World Bank Enterprise Surveys

Explore what businesses experience across the world

Formal Sector Enterprise Surveys

The Formal Sector World Bank Enterprise Surveys, generally known by the shortened term, World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES), are the main product of the Enterprise Surveys team. They are nationally representative firm-level surveys with top managers and owners of businesses in over 160 economies, reaching 180 in upcoming years, that provide insight into many business environment topics such as access to finance, corruption, infrastructure, and performance, among others. The comprehensive data and analytical reports enable easy comparisons across economies and time. The information collected through these surveys is publicly available at the economy and firm level. Explore the indicators by economy or topicbrowse the surveys, or access the granular data on the WBES data portal.

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Informal Sector Enterprise Surveys

The Informal Sector Enterprise Surveys measure the characteristics and activities of unregistered businesses around the world. Informal businesses are found everywhere and play a significant role in economic activity. However, they are generally missing from official records, listings of active businesses, and business-level surveys.

The Informal Sector Enterprise ­­Surveys fill this data gap by following a rigorous survey methodology that fits the unique characteristics of the sector. The surveys use tailored questionnaires and a geographically-based sampling strategy, Adaptive Cluster Sampling, which discovers these businesses while also obtaining representative samples. Explore the indicators by economy or topicbrowse our surveys, or access the granular data on the WBES data portal.

Micro Enterprise Surveys and Other Surveys

The Micro Enterprise Surveys provide a deep understanding of the business environment for micro enterprises (1-4 workers), which are too small for the standard Formal Sector Enterprise Survey.

Other business surveys carried out by the Enterprise Analysis Unit include:

  • Covid-19 surveys in 2020-2022, in which data was gathered on the breadth and depth of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the world population and its productive capacity.
  • Topic Surveys - private sector surveys on specific topics such as innovation, tourism, among others.

Explore the indicatorsbrowse our surveys, or access the granular data on the WBES data portal.

Highlights

Access the list of WBES projects

Explore current and future WBES projects

Download a customizable set of indicators across economies

Access the WBES indicators

Videos

Enterprise Surveys to end poverty on a livable planet

Introduction to the World Bank Enterprise Surveys