Resource information
World Development Indicators (WDI) 2009
arrives at a moment of great uncertainty for the global
economy. The crisis that began more than a year ago in the
U.S. housing market spread to the global financial system
and is now taking its toll on real output and incomes. As a
consequence, an additional 50 million people will be left in
extreme poverty. And if the crisis deepens and widens or is
prolonged, other development indicators, school enrollments,
women's employment, child mortality, will be affected,
jeopardizing progress toward the millennium development
goals. Statistics help us understand the events that
triggered the crisis and measure its impact. Along with this
year's 91 data tables, each section of the WDI 2009 has
an introduction that shows statistics in action, describing
the history of the current crisis, its effect on developing
economies, and the challenges they face. Official
statistical agencies need to take a long range view of their
public role, to think broadly about data needs and build
strategic partnerships with academia and the private sector.
