This section highlights two important features of the 41 indicators included in the barometer: their sources and the methodology used to construct global trend lines (if a transformation was applied), organized by pillar.

Developing countries share of foreign direct investment (FDI)
Source: UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Methodological notes: FDI is defined as inward stock. Calculation uses the categorization of developing and developed countries as defined by the UN Statistics Division.

Developing countries share of manufacturing exports
Source: World Bank
Methodological notes: Calculation uses categorization of developing and developed countries as defined by the UN Statistics Division.

FDI stock (as a percentage of GDP – gross domestic product)
Source: UNCTAD

Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Methodological notes: End-December holdings used for 2012; end-June holdings used for 2013– 24 (due to data availability).

Goods trade (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: World Bank

Labour migration (as a percentage of the population)
Source: International Labour Organization (ILO)
Methodological notes: For countries where 2024 data were unavailable, international migrant data were extrapolated using a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Official development assistance (ODA) (as a percentage of national income)
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Methodological notes: According to OECD, prior to 2018, the ODA flows basis methodology covered loans expressed on a “cash basis”, meaning their full face value was included; then repayments were subtracted as they came in. From 2018, the ODA grant-equivalent methodology is used, whereby only the “grant portion” of the loan – that is, the amount “given” by lending below market rates – counts as ODA.

Remittances (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: World Bank

Services trade (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: UNCTAD

Trade concentration
Source: UN Comtrade
Methodological notes: Concentration is defined in this instance as the total value of concentrated imports as a share of total imports. First, the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) is computed for imports across all products for all countries. Then each country’s imported product is categorized as “high concentration” (HHI greater than 3,000) or “low concentration” (HHI less than 3,000). Finally, the total value of trade for both concentration categories is aggregated over time to calculate the value share of high- and low-concentration products globally. The 2024 figure was extrapolated by applying the rate of change found from the partially reported 2024 data to the corresponding 2023 data and applying that to the balance of the 2023 data.

Average price of a lithium-ion battery
Source: BloombergNEF
Methodological notes: Two published series were used to construct the decade trend line: one presenting data from 2010–18 and one presenting data from 2013–24. Data from the former series were used for years 2012–18, and 2019–24 data were extrapolated using the year-on-year growth rates from the latter chart.

Cross-border data flows (as a percentage of total internet traffic)
Source: International Telecommunication Union (international bandwidth usage); Cisco (IP traffic), TeleGeography
Methodological notes: The 2023-2024 figure was extrapolated using the growth rate from the TeleGeography report.

Cross-border patent applications (as a percentage of total patent applications)
Source: European Patent Office, PATSTAT

Cross-border R&D (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: OECD
Methodological notes: GERD (gross domestic expenditure on R&D) financed by the rest of the world is used to measure cross-border R&D. Since 2024 was not available this metric was kept constant.

Individuals using the internet
Source: International Telecommunication Union

International students (as a percentage of the population)
Source: Institute of International Education
Methodological notes: Due to data availability, destination countries included are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom and the US. The 2021 values were linearly interpolated for China and Norway.

IT goods/intermediates trade (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: UNCTAD
Methodological notes: The 2024 figure was extrapolated from the partially reported 2024 data to the corresponding 2023 data and applied to the balance of the 2023 data.

IT services trade (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: UNCTAD

Total factor productivity growth
Source: The Conference Board

Finance: Global climate adaptation (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: Climate Policy Initiative (CPI)
Methodological notes: 2024 figures were extrapolated based on the 2013–23 CAGR.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
Source: UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

GHG emissions intensity (ratio of emissions to GDP)
Source: UNEP and World Bank

Global trade in low-carbon technology products (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: IMF, International Energy Agency (IEA)
Methodological notes: The 2024 figure was extrapolated from the partially reported 2024 data to the corresponding 2023 data and applied to the balance of the 2023 data. Adjusted values using the IEA clean energy equipment price index to isolate price variations.

Marine protected area
Source: Protected Planet

Finance: Global climate mitigation (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: CPI
Methodological notes: Mitigation finance includes dual-use finance, as it is assumed to be total climate finance minus adaptation finance. The 2024 figure for total climate finance was extrapolated based on the 2013–23 CAGR.

Ocean Health Index
Source: Ocean Health Index

Terrestrial protected area
Source: Protected Planet

Cross-border pharma R&D (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: Policy Cures Research
Methodological notes: Since 2024 data were not available, this metric was kept constant.

Development assistance for health (DAH) (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)

Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
Source: IHME
Methodological notes: IHME’s forecasted values were used for the 2020–24 figures.

Health-related goods trade (as a percentage of GDP)
Source: UN Comtrade
Methodological notes: The 2024 figure was extrapolated by applying the rate of change found in the reported data between 2023 and 2024 to the 2023 figure.

International Health Regulations (IHR) score
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
Methodological notes: All capacities average score used.

Life expectancy at birth
Source: UN

Maternal mortality
Source: IHME

Child mortality (under-five mortality)
Source: IHME

Conflicts
Source: Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP)

Fatalities from conflicts
Source: UCDP

Forcibly displaced people
Source: UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

Ratio of multilateral peacekeeping operations to conflicts
Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

Significant cyber incidents
Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Verizon
Methodological notes: Significant cyber incidents are defined by CSIS as cyberattacks on government agencies, defence and high-tech companies, or economic crimes with losses of more than $1 million. The 2024 figure was extrapolated using Verizon’s Data Breach Investigation reports.

Ratio of UN Security Council resolutions to conflicts
Source: UN