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Indicators Reference

Visonomics807 provides access to thousands of economic indicators from the World Bank. This guide covers the most commonly used indicators.

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Indicator Categories

Economy

GDP, GNI, trade, investment

Employment

Unemployment, labor force, wages

Prices

Inflation, CPI, deflators

Demographics

Population, life expectancy

Health

Health spending, mortality

Environment

CO2, energy, resources

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Economic Indicators

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Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

IndicatorCodeUnit
GDP (current US$)NY.GDP.MKTP.CDUS Dollars
GDP (constant 2015 US$)NY.GDP.MKTP.KDUS Dollars
GDP growth (annual %)NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZGPercentage
GDP per capita (current US$)NY.GDP.PCAP.CDUS Dollars
GDP per capita, PPPNY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CDInternational $
When to use which GDP measure:
  • Current US$: Comparing countries in today’s dollars
  • Constant US$: Tracking real growth (inflation-adjusted)
  • PPP: Comparing living standards across countries
  • Per capita: Normalizing for population differences

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Trade & Investment

IndicatorCodeUnit
Exports of goods and services (% of GDP)NE.EXP.GNFS.ZSPercentage
Imports of goods and services (% of GDP)NE.IMP.GNFS.ZSPercentage
Trade (% of GDP)NE.TRD.GNFS.ZSPercentage
Foreign direct investment, net inflowsBX.KLT.DINV.CD.WDUS Dollars
Current account balance (% of GDP)BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZSPercentage

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Government & Debt

IndicatorCodeUnit
Government expenditure (% of GDP)NE.CON.GOVT.ZSPercentage
Tax revenue (% of GDP)GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZSPercentage
External debt stocks (% of GNI)DT.DOD.DECT.GN.ZSPercentage
Central government debt (% of GDP)GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZSPercentage

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Employment Indicators

IndicatorCodeUnit
Unemployment, total (% of labor force)SL.UEM.TOTL.ZSPercentage
Unemployment, youth (% of youth labor force)SL.UEM.1524.ZSPercentage
Labor force participation rateSL.TLF.CACT.ZSPercentage
Employment in agriculture (% of total)SL.AGR.EMPL.ZSPercentage
Employment in industry (% of total)SL.IND.EMPL.ZSPercentage
Employment in services (% of total)SL.SRV.EMPL.ZSPercentage

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Price & Inflation Indicators

IndicatorCodeUnit
Inflation, consumer prices (annual %)FP.CPI.TOTL.ZGPercentage
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual %)NY.GDP.DEFL.KD.ZGPercentage
Consumer price index (2010 = 100)FP.CPI.TOTLIndex
Official exchange rate (LCU per US$)PA.NUS.FCRFLCU

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Demographic Indicators

IndicatorCodeUnit
Population, totalSP.POP.TOTLNumber
Population growth (annual %)SP.POP.GROWPercentage
Life expectancy at birthSP.DYN.LE00.INYears
Birth rate (per 1,000 people)SP.DYN.CBRT.INPer 1,000
Death rate (per 1,000 people)SP.DYN.CDRT.INPer 1,000
Fertility rate (births per woman)SP.DYN.TFRT.INBirths
Urban population (% of total)SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZSPercentage

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Health Indicators

IndicatorCodeUnit
Health expenditure (% of GDP)SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZSPercentage
Hospital beds (per 1,000 people)SH.MED.BEDS.ZSPer 1,000
Physicians (per 1,000 people)SH.MED.PHYS.ZSPer 1,000
Mortality rate, infantSP.DYN.IMRT.INPer 1,000 live births
Mortality rate, under-5SH.DYN.MORTPer 1,000 live births

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Education Indicators

IndicatorCodeUnit
Education expenditure (% of GDP)SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZSPercentage
School enrollment, primary (% net)SE.PRM.NENRPercentage
School enrollment, secondary (% net)SE.SEC.NENRPercentage
Literacy rate, adult (% of people 15+)SE.ADT.LITR.ZSPercentage

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Environment Indicators

IndicatorCodeUnit
CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita)EN.ATM.CO2E.PCMetric tons
CO2 emissions (kt)EN.ATM.CO2E.KTKilotons
Renewable energy consumption (% of total)EG.FEC.RNEW.ZSPercentage
Forest area (% of land area)AG.LND.FRST.ZSPercentage
Energy use (kg oil equivalent per capita)EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OEkg oil eq

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Understanding Indicator Units

Unit TypeMeaningExample
Current US$Value at today’s pricesGDP, Trade volume
Constant US$Inflation-adjusted (base year)Real GDP growth
PPPPurchasing Power Parity adjustedLiving standard comparisons
% of GDPShare of total economyGovernment spending
Per capitaPer personCO2 emissions/person
Per 1,000Rate per thousand peopleBirth rate, Hospital beds
IndexRelative to base yearCPI (2010=100)

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Finding Indicators

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By Topic

Use the category filters:
  • Economic Growth
  • Trade & Finance
  • Employment & Labor
  • Prices & Inflation
  • Demographics & Population
  • Health
  • Education
  • Environment
Type natural language queries:
  • “GDP growth” → GDP growth rate indicators
  • “unemployment” → Unemployment indicators
  • “carbon emissions” → CO2/GHG indicators

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By Code

If you know the World Bank indicator code, search directly:
  • “NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG” → GDP growth (annual %)