World Bank Indicators API

openapi: 3.0.0
info:
  version: 2.0.0
  title: World Bank Classifications Indicators API
  description: 'The World Bank Indicators API provides programmatic access to nearly 16,000 time series development indicators. These indicators include data such as total population, gross domestic product, energy use, poverty rates, health metrics, education statistics, and demographic data across countries and regions. Most data series date back over 50 years. No authentication is required. Supports filtering by date range, country, region, income level, and lending type. Returns data in JSON format with pagination support.

    '
  contact:
    name: World Bank Data Help Desk
    url: https://datahelpdesk.worldbank.org
    email: data@worldbank.org
  license:
    name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
    url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
servers:
- url: https://api.worldbank.org/v2
  description: World Bank API v2
tags:
- name: Indicators
paths:
  /country/all/indicator/{indicator_id}:
    get:
      summary: Get indicator data for all countries
      description: 'Returns time series data for the specified indicator across all countries. Common indicators include SP.POP.TOTL (Population), NY.GDP.MKTP.CD (GDP), SP.DYN.IMRT.IN (Infant mortality), SE.ADT.LITR.ZS (Literacy rate).

        '
      operationId: getIndicatorAllCountries
      tags:
      - Indicators
      parameters:
      - name: indicator_id
        in: path
        description: World Bank indicator code (e.g., SP.POP.TOTL, NY.GDP.MKTP.CD)
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: date
        in: query
        description: 'Date range filter. Single year (2010), range (2010:2020), or monthly (2010M01:2010M12) or quarterly (2010Q1:2010Q4).

          '
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Response format
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - xml
          - jsonp
          default: json
      - name: page
        in: query
        description: Page number
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 1
      - name: per_page
        in: query
        description: Records per page (max 1000)
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 50
          maximum: 1000
      - name: mrv
        in: query
        description: Returns the most recent values for the specified number of years
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
      - name: gap_fill
        in: query
        description: Fills missing values with the previous non-empty value when used with mrv
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - Y
          - N
      - name: frequency
        in: query
        description: Frequency of returned data (M=monthly, Q=quarterly, Y=yearly)
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - M
          - Q
          - Y
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Indicator data for all countries
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/IndicatorResponse'
  /country/{country_code}/indicator/{indicator_id}:
    get:
      summary: Get indicator data for a specific country
      description: 'Returns time series data for the specified indicator for a single country. Supports date filtering, pagination, and most-recent-value queries.

        '
      operationId: getIndicatorByCountry
      tags:
      - Indicators
      parameters:
      - name: country_code
        in: path
        description: ISO 3166-1 country code (e.g., US, USA, CN, CHN, AFG, ALB)
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: indicator_id
        in: path
        description: World Bank indicator code (e.g., SP.POP.TOTL, NY.GDP.MKTP.CD)
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: date
        in: query
        description: Date range filter (single year, range, monthly, or quarterly)
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Response format
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - xml
          - jsonp
          default: json
      - name: page
        in: query
        description: Page number
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 1
      - name: per_page
        in: query
        description: Records per page (max 1000)
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 50
          maximum: 1000
      - name: mrv
        in: query
        description: Most recent values - number of years
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
      - name: frequency
        in: query
        description: Data frequency (M=monthly, Q=quarterly, Y=yearly)
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - M
          - Q
          - Y
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Indicator data for the specified country
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/IndicatorResponse'
  /indicator:
    get:
      summary: List all indicators
      description: Returns a paginated list of all available World Bank indicators with metadata.
      operationId: listIndicators
      tags:
      - Indicators
      parameters:
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Response format
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - xml
          default: json
      - name: page
        in: query
        description: Page number
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 1
      - name: per_page
        in: query
        description: Records per page (max 1000)
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 50
          maximum: 1000
      responses:
        '200':
          description: List of indicators
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  oneOf:
                  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaginationData'
                  - type: array
                    items:
                      $ref: '#/components/schemas/Indicator'
  /indicator/{indicator_id}:
    get:
      summary: Get indicator metadata
      description: Returns metadata for a specific indicator including name, source, and topic classification.
      operationId: getIndicator
      tags:
      - Indicators
      parameters:
      - name: indicator_id
        in: path
        description: World Bank indicator code (e.g., SP.POP.TOTL)
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Response format
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - xml
          default: json
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Indicator metadata
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  oneOf:
                  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaginationData'
                  - type: array
                    items:
                      $ref: '#/components/schemas/Indicator'
  /topic/{topic_id}/indicator:
    get:
      summary: List indicators by topic
      description: Returns a list of indicators belonging to a specific topic.
      operationId: listIndicatorsByTopic
      tags:
      - Indicators
      parameters:
      - name: topic_id
        in: path
        description: Topic ID (1-21, e.g., 1=Agriculture, 2=Aid Effectiveness)
        required: true
        schema:
          type: integer
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Response format
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - xml
          default: json
      - name: page
        in: query
        description: Page number
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 1
      - name: per_page
        in: query
        description: Records per page
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 50
      responses:
        '200':
          description: List of indicators for the specified topic
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  oneOf:
                  - $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaginationData'
                  - type: array
                    items:
                      $ref: '#/components/schemas/Indicator'
components:
  schemas:
    ClassificationRef:
      type: object
      description: Reference to a World Bank classification category
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          description: Classification code
          example: NAC
        iso2code:
          type: string
          description: ISO 2-character code
          example: XU
        value:
          type: string
          description: Human-readable classification name
          example: North America
    Indicator:
      type: object
      description: World Bank development indicator metadata
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          description: Indicator code
          example: SP.POP.TOTL
        name:
          type: string
          description: Indicator name
          example: Population, total
        unit:
          type: string
          description: Unit of measurement
          example: ''
        source:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/ClassificationRef'
        sourceNote:
          type: string
          description: Methodological notes about the indicator
        sourceOrganization:
          type: string
          description: Organization that collects this data
          example: (1) United Nations Population Division.
        topics:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ClassificationRef'
    PaginationData:
      type: object
      description: Pagination metadata returned as the first element of the response array
      properties:
        page:
          type: integer
          description: Current page number
          example: 1
        pages:
          type: integer
          description: Total number of pages
          example: 10
        per_page:
          type: integer
          description: Records per page
          example: 50
        total:
          type: integer
          description: Total number of records
          example: 500
        sourceid:
          type: string
          nullable: true
          description: Source identifier
          example: '2'
        sourcename:
          type: string
          nullable: true
          description: Source name
          example: World Development Indicators
        lastupdated:
          type: string
          nullable: true
          description: Date of last data update
          example: '2024-06-28'
    IndicatorValue:
      type: object
      description: A single data point for an indicator
      properties:
        indicator:
          type: object
          properties:
            id:
              type: string
              description: Indicator code
              example: SP.POP.TOTL
            value:
              type: string
              description: Indicator name
              example: Population, total
        country:
          type: object
          properties:
            id:
              type: string
              description: Country code
              example: US
            value:
              type: string
              description: Country name
              example: United States
        countryiso3code:
          type: string
          description: ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code
          example: USA
        date:
          type: string
          description: Year or date period of measurement
          example: '2022'
        value:
          type: number
          nullable: true
          description: Numeric value of the indicator
          example: 335893238
        unit:
          type: string
          description: Unit of measurement
          example: ''
        obs_status:
          type: string
          description: Observation status code
          example: ''
        decimal:
          type: integer
          description: Number of decimal places for display
          example: 0
    IndicatorResponse:
      type: array
      description: Standard World Bank API response containing pagination data and indicator values
      items:
        oneOf:
        - $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaginationData'
        - type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/IndicatorValue'