World Bank Open Data API

Base URL

https://api.worldbank.org/v2

Authentication

No API key required. The API is fully open.

Key Endpoints

1. Get Indicator Data for a Country

GET /country/{country_code}/indicator/{indicator_code}

Parameter	Required	Description
format	No	`json`, `xml` (default), `jsonP`
date	No	Year range: `2010:2023`, single year: `2020`
page	No	Page number (default 1)
per_page	No	Results per page (default 50, max 32500)
MRV	No	Most recent values: number of recent data points
gapfill	No	`Y` to fill gaps with most recent value
frequency	No	`M` (monthly), `Q` (quarterly), `Y` (yearly)
source	No	Source ID number

Example (GDP for USA, 2015-2023):

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/US/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?format=json&date=2015:2023

Example (most recent 5 values):

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/US/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?format=json&MRV=5

2. Get Indicator Data for Multiple Countries

GET /country/{code1};{code2};{code3}/indicator/{indicator_code}

Example:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/US;GB;CN;IN/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?format=json&date=2020:2023

3. Get Indicator Data for All Countries

GET /country/all/indicator/{indicator_code}

Example:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/all/indicator/SI.POV.DDAY?format=json&date=2020&per_page=300

4. Get Indicator Data by Region/Income Group

GET /country/{aggregate_code}/indicator/{indicator_code}

Aggregate codes: EAS (East Asia), ECS (Europe & Central Asia), LIC (Low Income), HIC (High Income), WLD (World), etc.

Example:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/WLD/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?format=json&date=2020:2023

5. List All Countries

GET /country

Example:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country?format=json&per_page=300

6. Get Country Info

GET /country/{country_code}

Example:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/country/US?format=json

7. List All Indicators

GET /indicator

Example:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/indicator?format=json&per_page=100

8. Search Indicators

GET /indicator

Use the query string directly in the URL path or filter by topic/source.

By topic:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/topic/3/indicator?format=json

By source:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/source/2/indicator?format=json&per_page=50

9. List Topics

GET /topic

Example:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/topic?format=json

10. List Sources

GET /source

Example:

https://api.worldbank.org/v2/source?format=json

Common Indicator Codes

Indicator Code	Description
NY.GDP.MKTP.CD	GDP (current US$)
NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG	GDP growth (annual %)
NY.GDP.PCAP.CD	GDP per capita (current US$)
NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD	GDP per capita, PPP (current intl $)
SP.POP.TOTL	Population, total
SP.POP.GROW	Population growth (annual %)
SP.DYN.LE00.IN	Life expectancy at birth (years)
SP.DYN.TFRT.IN	Fertility rate (births per woman)
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS	Unemployment (% of total labor force)
FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG	Inflation, consumer prices (annual %)
SI.POV.DDAY	Poverty headcount at $2.15/day (% of pop)
SI.POV.GINI	Gini index
BX.KLT.DINV.CD.WD	Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, US$)
NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS	Exports of goods and services (% of GDP)
EN.ATM.CO2E.PC	CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita)
SE.ADT.LITR.ZS	Literacy rate, adult (% ages 15+)
SH.XPD.CHEX.PC.CD	Current health expenditure per capita (US$)
IT.NET.USER.ZS	Individuals using the Internet (% of pop)

Common Country Codes (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2)

US (USA), GB (UK), CN (China), IN (India), JP (Japan), DE (Germany), FR (France), BR (Brazil), ZA (South Africa), NG (Nigeria), AU (Australia), CA (Canada)

Response Format

Important: JSON responses are returned as a two-element array. The first element is pagination metadata; the second is the data array.

Indicator observations

json

[
  {
    "page": 1,
    "pages": 1,
    "per_page": 50,
    "total": 9,
    "sourceid": "2",
    "lastupdated": "2024-03-28"
  },
  [
    {
      "indicator": {
        "id": "NY.GDP.MKTP.CD",
        "value": "GDP (current US$)"
      },
      "country": {
        "id": "US",
        "value": "United States"
      },
      "countryiso3code": "USA",
      "date": "2023",
      "value": 27360935000000,
      "unit": "",
      "obs_status": "",
      "decimal": 0
    },
    {
      "indicator": { "id": "NY.GDP.MKTP.CD", "value": "GDP (current US$)" },
      "country": { "id": "US", "value": "United States" },
      "countryiso3code": "USA",
      "date": "2022",
      "value": 25462700000000,
      "unit": "",
      "obs_status": "",
      "decimal": 0
    }
  ]
]

Note: value is null when data is unavailable for that year.

Country info

json

[
  { "page": 1, "pages": 1, "per_page": 50, "total": 1 },
  [
    {
      "id": "US",
      "iso2Code": "US",
      "name": "United States",
      "region": { "id": "NAC", "iso2code": "XU", "value": "North America" },
      "adminregion": { "id": "", "iso2code": "", "value": "" },
      "incomeLevel": { "id": "HIC", "iso2code": "XD", "value": "High income" },
      "lendingType": { "id": "LNX", "iso2code": "XX", "value": "Not classified" },
      "capitalCity": "Washington D.C.",
      "longitude": "-77.032",
      "latitude": "38.8895"
    }
  ]
]

Rate Limits

No formal rate limits published; the API is open and generous.
For bulk downloads, use per_page=32500 to minimize requests.
Be respectful: 1-2 requests/second for automated scripts.
For very large datasets, consider the World Bank bulk download facility.

Notes

Always include format=json -- the default is XML.
Results are returned in descending date order by default.
null values are common for recent years (data not yet published) or for indicators with sparse coverage.
Pagination: check pages in the metadata; iterate page=1, page=2, etc.
Country codes follow ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 (2-letter) in the URL path. The response also includes countryiso3code.