Global links 6 About the data Starting with World Development Indicators 2013, the World Bank is
Official development assistance
changing its presentation of balance of payments data to conform
Data on official development assistance received refer to aid to
to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Balance of Payments
eligible countries from members of the Organisation of Economic
Manual, 6th edition (BPM6). The historical data series based on
Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance
BPM5 ends with data for 2005. Balance of payments data from
Committee (DAC), multilateral organizations, and non-DAC donors.
2005 forward have been presented in accord with the BPM6 meth-
Data do not reflect aid given by recipient countries to other develop-
odology, which can be accessed at www.imf.org/external/np/sta/
ing countries or distinguish among types of aid (program, project,
bop/bop.htm.
or food aid; emergency assistance; or postconflict peacekeeping assistance), which may have different effects on the economy.
Trade in goods
Ratios of aid to gross national income (GNI), gross capital for-
Data on merchandise trade are from customs reports of goods
mation, imports, and government spending measure a country’s
moving into or out of an economy or from reports of financial
dependency on aid. Care must be taken in drawing policy conclu-
transactions related to merchandise trade recorded in the balance
sions. For foreign policy reasons some countries have traditionally
of payments. Because of differences in timing and definitions,
received large amounts of aid. Thus aid dependency ratios may
trade flow estimates from customs reports and balance of pay-
reveal as much about a donor’s interests as about a recipient’s
ments may differ. Several international agencies process trade
needs. Increases in aid dependency ratios can reflect events affect-
data, each correcting unreported or misreported data, leading to
ing both the numerator (aid) and the denominator (GNI).
other differences. The most detailed source of data on interna-
Data are based on information from donors and may not be con-
tional trade in goods is the United Nations Statistics Division’s
sistent with information recorded by recipients in the balance of
Commodity Trade Statistics (Comtrade) database. The IMF and
payments, which often excludes all or some technical assistance—
the World Trade Organization also collect customs-based data
particularly payments to expatriates made directly by the donor.
on trade in goods.
Similarly, grant commodity aid may not always be recorded in trade
The “terms of trade” index measures the relative prices of a coun-
data or in the balance of payments. DAC statistics exclude aid for
try’s exports and imports. The most common way to calculate terms
military and antiterrorism purposes. The aggregates refer to World
of trade is the net barter (or commodity) terms of trade index, or
Bank classifications of economies and therefore may differ from
the ratio of the export price index to the import price index. When a
those reported by the OECD.
country’s net barter terms of trade index increases, its exports have become more expensive or its imports cheaper.
Migration, personal transfers, and compensation of employees
Tourism
The movement of people, most often through migration, is a signifi-
Tourism is defined as the activity of people traveling to and staying
cant part of global integration. Migrants contribute to the economies
in places outside their usual environment for no more than one year
of both their host country and their country of origin. Yet reliable sta-
for leisure, business, and other purposes not related to an activity
tistics on migration are difficult to collect and are often incomplete,
remunerated from within the place visited. Data on inbound and
making international comparisons a challenge.
outbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals and departures,
Since data on emigrant stock is difficult for countries to collect,
not to the number of unique individuals. Thus a person who makes
the United Nations Population Division provides data on net migra-
several trips to a country during a given period is counted each
tion, taking into account the past migration history of a country or
time as a new arrival. Data on inbound tourism show the arrivals of
area, the migration policy of a country, and the influx of refugees
nonresident tourists (overnight visitors) at national borders. When
in recent periods to derive estimates of net migration. The data to
data on international tourists are unavailable or incomplete, the
calculate these estimates come from various sources, including
table shows the arrivals of international visitors, which include tour-
border statistics, administrative records, surveys, and censuses.
ists, same-day visitors, cruise passengers, and crew members. The
When there are insufficient data, net migration is derived through
aggregates are calculated using the World Bank’s weighted aggrega-
the difference between the growth rate of a country’s population
tion methodology (see Statistical methods) and differ from the World
over a certain period and the rate of natural increase of that popu-
Tourism Organization’s aggregates.
lation (itself being the difference between the birth rate and the
For tourism expenditure, the World Tourism Organization uses bal-
death rate).
ance of payments data from the IMF supplemented by data from
Migrants often send funds back to their home countries, which are
individual countries. These data, shown in the table, include travel
recorded as personal transfers in the balance of payments. Personal
and passenger transport items as defined by the Balance of Pay-
transfers thus include all current transfers between resident and
ments. When the IMF does not report data on passenger transport
nonresident individuals, independent of the source of income of the
items, expenditure data for travel items are shown.
sender (irrespective of whether the sender receives income from
Economy
States and markets
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World Development Indicators 2013 101