
countryCode	string	US	ISO2 or ISO3 country code. Use all to retrieve data for all countries
startYear	integer	2000	Start year for data range. Leave 0 for all available years
endYear	integer	0	End year. Leave 0 for the most recent year available
query	string		Search term. Used with search mode to find indicator codes
maxResults	integer	500	Maximum records to return (1-10000)

Example -- US GDP from 2000 to Present

{
  "searchType": "indicator",
  "indicator": "gdp",
  "countryCode": "US",
  "startYear": 2000,
  "maxResults": 100
}

Example -- Life Expectancy for All Countries (Latest 20 Years)

{
  "searchType": "indicator",
  "indicator": "life_expectancy",
  "countryCode": "all",
  "startYear": 2005,
  "maxResults": 5000
}

Example -- CO2 Emissions for G7 Countries

Run once per country or use all and filter the results. Example for Germany:

{
  "searchType": "indicator",
  "indicator": "co2_emissions",
  "countryCode": "DE",
  "startYear": 1990,
  "maxResults": 100
}

Example -- Use a Custom World Bank Indicator Code

{
  "searchType": "indicator",
  "indicator": "SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS",
  "countryCode": "CN",
  "startYear": 2000,
  "maxResults": 100
}

Example -- Discover Available Indicators

{
  "searchType": "search",
  "query": "renewable energy",
  "maxResults": 50
}

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Cost

• Actor start fee: ~$0.10 per run
• Compute: minimal -- typical runs complete in seconds
• Data cost: $0.005 per result

Pulling 60 years of GDP data for all countries (~14,000 data points) costs approximately $0.70 in data fees plus the start fee.

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Output Formats

Results are available in the Apify dataset viewer and can be exported as:

• JSON
• CSV
• Excel (XLSX)
• XML
• RSS

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FAQ

Do I need a World Bank account or API key? No. The World Bank Open Data API is fully public and requires no authentication.

How far back does the data go? Most economic indicators have data going back to 1960. Some social and environmental indicators start later depending on when measurement began. Data availability varies by country.

How current is the data? The World Bank typically publishes annual data with a 1-2 year lag. For example, 2023 data for most indicators becomes available in 2024-2025 as countries report to international statistical agencies.

Can I retrieve data for all countries at once? Yes. Set countryCode to all. This returns one row per country per year. For 200+ countries over 60 years, this can produce 10,000+ rows -- adjust maxResults accordingly.

How do I find the indicator code for a specific metric? Use searchType: "search" with a descriptive query (e.g., "renewable energy", "urban population"). The output includes the World Bank indicator code that you can then pass directly in the indicator field.

What does the value field represent? The value is expressed in the native unit for each indicator. GDP values are in current US dollars. Rates (growth, unemployment, inflation) are in percentage points. Population is an absolute count. Emissions are in kilotons. Refer to the indicator description for the precise unit.

Why are some values null or missing? Not all countries report all indicators for all years. Gaps in coverage reflect missing survey data, statistical capacity limitations, or years where the indicator is not applicable (e.g., pre-independence).

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