Methodology and Usage
The number of economies2 included in the GDSP depends on the availability of household surveys. Whereas one household survey is needed to compute poverty, two comparable household surveys are needed to compute shared prosperity. Moreover, these surveys must be conducted around the same years to ensure that shared prosperity can be measured for roughly the same time-period in all economies.
Given the restrictions mentioned, the GDSP coverage can vary between updates (Table 1).3 The 9th edition of the GDSP covers 80 economies across all regions. In more developed economies, survey coverage has been relatively stable. However, in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the number of economies included are nearly halved from 8 in the 8th edition to 5 in the current edition, after reaching as many as 15 in previous editions. These data challenges imply that shared prosperity cannot be measured in some of the most deprived economies (a detailed discussion is included here).
Table 1. Country coverage across editions of the GDSP, by region
Edition |
Release Date |
Circa |
EAP |
ECA |
LAC |
MNA |
OHI |
SAR |
SSA |
Total |
---|
1 |
AM2014 |
2006-2011 |
3 |
23 |
14 |
4 |
0 |
6 |
15 |
65 |
2 |
AM2015 |
2007-2012 |
4 |
23 |
14 |
4 |
19 |
6 |
15 |
85 |
3 |
AM2016 |
2008-2013 |
7 |
24 |
16 |
2 |
20 |
4 |
9 |
82 |
4 |
AM2017 |
2009-2014 |
7 |
26 |
16 |
5 |
20 |
4 |
15 |
93 |
5 |
SM2018 |
2010-2015 |
6 |
27 |
16 |
4 |
20 |
3 |
12 |
88 |
6 |
AM2018 |
2010-2015 |
8 |
26 |
16 |
3 |
22 |
4 |
12 |
91 |
7 |
SM2020 |
2012-2017 |
7 |
24 |
14 |
4 |
23 |
4 |
15 |
91 |
8 |
SM2021 |
2013-2018 |
8 |
25 |
14 |
3 |
27 |
3 |
8 |
88 |
9 |
SM2022 |
2014-2019 |
8 |
26 |
14 |
2 |
23 |
2 |
5 |
80 |
Survey data are selected with the aim (i) to match the time periods as closely as possible across all countries, while including the most recent data; and (ii) to ensure the widest possible coverage of countries, across regions and income levels. Comparability is assessed according to the database available here.
Although 168 countries have an international poverty estimate in the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP), significantly fewer have a shared prosperity estimate because of stricter data requirements for the reasons discussed. Shared prosperity, and the shared prosperity premium can only be calculated for 80 of 218 economies, corresponding to 57 percent of the world’s population, and 37 percent of the world’s economies. See table 2.
Table 2. Global Database of Shared Prosperity, 9th Edition, Data Coverage
Country Group |
Population, Millions |
Number of Economies |
---|
|
All economiies |
Economies with poverty rate |
Economies with SP |
All |
Economies with poverty rate |
Economies with SP |
East Asia & Pacific |
2091.8 |
2049.8 |
2006 |
25 |
20 |
8 |
Eastern Europe & Central Asia |
492.9 |
492.9 |
442.5 |
30 |
30 |
26 |
Latin America & the Caribbean |
636.2 |
594.8 |
544.6 |
31 |
25 |
14 |
Middle East & North Africa |
387.8 |
376.3 |
180.2 |
14 |
12 |
2 |
South Asia |
1814.5 |
1777.3 |
213.0 |
8 |
7 |
2 |
Sub-Saharan Africa |
1074.9 |
1073.6 |
118.5 |
48 |
46 |
5 |
Rest of the World |
1100.7 |
1033.9 |
769.7 |
62 |
30 |
23 |
FCS |
885.7 |
812.2 |
58.5 |
39 |
34 |
3 |
IDA |
1081.0 |
1027.5 |
408.6 |
59 |
69 |
9 |
Low income |
647.9 |
639.3 |
117.2 |
31 |
28 |
3 |
Lower middle income |
2872.5 |
3005.9 |
926.2 |
47 |
46 |
15 |
Upper middle income |
2847.8 |
2571.0 |
2348.2 |
60 |
52 |
25 |
High income |
1230.6 |
1137.8 |
909.09 |
80 |
42 |
37 |
Total |
7598.7 |
7398.5 |
4301.49 |
218 |
168 |
80 |
Note: SP = shared prosperity indicator. Averages across economies are simple averages, not population weighted. Population reference year 2018. Sources: 9th edition of the GDSP Global Database of Shared Prosperity); PovcalNet, http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/; World Development Indicators (WDI); http://data.worldbank.org/products/wdi
Comparisons across regions should be made with caution. There is a wide range of periods represented in circa 2014–19 shared prosperity indicators; for example, growth is measured from 2012-17 for Egypt but 2016–20 for Mexico and Argentina. In addition, the LAC and ECA countries that have 2020 data are presenting shared prosperity indicators that incorporate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and corresponding policy response. These countries would require their own separate analysis given the extent of the shock to incomes in 2020.