Skip to content

Are all WDI series on a calendar year reporting period?

← Data Compilation Methodology
While most economies report their national accounts and balance of payments using calendar years (CY), some report based on fiscal years (FY). For the World Development Indicators (WDI), data reported on a fiscal year basis are assigned to the calendar year containing the larger share of the fiscal year period. So, for example, if a country's fiscal year ends before June 30, data are shown in the first calendar year of the fiscal period, while if the fiscal year ends on or after June 30 data are shown in the second calendar year of the period.

For example, annual national accounts data reported by Australia are for the fiscal year ending on June 30th. Given the rules above, the WDI figures for Australia's 2022 GDP correspond to the official data for fiscal year 2021-22, which covers the period July 2021 – June 2022. The exchange rate used to convert values from Australian dollar to US dollar is a simple average of the quarterly exchange rates reported by the IMF covering the period July 2021 – June 2022

Users may confirm the reporting period for each country by reviewing the metadata in WDI. This information can be found by selecting the desired country, series, and year, then by clicking on the ‘Metadata’ button in the upper right corner of the screen. Fiscal year information can be found in the ‘Special Notes’ section of the metadata pane.

Thank you for visiting the World Bank's Data Help Desk. Please review the terms of use for this website. Your continued use of this website constitutes your acceptance of these terms and conditions.

Developer Info

Feedback and Knowledge Base

(thinking…)