The Development Impact Fund (DIF) supports governments and development partners in using rigorous evidence to improve policies, programs, and investments. Established in January 2024, DIF builds on the legacy of the World Bank's Impact Evaluation to Development Impact (i2i) trust fund, expanding its mission to generate and apply evidence that improves development outcomes at scale.
As of March 2026, the portfolio comprises 270 projects across 67 countries, influencing US$38 billion in development financing.
Our work has a truly global footprint, with projects spanning every region with strongest presence in Africa (57 percent), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (17 percent) and South Asia (11 percent), alongside work in Europe and Central Asia (5 percent), the Middle East and North Africa (4 percent), East Asia and Pacific (3 percent), and global initiatives (3 percent). The portfolio is intentionally focused on contexts where evidence can have the greatest impact: 75 percent of projects are implemented in low- and middle-income countries, and 25 percent support fragile and conflict-affected settings.
The portfolio generates a diverse range of evidence products, including impact evaluations, data products, diagnostics, advisory engagements, and toolkits. Nearly 67 percent of projects have been completed—primarily from the i2i portfolio—translating research into actionable insights for governments. Of the remaining projects, 5 percent are in design, 13 percent are in implementation, and 15 percent are in analysis, ensuring that new evidence continues to emerge and inform the next generation of development investments. These numbers tell a forward-looking story: expanding global reach, deeper engagement in high-need contexts, and sustained impact at scale.
75% of DIF's portfolio is invested in low and middle-income countries, with 25% allocated to fragile and conflict settings.
The portfolio is also strongly anchored in rigorous evidence generation. Impact evaluations account for the majority of research products (251 projects), complemented by 16 data products, 13 diagnostics, and advisory engagements and tool kits (8 each).
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