wdi2 to access World
Development IndicatorsThe wdi2 package provides a modern and flexible
interface for accessing the World Bank’s World
Development Indicators (WDI). It improves upon existing packages by
utilizing the httr2 package for multi-page requests and
enhanced error handling. With wdi2, you can download data
for multiple indicators and countries in a single function call, benefit
from progress bars, and receive the output in a tidy data format, making
it ideal for further analysis.
You can install the released version of wdi2 from CRAN
via:
To install the development version of wdi2, use:
The wdi2 package allows you to retrieve a full list of
all supported indicators from the World Bank Indicators
API. Each indicator is accompanied by metadata such as its unit of
measurement, source, and associated topics.
# Retrieve the list of supported indicators
list_supported_indicators()
#> # A tibble: 48,918 × 4
#> indicator_id indicator_name source_note source_organization
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 1.0.HCount.1.90usd Poverty Headcount ($1.9… The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 2 1.0.HCount.1.90usd Poverty Headcount ($1.9… The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 3 1.0.HCount.2.5usd Poverty Headcount ($2.5… The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 4 1.0.HCount.2.5usd Poverty Headcount ($2.5… The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 5 1.0.HCount.Mid10to50 Middle Class ($10-50 a … The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 6 1.0.HCount.Mid10to50 Middle Class ($10-50 a … The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 7 1.0.HCount.Ofcl Official Moderate Pover… The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 8 1.0.HCount.Ofcl Official Moderate Pover… The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 9 1.0.HCount.Poor4uds Poverty Headcount ($4 a… The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> 10 1.0.HCount.Poor4uds Poverty Headcount ($4 a… The povert… LAC Equity Lab tab…
#> # ℹ 48,908 more rowsIf you want to get more details such as source ID and topics, you can use the corresponding option:
# Retrieve the list of supported indicators with details
list_supported_indicators(include_details = TRUE)
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■ 11% | ETA: 24s
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■■■■■ 23% | ETA: 20s
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■■■■■■■■ 35% | ETA: 17s
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 48% | ETA: 13s
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 58% | ETA: 11s
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 65% | ETA: 9s
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 79% | ETA: 6s
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 87% | ETA: 3s
#> Parsing indicators: ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ 97% | ETA: 1s
#> # A tibble: 24,459 × 8
#> indicator_id indicator_name unit source_id source_value source_note
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 1.0.HCount.1.90usd Poverty Headco… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 2 1.0.HCount.2.5usd Poverty Headco… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 3 1.0.HCount.Mid10to50 Middle Class (… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 4 1.0.HCount.Ofcl Official Moder… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 5 1.0.HCount.Poor4uds Poverty Headco… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 6 1.0.HCount.Vul4to10 Vulnerable ($4… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 7 1.0.PGap.1.90usd Poverty Gap ($… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 8 1.0.PGap.2.5usd Poverty Gap ($… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 9 1.0.PGap.Poor4uds Poverty Gap ($… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> 10 1.0.PSev.1.90usd Poverty Severi… <NA> 37 LAC Equity … "The pover…
#> # ℹ 24,449 more rows
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: source_organization <chr>, topics <list>You can also get the list of supported indicators in a different language, or omit the progress bar. For example, to retrieve the indicators in Spanish:
# Retrieve indicators in Spanish
list_supported_indicators(language = "es", include_details = TRUE, progress = FALSE)
#> # A tibble: 24,459 × 8
#> indicator_id indicator_name unit source_id source_value source_note
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 1.0.HCount.1.90usd "Tasa de Incid… <NA> 37 <NA> "Tasa de I…
#> 2 1.0.HCount.2.5usd "Tasa de Incid… <NA> 37 <NA> "Tasa de I…
#> 3 1.0.HCount.Mid10to50 "Tasa de Incid… <NA> 37 <NA> "Tasa de I…
#> 4 1.0.HCount.Ofcl "Tasa Oficial … <NA> 37 <NA> "Tasa de I…
#> 5 1.0.HCount.Poor4uds "Tasa de Incid… <NA> 37 <NA> "Tasa de I…
#> 6 1.0.HCount.Vul4to10 "Tasa de incid… <NA> 37 <NA> "Tasa de I…
#> 7 1.0.PGap.1.90usd "Brecha de Pob… <NA> 37 <NA> "La Brecha…
#> 8 1.0.PGap.2.5usd "Brecha de Pob… <NA> 37 <NA> "La Brecha…
#> 9 1.0.PGap.Poor4uds "Brecha de Pob… <NA> 37 <NA> "La Brecha…
#> 10 1.0.PSev.1.90usd "Severidad de … <NA> 37 <NA> "El índice…
#> # ℹ 24,449 more rows
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: source_organization <chr>, topics <list>To get the list of supported languages, call:
# List supported languages
list_supported_languages()
#> # A tibble: 5 × 2
#> code name
#> <chr> <chr>
#> 1 en English
#> 2 es Spanish
#> 3 fr French
#> 4 ar Arabic
#> 5 zh ChineseNote that not all indicators might be translated into all languages.
You can retrieve a list of all countries supported by the World Bank API along with metadata such as region, administrative region, income level, and lending type.
# Retrieve the list of supported countries
list_supported_countries()
#> # A tibble: 296 × 10
#> id iso2_code name capital_city longitude latitude regions admin_regions
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <chr> <list> <list>
#> 1 ABW AW Aruba Oranjestad -70.0167 12.5167 <tibble> <tibble>
#> 2 AFE ZH Afric… <NA> <NA> <NA> <tibble> <tibble>
#> 3 AFG AF Afgha… Kabul 69.1761 34.5228 <tibble> <tibble>
#> 4 AFR A9 Africa <NA> <NA> <NA> <tibble> <tibble>
#> 5 AFW ZI Afric… <NA> <NA> <NA> <tibble> <tibble>
#> 6 AGO AO Angola Luanda 13.242 -8.81155 <tibble> <tibble>
#> 7 ALB AL Alban… Tirane 19.8172 41.3317 <tibble> <tibble>
#> 8 AND AD Andor… Andorra la … 1.5218 42.5075 <tibble> <tibble>
#> 9 ARB 1A Arab … <NA> <NA> <NA> <tibble> <tibble>
#> 10 ARE AE Unite… Abu Dhabi 54.3705 24.4764 <tibble> <tibble>
#> # ℹ 286 more rows
#> # ℹ 2 more variables: income_levels <list>, lending_types <list>This information can also be requested in other languages. For example, to view the supported countries in Chinese:
With wdi2, you can download indicator data for multiple
countries and indicators in a single function call. The function returns
a tidy data frame with country, indicator, date, and value columns.
For example, to download GDP per capita and total population for Mexico, Canada, and the United States:
# Download specific indicators for selected countries
download_indicators(countries = c("MX", "CA", "US"), indicators = c("NY.GDP.PCAP.KD", "SP.POP.TOTL"))
#> # A tibble: 384 × 4
#> indicator_id country_id date value
#> <chr> <chr> <chr> <dbl>
#> 1 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2023 44388.
#> 2 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2022 45227.
#> 3 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2021 44360.
#> 4 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2020 42366.
#> 5 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2019 45100.
#> 6 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2018 44907.
#> 7 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2017 44339.
#> 8 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2016 43551.
#> 9 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2015 43594.
#> 10 NY.GDP.PCAP.KD CA 2014 43643.
#> # ℹ 374 more rowsIf you need the same indicators for all countries, you can pass
"all" as the countries parameter:
The wdi2 package is designed to simplify the process of
accessing and analyzing World Bank data. By offering features like
multi-indicator downloads, progress bars, and flexible language support,
wdi2 is a robust tool for users who need access to World
Development Indicators in a modern, tidy format.
If you encounter any errors or have suggestions for improvements, please consider opening an issue in the package repository on GitHub.