Cashews are Côte d’Ivoire’s second most important export commodity after cocoa, and a crucial source of cash for smallholders and processors in the poorer north of the country. From 380,000 tons in 2010...
Of the 37 million inhabitants of Uzbekistan, 49 percent lived in rural areas in 2024 - and the rural population is growing faster than the urban population. Agriculture is a key economic sector, accounting...
Economic growth and job creation remain key challenges for Jordan, where the economy has only grown by an annual average of 2.5 percent over the past decade. Unemployment is persistently high (22.3 percent...
Generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) is set to potentially transform the labor market, presenting both opportunities and challenges. Studies about its possible impacts have generally focused on...
From 2001 to 2012, Indonesia enjoyed strong economic growth, averaging 5.6 percent per annum, while the poverty rate halved to 11 percent. The employment rate reached a two-decade record high in 2019...
In low-income countries, formal health systems are stretched thin, and rural and underserved areas often lack adequate primary healthcare coverage, delaying essential interventions and leaving populations...
Kenya faces a growing youth employment challenge, with nearly 80 percent of its population under 35 working in informal, low-quality jobs that offer little security or opportunity for advancement. About...
The tourism and hospitality sector are a key driver of Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth, and a major source of foreign reserves and jobs: the sector has the potential to add 168 billion dollars in...
The Caribbean region faces a growing youth employment challenge, as outdated infrastructure and limited digital skills continue to constrain economic opportunities and resilience. For much of the last...
While the Philippines has been one of the most dynamic economies in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, with gross national income (GNI) per capita more than tripling, and poverty declining sharply...
Brazil has committed to a 43 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2005 and 2030 - mainly through increasing the share of sustainable biofuels and clean energy in the energy mix...
Bangladesh’s informal sector accounts for up to 85 percent of employment and is characterized by low productivity and low wages. Youth in particular face significant challenges to accessing economic opportunity...
Kazakhstan holds a strategic position between China, Europe, and the Middle East, but has historically been underutilized as an economic and transit bridge because of poor connectivity across the country...
This Brief examines issues related to women’s participation as workers, top managers, and owners of private firms in 27 European Union countries (EU-27), using the rich database of the World Bank Enterprise...
This Brief highlights issues related to the education and skill level of workers and top managers in firms in 27 European Union countries (the EU-27), using the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES). The...
This Brief studies the establishment size distribution in the European Union countries. A well-established literature has established that an abundance of small establishments among lower-income countries...
This Brief studies patterns of political engagement among private firms in the European Union (EU). Using representative data, allowing for analysis at the level of NUTS2 regional groupings (EU regions...
This Brief uses data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES) in 27 European Union countries (the EU-27) to gain insights into the adoption of management practices in the region's private sector...
This brief is the first in a series of several companion pieces that assess the state of the business environment in 27 European Union (EU27) countries. This series makes use of a fully comparable data...
IFC is working to develop solutions to close the micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) financing gap, collaborating with 129 financial institutions (FIs) across 39 International Development Association...