First published in 1978, the “World Development Report,” or WDR, is the World Bank’s annual flagship publication on development. Each report provides in-depth analysis and policy recommendations on a specific and important aspect of development—from agriculture, the role of the state, transition economies, and labor to infrastructure, health, the environment, and poverty.

Click About WDR tab for more information about the process for developing each World Development Report.

What is available for each WDR within the Complete World Development Report Online?

Each WDR has a publication home page that leads into chapter pages for reading, browsing, printing and saving. Each publication home page includes:

The abstract, full bibliographic details, and a cover image in an expandable/collapsible pane on the right.
Linked Table of Contents in an expandable/collapsible pane on the right; clicking any title or heading will take you to that content in the left pane.
Linked listing of Boxes/Tables/Figures in an expandable/collapsible pane on the right; clicking any box, table, or figure title will take you to that content in the left pane.
Breadcrumbs and other navigation at top left to tell you where you are, how you got there, and how to get back.
A “Search This Book” option at the top right, which opens up a free text box in which to enter search terms.
A “Search This Chapter” option at the top right, which opens up a free text box in which to enter search terms to be found in the content currently displayed on screen.
“PDF of the Book,” which launches a color PDF of the full WDR.
“Print,” which allows you to print WDR content one chapter at a time. Front matter and back matter (endnotes, references, and appendixes) can also be printed and exported. Endnotes and references will also print the chapters to which they correspond.
“Bookmark,” which saves the current chapter to your bookmark list, which you can find under My WDR >> My Bookmarks.
“Email,” which allows you to email the chapter to a friend or colleague.
“Save Notes,” which gives you the opportunity to make a note about the content you are reading, save it, and then revisit it through My WDR >> My Notes.
“Add Chapter to Your Ebook,” which allows you to add the chapter to an existing Ebook or create a new one. You can then edit the order of the chapters through My WDR >> My Ebooks.
“Font Size”, which gives you the ability to adjust the font size to your liking.
“Back to Browse by Topic” or “Back to Browse by Title” buttons, which if you started from a browse page, will take you back to that page.
A footnote show/hide button at the top of the content pane for opening and closing an endnote/footnote preview box. (The notes within the preview are linked, clicking the link will open another window containing the complete references, URLs, and so forth.)
A “View” feature, at the top right of every figure, table, and box, which pops the graphic out for larger view.
“Previous/Next Chapter” buttons to help you navigate through the content.
Yellow highlighting of search terms throughout the displayed chapter if the chapter was accessed through Search Results.
Special navigation to take you “Back to Full Search Results” or to let you see “Next Search Result” and “Previous Search Result” without having to return to the full Search Results listing, if that is how you originally accessed the displayed chapter.

What are the special features of the Complete World Development Report Online?

My WDR—stores all your bookmarks, notes, custom Ebooks and other important information about your account. Go to “What Is My WDR” for more details.
Bookmarks—saves content for quick future reference, which is accessed through the My WDR page
Email—sends a link of the WDR Online content to a friend or colleague.
Print—prints the complete chapter, including the endnotes.
Save Notes— allows to you to create notes for yourself within the content. You can view all the notes through My WDR/My Notes.
Add Chapter to your Ebook—lets you create your own Ebook consisting of WDR content that is of most interest to you. See “How can I create a custom Ebook?” or the custom Ebook tutorial for more information.
Adjustable Font Size—makes the font size smaller or larger for easier reading by using the “A” icons at the top of the content page.

What can I do with the Complete World Development Report Online that I can’t do with World Bank eLibrary or the WDRs on the World Bank’s main website?

The Complete World Development Report Online allows you to quickly and conveniently access content both across the complete collection of WDRs and within individual WDRs or a selection of WDRs using the Browse by Title, Browse by Topic and Search capabilities. The Complete World Development Report Online allows you to:

Search for relevant WDR chapter content, including tables, figures, boxes, and special features, through the Search and Advanced Search options available at top left.
Select and customize relevant statistics through the Development Database tab.
Understand regions, countries, and income levels through the Regions tab.
Toggle between two screens providing geographic and income information for regions and countries.
Find background information on the past six years of WDRs in the Related Content tab, including background papers that were commissioned by the authors of each WDR. The background papers are a useful tool for understanding the thinking of leading economists and the context that formed the basis for the published WDR.
Sort and filter Search Results.
Quickly access chapters, boxes, tables, and figures through links within the Table of Contents.
Use the “Find” function to search for specific terms within WDR chapters.
Download and save PDFs of each WDR.
Easily print and save chapters and separate boxes, tables, and figures.

What is “My WDR”?

Once you have registered for an individual account, My WDR contains the following:

My Bookmarks
My Notes
Change Password
Edit Profile
My e-books
My Saved Search

The following is a brief description of each feature:

My Bookmarks—a listing of any bookmarks you created while reading the WDR publication pages. Click on a bookmark link on the left to go straight to the content you have bookmarked. To delete bookmarks, check the box next to individual bookmarks or select all.

My Notes—a listing of any notes you created while reading the WDR publication pages. Click on any note title on the left, and the note you created will appear on the right side of the screen. You can edit the note and save it, or you can delete it entirely.

Change Password—allows you to reset your account password

Edit Profile—you can change some of your personal information, such as username, email, and security question. Remember to click Save or Reset after making your changes.

My Ebooks—from here you can change the order of the chapters in your Ebook, add new chapters, delete chapters, and generate and download a PDF of your custom Ebook. For more information on Ebooks, see “How can I create a custom Ebook?”

My Saved Search—if you have saved a set of search results, you will be able to access those results from this page.

Why do I need to register?

By registering for a log in (personal account), you can bookmark content, save search results, make notes, share content, and create custom Ebooks. You can access all content in the site without logging in, but in order to save and return to your favorite content with these features, you need to register for an account. (Users within a registered institution may also sign up for individual accounts.)

To register as an individual or an institution, click “Login” (top right) and the “Click here to register” link. Once you register, you will be logged in and you will see “My WDR” and “Logout” (top right).

Institutions may track usage statistics by registering their IPs. A form is available for administrators on the registration page, where IPs can be entered individually or in bulk.

Please note that all user accounts will logout automatically after 20 minutes of non-use.

How do I log-in?

In order to log in, you must be registered as a user. The login button is located at the top right of the screen. (If you are not currently registered, click “Login” [top right] and the “Click here to register” link.) Once you log in, you will see “My WDR” and “Logout” (top right).

I forgot my login details, how can I get a reminder?

If you need a reminder about your login details, go to the Login button at the top right, then click on “Forgot password”. You will be asked to enter the email address used to set up the account, and your access details will be emailed to you automatically.

How do the “Browse by Title”, “Browse by Topic”, and “Related Content” functions work?

The Browse by Title tab provides a list of all WDRs organized by title and year. Clicking on “more” or “less” expands or collapses a summary of the WDR. Clicking on any title takes you to the publication home page for that specific WDR.

The publication home page includes the full summary (abstract), a linked Table of Contents, bibliographic details, and a linked listing of boxes, tables, and figures. Breadcrumbs at the top of the page and other navigation will tell you where you are, how you got there, and how to get back. See “What is available for each WDR?” for more information.

Clicking any link in the Table of Contents or listing of boxes, tables, and figures takes you to the content page with that particular part of the WDR displayed.

The Browse by Topic tab provides a list of all WDRs organized by major topic. Clicking on any topic(s) or “+” expands the pane to list all relevant WDRs; the listing can be sorted chronologically. Clicking on any title takes you to the publication home page for that specific WDR.

The publication home page includes the full summary (abstract), a linked Table of Contents, bibliographic details, and a linked listing of boxes, tables, and figures. Breadcrumbs and other navigation will tell you where you are, how you got there, and how to get back.

Clicking any link in the Table of Contents or listing of boxes, tables, and figures takes you to the content page with that particular part of the WDR displayed.

The Related Content tab provides a list of all background papers for all WDRs since 2005, organized by WDR and with the option to filter by topic.

Clicking on any WDR or “+” expands the pane to list all the background papers written for the specific WDR. Selecting a topic from the filter will narrow the list of background papers.

Clicking on any title will open a new page with additional information about the paper, such as the regions and topics it covers, a brief synopsis, and the PDF of the publication.

How does the Search function work?

Search WDR content using Search, Advanced Search, Search This Chapter, and Search This Book functions.

The Search field, available as a free text box at the top right, searches across all WDRs to return relevant chapters and special features. Type in any term(s), using AND, OR, or “[phrase search]” (Boolean operators), and Search will find your term(s) in the full text as well as any matches with topics or regions.

Advanced Search, available through the link at the top right, allows for more targeted searches based on your selections to return relevant content. This includes the ability to search using the following fields:

Free text box: Type any term(s) to be found in full text, using AND, OR, or “[phrase search]” (Boolean operators).

Content type check boxes: Choose “all” or one of the content types you would like to search across. Selecting “WDR” will produce search results contained only in WDRs; selecting “non-WDR” will return search results from the related content section.

WDR titles check boxes: Choose “all” or any combination to search across a specific selection of WDR titles/years.

Topics check boxes: Choose “all” or any combination to search only across content associated with the selected topic(s).

Regions check boxes: Choose “all” or any combination to search only across content associated with the selected region(s).

Fields used in combination (that is, selected titles plus selected topics plus selected regions) will find relevant content that matches at least one selection in every field (one or more topics AND one or more regions AND one or more titles). You must make at least one selection in every field.

Search This Chapter will find any term or phrase used in whatever content is currently being displayed on screen (chapter text; part text; front matter; or back matter, such as endnotes, references, or appendixes). Use the “Find Next” and “Find Previous” buttons to navigate through the results, or simply click Enter on your keyboard to skip to the next result.

Search This Book will search for a term or string across the whole book and display the results by chapter in a search results screen. From here you can narrow your search results by region and topic.

When viewing content accessed through Search Results, search terms are highlighted in yellow and special navigation takes you “Back to Full Search Results” or lets you see “Previous Search Result” and “Next Search Result” without having to return to the full listing.

What can I do with Search Results?

Display in order of relevancy by default. The following information is given about each relevant result

Chapter number and title (or feature title)
WDR title
The first full text hit, with the term highlighted

You can modify and refine your results in a number of ways on the Search Results screen:

“Narrow Your Result” on the right side allows you to filter your current search results to show only those associated with a particular content type, topic, region, or title. Next to each subset is a number indicating the quantity of search results associated with that particular subset. (“View all” brings back the full set of Search Results.)

Sort by “Relevance or Book Title” and “Publication Date” (just above your first hit) allows you to organize your hits. Book Title reorders the search results alphabetically by the subtitle of the WDR. Publication Date reorders the search results by most recent result first or the oldest result first (your choice). Relevance restores the default order.

“Search within search results” allows you to narrow your search results by searching for another full text word only within the current set of search results. Enter your search term and click Go.

“Modify Search” takes you to the Advanced Search screen with your current search terms already in place. “New Search” takes to a reset (no terms entered) Advanced Search screen.

“Save this search as” allows you to save the current search results in your individual account for easier access in the future. You must be registered and logged in to use this feature.

Clicking on a search result will take you to the associated content. On the content page:

Your free text search terms are highlighted.

“Previous Search Result” and “Next Search Result” options at the top let you navigate through your search results one-by-one without returning to the Search Results page.
“Back to Full Search Results” at the top lets you return to your list of search results.
Breadcrumbs at the top display your search terms and how you got to the WDR you are viewing.

What topics are covered by the Complete World Development Report Online?

The following is the list of topics used in the Complete World Development Report Online. Major topics are included in Browse by Topic and appear in bold below. All topics are included in Advanced Search. Browse by Topic will help you find content at the report level, while Advanced Search will help you find content at the chapter level.

Agriculture

Communities & Human Settlements

Conflict and Development

Culture and Development

Education

Energy

Environment

Finance

Gender

Governance

Health, Nutrition, and Population

Industry

Infrastructure

Information and Communication Technologies

Labor

Law and Development

Macroeconomics and Economic Growth

Poverty Reduction

Private Sector

Public Sector

Rural Development

Science and Technology Development

Social Development

Trade

Transport

Urban Development

Water Resources

Water Supply and Sanitation

World Bank

How Can I Find Information about a Particular Topic?

The Browse by Topic tab on the global navigation organizes all WDRs by relevant major topic. This browse takes you to complete reports.

The Related Content tab, also on the global navigation, has a “Filter by Topic” function. Select a topic from the drop-down box to see the background papers related to that topic.

Quick Search, available as a free text box at the top right, searches across all WDRs to return relevant content. Type in any term(s), using AND, OR, or “[phrase search]” (Boolean operators), and Search will find your term(s) in the full text as well as any matches with topics or regions.

Advanced Search includes a menu of topics that can be searched individually or in any combination, along with all other fields (content type, WDR title, and region). Advanced Search returns results from across the collection of WDRs and related content based on your selections.

The Search Results screen includes a filter by topic on the right side.

For finding other topical content, the free text boxes available in Search and Advanced Search are good options, along with the Search This Chapter and Search This Book options. “Search This Chapter” will search across only the content currently being displayed, while “Search This Book” will search across the whole book.

What Regions and Countries are used in the Complete World Development Report Online?

The regions and countries/economies listed below are used in Advanced Search (to find relevant chapters) and are presented in the content of the Regions tab. The list reflects the regions as defined by the World Bank for analytical and operational (development assistance) purposes and therefore differs from common geographic usage (for example, high-income countries are not included in the list.)

Africa (Sub-Saharan)

Angola	Gambia, The	Nigeria
Benin	Ghana	Rwanda
Botswana	Guinea	São Tomé and Principe
Burkina Faso	Guinea-Bissau	Senegal
Burundi	Kenya	Seychelles
Cameroon	Lesotho	Sierra Leone
Cape Verde	Liberia	Somalia
Central African Republic	Madagascar	South Africa
Chad	Malawi	Sudan
Comoros	Mali	Swaziland
Congo, Dem. Rep.	Mauritania	Tanzania
Congo, Rep	Mauritius	Togo
Côte d'Ivoire	Mayotte	Uganda
Eritrea	Mozambique	Zambia
Ethiopia	Namibia	Zimbabwe
Gabon	Niger

East Asia and Pacific

American Samoa	Malaysia	Samoa
Cambodia	Marshall Islands	Solomon Islands
China	Micronesia, Fed. Sts	Thailand
Fiji	Mongolia	Timor-Leste
Indonesia	Myanmar	Tonga
Kiribati	Palau	Vanuatu
Korea, Dem. Rep.	Papua New Guinea	Vietnam
Lao PDR	Philippines

Europe and Central Asia

Albania	Kosovo	Romania
Armenia	Kyrgyz Republic	Russian Federation
Azerbaijan	Latvia	Serbia
Belarus	Lithuania	Tajikistan
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Macedonia, FYR	Turkey
Bulgaria	Moldova	Turkmenistan
Georgia	Montenegro	Ukraine
Kazakhstan	Poland	Uzbekistan

Latin America and the Caribbean

Argentina	Ecuador	Panama
Belize	El Salvador	Paraguay
Bolivia	Grenada	Peru
Brazil	Guatemala	St. Kitts and Nevis
Chile	Guyana	St. Lucia
Colombia	Haiti	St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Costa Rica	Honduras	Suriname
Cuba	Jamaica	Uruguay
Dominica	Mexico	Venezuela, RB
Dominican Republic	Nicaragua

Middle East and North Africa

Algeria	Jordan	Tunisia
Djibouti	Lebanon	West Bank and Gaza
Egypt, Arab Rep.	Libya	Yemen, Rep.
Iran, Islamic Rep.	Morocco
Iraq	Syrian Arab Republic

South Asia

Afghanistan	India	Pakistan
Bangladesh	Maldives	Sri Lanka
Bhutan	Nepal

How Can I Find Information about Particular Regions and Countries?

Advanced Search includes a list of regions that can be searched individually or in any combination, along with all other fields (full text, WDR title, and topic). Advanced Search returns results from across the collection of WDRs and related content based on your selections.

The Search Results screen includes a filter by region on the right side.

The Regions tab provides a map, a short overview of each region followed by a list of countries included in that region, and a toggle to a listing of countries by income level.

For finding country-specific content (including content about countries not included in the regional listing above), the Free Text Boxes available in Search and Advanced Search are good options, along with the “Search This Chapter” and “Search This Book” functions available on all content pages.

Each background paper also contains regional information. Go to the Related Content tab, click on the paper that is of interest, and you will be taken to a page with additional details about the paper, including the regions it covers.

Because WDR chapters often talk about trends and patterns in multiple regions, chapters are often associated with multiple regions.

How can I find statistics and data?

In addition to the tables of data you will find throughout each WDR, the World Bank Data tab on the global navigation will pass you through to data.worldbank.org

What is the difference between the WDRs in HTML and the separate PDFs?

Each WDR is available in both HTML and PDF.

The HTML versions can be cross-searched, used for custom Ebooks, and more. Each such version includes all content except for older WDI statistics. (These statistics, although historic, were not normalized or comparable. The World Bank Data tab on the global navigation leads you to complete, normalized data sets.)

The PDF version is accessible at the top right whenever you are viewing the HTML version. The PDFs provide a complete, historical representation of each WDR. Each PDF is searchable and is bookmarked.

How can I search or see footnotes, endnotes, and references?

Footnote and endnote numbers within the text are hyperlinked to footnotes and endnotes in pop-up boxes, where they are further linked, as appropriate, to specific reference citations, URLs, and so forth.

Each content page includes a footnote “Show/Hide” button at the top of the pane for opening and closing an endnote/footnote preview. This preview allows you to read, print, and save footnote and endnote information without any linking or interactivity. (The linking is always available through the callouts.) The endnote/footnote preview is linked, as appropriate, to specific reference citations, URLs, and so forth. If clicked, these will display in a pop-up screen.

All back matter, including footnotes, endnotes, and any kind of reference listing, can be searched through “Search this Chapter” while the content to be searched is displayed on screen.

Endnotes/footnotes will print together with the chapter you wish to print. Back matter can also be printed and saved on its own.

How can I view boxes, figures and tables?

A full listing of linked boxes/figures/tables in an expandable/collapsible pane is available on the right of every content page, below the Table of Contents. Clicking any box, figure, or table title will display that content in the left pane. The “View” feature, at the top right of every box, figure, and table pops that piece out for larger view. From here you can Print or Save the box, figure or table.

Where can I find more information about World Bank products?

Click on “World Bank Products” at the top right to learn more about World Bank publications, online resources, and more.

How can I create a custom e-book?

Please note that to use this feature in an institutional setting, you must be signed into your subaccount.

To start, go to a book chapter. Click on “Add chapter to your EBook” at the top of the content page. Follow the prompts to either create a new Ebook or add the chapter to an existing Ebook.

Once your book is created, you can go to My WDR (top right menu) and select My Ebooks. By clicking on an Ebook title, you can see all the chapters you have selected. From here you can delete chapters, add more chapters, re-order the content, and generate and download the Ebook.

For more on how the custom Ebook feature works, please see the tutorial here.

What are the background papers?

Background papers, also referred to as Related Content or Non-WDR content, are commissioned for each WDR and contain the research and analysis on which the WDRs are based. They can be found under the Related Content tab. In the Advanced Search and the search results pages there are options to search within Non-WDR content only.

What browsers will support WDR Online?

WDR Online should work in all major browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome. Please contact us if you find that something is not showing up or working properly. See technical support contact details below.

Whom Can I Contact with Questions or Suggestions?

For orders, contact books@worldbank.org or fax (703) 661-1501.

For permissions and licensing inquiries, contact pubrights@worldbank.org or fax: (202) 522-2631.

For technical support, contact onlineresources@worldbank.org or fax: (202) 522-2631.

If you have any questions concerning The Complete World Development Report, please contact us:

World Bank Publications

1818 H Street NW

Washington DC 20433

Fax: 202-522-1498.