World Bank Economic Trends Analysis

1. Introduction

This analysis examines global economic and development trends using data from the World Bank. The goal is to uncover relationships between key indicators such as GDP, life expectancy, internet adoption, and energy consumption, while identifying disparities across regions and income groups.

Objective: Understand and analyze global economic trends to inform policy recommendations and future research.

Data Sources: World Bank Open Data (1960–2017).

2. Methodology

Data Cleaning & Preprocessing

• Handled missing data using era-specific strategies (e.g., imputing 0 for internet usage pre-1990).
• Calculated population using GDP and GDP per capita.
• Applied linear interpolation for unemployment and infant mortality rates.

Exploratory Analysis

• Analyzed temporal trends in life expectancy, GDP per capita, and internet adoption.
• Created choropleth maps and regional bar charts to visualize disparities.
• Compared metrics across regions and income groups using boxplots and radar charts.

Relationship Analysis

• Identified strong correlations (e.g., life expectancy vs. crude birth rate: -0.85).
• Used regression lines in scatter plots to illustrate relationships (e.g., GDP per capita vs. life expectancy).

Composite Development Index

• Combined metrics like life expectancy, GDP per capita, and internet usage into a weighted index to rank countries.

3. Key Findings

Economic & Health Trends

• GDP per capita strongly correlates with life expectancy (r = 0.57) and internet adoption (r = 0.71).
• High-income OECD countries had 2.5x higher life expectancy than low-income nations in 2017.

Technological Adoption

• Internet usage surged post-2000, with Europe & North America exceeding 75% adoption by 2017, while Sub-Saharan Africa lagged at <15%.

Regional Disparities

• Sub-Saharan Africa faced the highest infant mortality (55.1 per 1,000 births) and lowest electricity consumption (199 kWh per capita).
• North America led in GDP per capita ($61,385) and life expectancy (81 years).

Income Group Comparisons

• The gap in life expectancy between high-income OECD and low-income countries widened from 20 years (1960) to 25 years (2017).

4. Interactive Visualizations

1. Internet Adoption (2017)

Explore global internet penetration rates across countries.

2. GDP vs. Life Expectancy (1960–2017)

Track how countries evolved over time in terms of GDP and life expectancy.

3. Regional Comparison Across Metrics

Compare regions across health, economic, and technological indicators.

5. Conclusion

This analysis highlights the critical role of economic stability and technological infrastructure in driving development. Key recommendations include:

• Policy Focus: Invest in renewable energy and digital infrastructure for low-income regions.
• Healthcare Initiatives: Address infant mortality through targeted public health programs.
• Future Work: Expand analysis to include climate variables and policy impact case studies.