The World Is Developing at Its Slowest Pace in 75 Years

Daniel Gerszon Mahler, Umar Serajuddin, Divyanshi Wadhwa and Nishant Yonzan

No 11350, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Understanding and accurately measuring societal progress is crucial for guiding policy and development efforts. This paper introduces a new method to measure societal progress that is comparable across different stages of development, time periods, and indicators. The paper utilizes this method to analyze six key indicators of development with cross-country data from 1950 and finds that the world is developing at its slowest pace in 75 years. This slowdown has already caused large development losses and will cause global poverty to increase if it continues. The paper identifies 54 countries that are more than 100 years away from reaching standards associated with graduating to developed country status if they continue at their current pace. The framework can be used to set development targets at various levels of ambition for every country and globally. The method involves specific data requirements, which means it is not suitable in all contexts.

Date: 2026-04-13
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