Jobs are the best way to end poverty and give people hope, dignity, and a better future. That’s why the World Bank Group is changing the way we do things—ensuring that all our operations have a clear line of sight to employment. With more than a billion young people entering the labor market in the next decade, the world needs more jobs than ever before. But we can’t do it alone.
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For decades, policymakers assumed that prosperity is driven by building infrastructure, mobilizing labor, and creating financial systems to spur investment – while nature has been treated as abundant and free. Yet economic progress always relied on Earth’s natural assets: fertile soils that feed civilizations, clean water that sustains health and productivity, and forests that supply materials. But what happens when natural resources and the services they provide are no longer abundant?
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A real understanding of the impact of economic inclusion programs comes from seeing lives change—standing beside women building small businesses, young people stepping into formal jobs, and families beginning to plan for the future. These moments become possible and inevitable when governments and their partners invest the time and resources to design and deliver economic inclusion for the poor.
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By 2050, one in three of the world’s children will live in Africa. Yet this demographic shift coincides with a profound learning crisis: over 70 percent of children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) cannot read and understand a simple text by age 10—and in Sub-Saharan Africa, the figure reached 86 percent before the pandemic. Without rapid acceleration in foundational learning outcomes, this demographic advantage risks becoming a source of deeper inequality and lost opportunity, talent, and productivity in the labor market.
Continue readingFor 35 years, the World Bank Group has measured global poverty to track progress toward eradicating what is considered the most severe deprivation of basic human needs—extreme poverty. This goal is at the very heart of our organization’s mission.
The introduction of the international poverty line in 1990 gave us a global benchmark that captured the daily cost for a person to meet their basic needs in a low-income country, which at that time was $1. The line has been updated several times since then to reflect changing prices and the costs of meeting basic needs. The most recent update, which happened this month, sets it at $3 per person per day.
Continue readingGlobal trade has proved resilient amid rising protectionism and geopolitical tension, leavened by regional integration and new trade agreements.
After decades of steady expansion that powered global growth and lifted millions out of poverty, the system underpinning cross-border trade has come under strain. Even before the eruption of trade tensions between major economies earlier this year, trade-restrictive measures had reached unprecedented levels. Today, the combination of pandemic-era supply-chain disruptions, resurgent protectionism, and intensifying geopolitical tensions has created a far more uncertain environment for global trade.
Yet trade growth has proved remarkably resilient so far this year. At the same time, many countries have recognised the need for deeper integration and have launched new trade agreements — particularly among emerging-market and developing economies (EMDEs), which continue to pursue a more active role in shaping the future of global trade.
Continue readingReforms focus on expanding primary care, improving affordability, and supporting job-rich growth
TOKYO, Dec. 6, 2025 — Countries and partners today reported continued progress toward the World Bank Group’s goal—set in April 2024—to help deliver affordable, quality health services to 1.5 billion people by 2030. Building on that momentum, 15 countries introduced National Health Compacts, outlining practical, five-year reforms that aim to expand primary health care, improve affordability, and support job-rich economic growth.
Continue readingWASHINGTON, November 28, 2025 – On November 24, 2025, the World Bank released US$500 million to support the Philippine Government’s recovery and reconstruction efforts in areas battered by Typhoon Kalmaegi (locally known as “Tino”).
Continue readingMANILA, PHILIPPINES, December 4, 2025 — World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masato Kanda today announced the first two Pacific projects to be delivered under the Full Mutual Reliance Framework, an innovative cofinancing model that will boost development impact.
Continue readingFor five decades the IDR, along with the associated International Debt Statistics (IDS) database, has helped shape policies in development finance by sharing timely and comprehensive external debt data and analysis with the international community. Drawing on data collected through the World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System, the IDR has tracked evolving borrowing patterns and new lending instruments over the years, measured the impact of initiatives to relieve debt burdens, and promoted best practices in debt recording and reporting.
The newly published IDR 2025 includes an analysis of end-2024 external debt flows and debt stock positions as well as the macroeconomic and debt outlook for 2025 and beyond, and updates on the debt transparency agenda.
In addition, the IDS-DSSI database includes the actual debt service deferred from by each bilateral creditor and the projected monthly debt-service payments owed to all bilateral creditors.
“Credit: World Bank Group. All rights reserved”
Netherlands for the World Bank 
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