World Bank Group · Statistical Performance Indicators
Statistical performance by country
How well does a country's own statistical system work?
Norway placed first of the 188 countries compared in 2024, at 94.143, and South Sudan last, at 27.123. In the middle country the figure was 69.303. Among the 167 countries measured in every edition since 2016, the middle one moved from 56.248 to 73.355.
Statistical performance · 2024
Key statistic · Governance & Institutions
Highest of 188Norway
94.143012024 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 188 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Ximonic , Simo Räsänen · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale
3Photo: User:Florian Fuchs · CC BY 3.0, greyscale
Lowest in 2024
- 188
South Sudan27.123 - 187
Turkmenistan29.654 - 186
Equatorial Guinea32.148
Positions out of 188. Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Highest on each continent
- Africa
Senegal81.414 - Americas
Canada92.359 - Asia
South Korea91.568 - EuropeNorway94.143
- Oceania
New Zealand91.739 - Every region
02Every measured country
Statistical performance on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 27.123–54.058
- 54.386–64.521
- 64.534–76.368
- 77.198–85.674
- 85.818–94.143
- No reading in 2024
- Europe
87.565
the middle country, of 40 measured · 49 members
Norway94.143
Andorra49.868Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
71.850
the middle country, of 34 measured · 48 members
Canada92.359
Haiti38.744Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Asia
69.489
the middle country, of 47 measured · 52 members
South Korea91.568Turkmenistan29.654Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
61.749
the middle country, of 53 measured · 55 members
Senegal81.414South Sudan27.123Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
52.239
the middle country, of 14 measured · 21 members
New Zealand91.739
Micronesia37.103Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Northern Europe
89.074
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Norway94.143
Iceland81.470Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
88.370
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Germany90.055
Netherlands85.133Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Southern Europe
85.050
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
Spain91.823Andorra49.868Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
84.614
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Poland91.106
Ukraine75.997Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- South America
80.003
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Chile89.379
Venezuela39.458Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Central Asia
79.148
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan84.893Turkmenistan29.654Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Central America
75.736
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica90.985
Nicaragua55.804Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Western Asia
71.945
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Israel90.294
Syria32.418Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
67.238
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Singapore88.319
Timor-Leste60.517Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Western Africa
66.529
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Senegal81.414
Guinea-Bissau47.523Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Southern Asia
64.374
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Sri Lanka74.575
Afghanistan54.386Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Eastern Africa
64.344
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Mauritius80.441South Sudan27.123Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Northern Africa
64.153
the middle country, of 6 measured · 6 members
Egypt78.138
Libya34.751Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Southern Africa
60.965
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
South Africa81.288
Namibia55.664Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Caribbean
55.672
the middle country, of 12 measured · 24 members
Dominican Republic75.216Haiti38.744Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Micronesia
47.940
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
Palau60.954Micronesia37.103Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Middle Africa
46.842
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Cameroon66.048Equatorial Guinea32.148Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand91.739
Australia88.971Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Eastern Asia
4 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea.
South Korea91.568
China57.927Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Fiji67.677
Papua New Guinea43.628Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada92.359
United States90.059Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
Tonga63.203
Tuvalu43.017Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
188 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 69.303; a quarter are above 83.674, and a quarter below 58.218. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 188 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. The five pillars behind the score are stored alongside it, and they often disagree — a country can publish plenty of data and still publish it badly.
Showing 25 of 188 countries
Values for 2024. The change column compares 2024 with 2023 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052016–2024 · 9 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 2016. A country with a weak statistical system is a country whose other figures are shakier, and this is the line where that shows.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 167 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 188 | 69.303 | 58.218 – 83.674 | 73.355 |
| 2023 | 187 | 68.858 | 57.915 – 83.721 | 71.618 |
| 2022 | 187 | 67.995 | 58.049 – 84.027 | 70.271 |
| 2021 | 181 | 69.960 | 58.629 – 84.294 | 70.860 |
| 2020 | 181 | 62.910 | 54.061 – 80.575 | 65.667 |
| 2019 | 174 | 61.193 | 52.644 – 78.842 | 61.568 |
| 2018 | 174 | 61.173 | 53.126 – 78.124 | 61.560 |
| 2017 | 174 | 59.545 | 49.839 – 74.495 | 60.321 |
| 2016 | 167 | 56.248 | 45.898 – 74.211 | 56.248 |
062023 → 2024
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Tajikistan53.608 → 63.869 · 152nd → 119th+10.260
Somalia45.678 → 51.711 · 167th → 158th+6.032- Cameroon60.124 → 66.048 · 134th → 109th+5.923
- Palau55.065 → 60.954 · 148th → 130th+5.889
Côte d’Ivoire64.886 → 70.201 · 109th → 93rd+5.315
Declined most
before → after
Slovakia89.768 → 83.251 · 29th → 52nd−6.517- Netherlands89.983 → 85.133 · 28th → 39th−4.850
Bulgaria88.350 → 83.554 · 37th → 49th−4.796
Finland95.115 → 90.371 · 2nd → 16th−4.744
France92.830 → 88.370 · 13th → 27th−4.460
187 countries were measured in both 2023 and 2024. The field changed from 187 to 188 countries, so a place can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the country itself.
07Across every edition
Statistical performance in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
95.256
SPI overall score (0–100)
Lowest reading on record
11.770
SPI overall score (0–100)
Biggest improvement between editions
+16.760
53.670 → 70.430
Biggest decline between editions
−10.533
40.956 → 30.423
Most improved since first measured
+43.760
37.731 → 81.491
At the top most often
3 of 9
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About statistical performance
The Statistical Performance Indicators score how well a country’s own statistical system works, out of 100, across data use, services, products, sources and infrastructure. It is the only measure here whose subject is the production of data itself — which makes it a useful caution to read beside every other number on this site.
What the number is: SPI overall score (0–100).
What it does not measure
It scores the statistical system itself, not the quality of any single published figure, and not whether governments act on what their statistics show.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
A key statistic for Governance & Institutions
“Whether a state can measure its own country. Nothing else here tests the capacity of the statistical system itself.”
- Edition used
- 2024 (data 2024)
- Countries
- 188
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where statistical performance is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Open Data InventoryOpen Data Watch · 164 countries in commonρ 0.84
- Government AI Readiness IndexKeyOxford Insights · 188 countries in commonρ 0.83
- Economic Complexity IndexKeyGrowth Lab at Harvard University · 142 countries in commonρ 0.80
Moves against
Where statistical performance is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Learning PovertyWorld Bank Group and UNESCO Institute for Statistics · 105 countries in commonρ −0.76
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 171 countries in commonρ −0.74
- Prevalence of UndernourishmentFAO · 161 countries in commonρ −0.73
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 188 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The countries at either end
More from World Bank Group
- Access to Electricity
- Account Ownership at a Financial Institution
- Adjusted Net Savings
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP)
- Average Time to Clear Exports Through Customs
- Business Ready: Operational Efficiency
- Business Ready: Public Services
- Business Ready: Regulatory Framework
- All statistics
11Questions
Statistical performance: questions and answers
Which country has the highest statistical performance?
Norway, at 94.143, among the 188 countries compared in 2024.
Which country has the lowest statistical performance?
South Sudan, at 27.123, among the 188 countries compared in 2024.
How many countries does the Statistical Performance Indicators cover?
188 in 2024. The number measured varies from 167 to 188 between editions.
What is the world average statistical performance?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 188 compared in 2024, the figure was 69.303.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Statistical Performance Indicators published?
This site holds 9 reference years, 2016–2024, all recalculated in World Bank Group’s 2026 report on one method — not 9 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. Pulled from the World Bank’s indicator API (IQ.SPI.OVRL). The SPI was introduced in 2021 and back-computed to 2016, and each release recalculates the whole panel rather than adding an edition. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Statistical Performance Indicators — World Bank Group
Pulled from the World Bank’s indicator API (IQ.SPI.OVRL). The SPI was introduced in 2021 and back-computed to 2016, and each release recalculates the whole panel rather than adding an edition.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: World Bank. Statistical Performance Indicators. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-08-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Norway — Ximonic , Simo Räsänen, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Sweden — User:Pieter Kuiper, Public domain
- Canada — User:Florian Fuchs, CC BY 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Statistical performance by country: Statistical Performance Indicators, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/statistical-performance