1.2 Quality of life About the data
Definitions
Data sources
About the data
The indicators in this table provide an overview of the conditions in which more than 5
billion of the worlds people live. Although not perfectly correlated with income or
consumption per capita, they tend to tell a common story: on average, the residents of
poor countries enjoy fewer amenities, lack basic skills, and suffer higher rates of
illness and, consequently, live shorter lives. These indicators complement those in table
1.3, which measure progress toward international goals for social and economic
development.
Except for the adult illiteracy rate, all of the indicators shown here appear elsewhere
in the World Development Indicators. For more information about them, see About
the data for tables 2.14 (access to safe water and sanitation), 2.16 (child
malnutrition), 2.17 (life expectancy), and 3.7 (commercial energy use).
Literacy is difficult to define and to measure. The definition here is based on the
concept of functional literacythe ability to use reading and writing skills
effectively in the context of the society. To measure literacy using such a definition
requires census or sample survey measurements under controlled conditions. In practice,
many countries estimate the number of illiterate adults from self-reported data or from
estimates of school completion. Because of these problems, comparisons across
countriesand even over time within countriesshould be made with caution.
Definitions
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. Prevalence of child malnutrition is the
percentage of children under 5 whose weight by age is less than minus two standard
deviations from the median of the reference population. Access to
sanitation is the percentage of the population with excreta disposal facilities that
can effectively prevent human, animal, and insect contact with excreta. Suitable
facilities range from simple but protected pit latrines to flush toilets with sewerage. To
be effective, all facilities must be correctly constructed and properly maintained.
Access to safe water is the percentage of the population with
reasonable access to an adequate amount of safe water (including treated surface water and
untreated but uncontaminated water, such as from springs, sanitary wells, and protected
boreholes). In urban areas the source may be a public fountain or standpipe located not
more than 200 meters away. In rural areas the definition implies that members of the
household do not have to spend a disproportionate part of the day fetching water. An
adequate amount of safe water is that needed to satisfy metabolic, hygienic, and domestic
requirementsusually about 20 liters a person a day. The definition of safe water has
changed over time. 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. Commercial energy use is measured by
indigenous energy production (from all commercial sources) plus imports and stock changes
less exports and international marine bunkers, stated in kilograms of oil equivalents per
capita.
Data sources
The indicators here and throughout the rest of the book have been compiled by World
Bank staff from primary and secondary sources. For most of the indicators shown in the
tables in this section, the sources are cited in the notes to the tables referred to in About
the data. Data on illiteracy are supplied by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and published in its Statistical
Yearbook (see Data sources for table 2.9).
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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