How many countries have you surveyed?
Country Opinion Surveys have been conducted regularly since 2012, and over the course of these years, we have surveyed stakeholders in more than 120 countries. In recent years, we surveyed 21 countries in FY 2020 (July 2019-June 2020), 36 countries in FY 2021 (July 2020-June 2021), 23 countries in FY 2022 (July 2021-June 2022), and 31 countries in FY 2023 (July 2022-June 2023). Please refer to this reference file for a full list of countries surveyed since 2012.
How often is each country surveyed?
Countries are usually surveyed on a three-year cycle; however, country teams may decide to postpone or delay a survey in a certain country. Therefore, while some countries have been surveyed multiple times, others may have participated only in one or two survey rounds.
Who do you survey in these countries?
A sample of respondents includes senior government officials (national, regional, local), ministerial and implementing agency staff, employees of multilateral/bilateral agencies and other development partners, representatives of the private sector and civil society (NGOs, community-based organizations, youth groups, faith-based groups, the media, academics/researchers, think tanks, etc.) in various regions of a country. These respondents are opinion leaders who work with the World Bank Group or have a good level of knowledge of development issues in the country. For more information, please refer to the Methodology page.
How is the survey conducted?
An independent local research/consulting firm is hired to distribute and collect survey questionnaires on the ground. The World Bank Group has no interaction with potential respondents to ensure the independence of the process. Over half of our surveys are collected online, via anonymized online questionnaires, another half – on paper. Distribution methods for paper questionnaires include face-to-face interviews, or delivery of paper surveys via courier, post, or email. Paper questionnaires are sent back to the Bank’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the Business Intelligence Team performs data entry, analysis, and reporting.
What issues are explored in the survey?
Respondents are asked questions about the country context; their overall attitudes toward the World Bank Group (trust, relevance, effectiveness in achieving development results, alignment with the country’s development priorities, ability to influence the development agenda); the areas of development where the World Bank Group should focus its resources in the country; the World Bank Group’s knowledge products, financial instruments, and activities; questions about the World Bank Group as a development partner; its future role in the country, and the World Bank Group’s communication and information sharing in the country. There are two types of questions asked in the survey: indicators that are tracked across years and elective questions that country teams choose to include in the questionnaire. The wording and scales of the indicator questions stay the same for comparability, while country-specific questions may vary from country to country. Please use this link to view the latest boilerplate.
Is the survey anonymous?
The survey is completely anonymous. Given that the survey is distributed and collected by an independent local firm, the World Bank Group does not have access to the information about individual respondents. All paper questionnaires are anonymous, and all online questionnaires are anonymized so that none of the results can be attributable to specific individuals.
How can I find a report for a certain country?
There are three ways that survey reports can be accessed: 1. Via “Access reports” drop down menu on the Home page-please select the country you are interested in, and the most recent report for that country will open automatically. 2. Via interactive map on the Home page-hover your cursor over a country and use the “Get Report” link in the tooltip. You can also choose a survey year to see which countries were surveyed in that year. The map includes four most recent survey years 3. Browse through either one of the two World Bank Group’s repositories: Documents & Reports (search term “Country Opinion Survey”), or Open Knowledge Repository. All Country Opinion Survey reports published since 2012 are stored in these repositories.
How can I find a data file for a certain country?
Similarly to reports, there are three ways that survey data can be accessed: 1. Via the “Download Data” drop-down menu on the Home page - please select the country, and you will be redirected to a page in the World Bank Group’s Microdata library, which hosts the data for the latest survey in that country. By clicking “GET MICRODATA” and accepting the Terms and conditions, you can access the data in several formats. 2. Via interactive map on the Home page - hover your cursor over a country and use the “Download Data” link in the tooltip. You can also choose a survey year to see which countries were surveyed in that year. The map includes the four most recent survey years. 3. Browse through either one of the two World Bank Group’s repositories: Documents & Reports (search term “Country Opinion Survey”), or Open Knowledge Repository. All Country Opinion Survey reports published since 2012 are stored in these repositories.
What if I don’t see my country report / data on this website or in the WBG repositories?
If you don’t see your country of interest in the drop-down menus on the “Home” page of this website, this most probably means this country has nether been surveyed. Please check this reference file for a full list of countries surveyed since 2012.
What if I have more questions?
If you have more questions, please feel free to email our team at countrysurveys@worldbankgroup.org.