About the data
Definitions
Data sources

About the data

This table shows data for 62 economies—small economies with populations between 30,000 and 1 million, smaller economies if they are members of the World Bank, and larger economies for which data are not regularly reported. Where data on GNP per capita are not available, the estimated range is given.

Definitions

• Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. Refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum are generally considered part of the population of the country of origin. The values shown are midyear estimates for 1996. See also table 2.1. • Land area is a country’s total area, excluding areas under inland bodies of water. • Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. • Gross national product (GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any taxes (less subsidies) that are not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (employee compensation and property income) from nonresident sources. Data are in current U.S. dollars converted using the World Bank Atlas method (see Statistical methods). Rank is calculated for economies reporting data. Growth is calculated from constant price GNP in national currency units. • GNP per capita is gross national product divided by midyear population. GNP per capita in U.S. dollars is converted using the World Bank Atlas method. Rank is calculated for economies reporting data. Growth is calculated from constant price GNP per capita in national currency units. • GNP in PPP terms is gross national product converted to international dollars using purchasing power parity rates. An international dollar has the same purchasing power over GNP as the U.S. dollar in the United States. Rank is calculated for economies reporting data. • Life expectancy at birth is the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. • Adult illiteracy rate is the percentage of adults aged 15 and above who cannot, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement about their everyday life. • Carbon dioxide emissions are those stemming from the burning of fossil fuels and the manufacture of cement. They include carbon dioxide produced during consumption of solid fuels, liquid fuels, gas fuels, and gas flaring.

Data sources

The indicators here and throughout the rest of the book have been compiled by World Bank staff from primary and secondary sources. More information about the indicators and their sources can be found in the About the data, Definitions, and Data sources entries that accompany each table in subsequent sections.

THE WORLD BANK METHODOLOGY:

----- On External Debt

                Definitions

                Debt indicators

----- On WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS

Size of the economy

Quality of life

Development progress

Trends in long-term development

Long-term structural change

Key indicators for other economies

Population

Land use and deforestation

Growth of output

Credit, investment and expenditures

Integration with the global economy

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