Systematic Country Diagnostics
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Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) reports are prepared by World Bank Group staff in close consultation with national authorities and other stakeholders. The SCD is a diagnostic exercise to identify key challenges and opportunities for a country to accelerate progress towards development objectives that are consistent with the twin goals of ending absolute poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. It is intended to become a reference point for client consultations on priorities for World Bank Group country engagement. As of June 30, 2014, SCDs are required prior to sending a Country Partnership Framework (CPF) to the Board.
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Growth and Resilience: Pacific Islands Systematic Country Diagnostic Update, January 2023
(World Bank, Washington DC, 2023-04-18)The systematic country diagnostic (SCD) covers a group of nine small Pacific Island countries (PIC-9) - Kiribati, Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. The document updates the previous SCD, completed in 2016, and assesses the emerging challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing climate change risks. It refreshes the pathways identified in the earlier SCD to reflect underlying structural constraints as well as emerging impediments to development now in the foreground; the pathways to development are: (1) increased economic opportunities; (2) maximizing human capital and its economic returns; and (3) building more resilient incomes and livelihoods. As the PIC-9 SCD update shows, while each country is unique, there are common challenges across the region. Moreover, development priorities cannot be viewed in isolation - they are largely interconnected, with progress in one area depending on progress in many others. -
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Jamaica - Systematic Country Diagnostic: Boosting Recovery and Sustainable Economic Growth
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-10-31)This first Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) for Jamaica comes at a pivotal time. The country is seeking a return to the pre-COVID-19 path of fiscal consolidation amid a slow COVID vaccine roll-out, high inflationary pressures, and persistent structural constraints to growth.1 COVID-19 laid bare existing vulnerabilities, causing real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to contract a record 10 percent in 2020, with a near closure of most tourism activities depressing incomes for more than 40 percent of the country’s workers. The government deployed countercyclical fiscal measures to stem the economic downturn, while strengthening the health sector, supporting the financial sector, and mitigating the impact on poor households through further income support. Inflation had surged to 11.8 percent as of April 2022, posing a growing threat to the purchasing power of the poor in particular. The monetary authorities have been proactive, but rising interest rates could undermine the ongoing recovery. In 2020, the government committed to ambitious targets under the Paris Agreement to transform Jamaica into a low-emissions and climate-resilient economy -
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Tunisia - Systematic Country Diagnostic: Rebuilding Trust and Meeting Aspirations for a More Prosperous and Inclusive Tunisia
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-09-30)This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) comes at critical moment in Tunisia. Since the 2011 revolution and the promulgation of a new constitution in 2014, Tunisia has been navigating a difficult political transition. While there have been gains in poverty reduction, public trust in government has declined sharply, and the economy has stalled. The COVID-19 pandemic and more recently the effects of the war in Ukraine also exacerbated stresses on the economy, the public finances, and public trust in government. Partly as result of these trends, recent political events since July 25 2021 have marked a break with the 2014 constitutional model, and created great uncertainty regarding the future direction of Tunisia’s transition. At the time of writing, it is still uncertain what form Tunisia’s new political and constitutional model will take in coming years. The Tunisia SCD takes a ten-year view of trends in Tunisia since 2011, drawing comparisons with other comparable countries, and suggesting possible future pathways. The World Bank Group undertakes SCDs as a diagnostic exercise to identify key challenges and opportunities to accelerate progress towards rebuilding trust and meeting citizen aspirations, and ultimately to contribute to the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending absolute poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner. It is intended to become a reference point for consultations on priorities for World Bank Group country engagement. It is also intended as a contribution to the public debate about Tunisia’s path forward. This longer term perspective means that the Tunisia SCD does not place a heavy emphasis on recent events, but rather seeks to situate them in the broader context of trends in equitable growth, poverty reduction, and state capability. -
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Lao Peoples Democratic Republic - Systematic Country Diagnostic Update
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-06-30)This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) updates the analytical work of the 2017 SCD in the light of new evidence. In 2017, the World Bank Group (WBG) published the first SCD for the Lao PDR, which comprehensively assessed the binding constraints to economic growth, inclusion, and sustainability. This SCD uses recent evidence to describe developments since 2017, revisit the previous pathways and priorities for achieving the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity, and update knowledge and data gaps. It identifies the most pressing development challenges supported by new data and analytical work and emerging opportunities.Recent evidence suggests that poverty has been reduced but income inequality is increasing. The economy continued to grow strongly between 2017 and 2019 at an average of 6.2 percent per year, albeit at a slower pace than in the preceding three years. Economic growth declined dramatically to 0.5 percent in 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The national poverty rate fell from 24.6 percent in 2012 to 18.3 percent in 2018. The standard of living has also improved, with notable gains in access to basic services, education, and health outcomes. However, poverty remains high compared to regional peers and is concentrated among subsistence farmers and minority ethno-linguistic groups. Inequality continues to rise as rapid growth has been jobless. The Gini index increased from 36.0 to 38.8 between 2012 and 2018, and the shared prosperity premium was negative (consumption per capita among the bottom 40 percent grew by 1.9 percent per year compared to 3.3 percent for the total population). -
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Azerbaijan Systematic Country Diagnostic Update
(Washington, DC, 2022-06-27)The Azerbaijan Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) Update 2022 identifies the most critical challenges facing the government in the effort to achieve the country’s national goals and the twin goals of eradicating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. It also identifies policy priorities to address these challenges within a changing economic and geopolitical environment. The SCD is a comprehensive evidence-based analysis founded on the latest data and analyses available. The document benefited from comments and feedback provided by stakeholders in Azerbaijan, including national authorities, the private sector, and civil society. By reflecting voices on the ground, the SCD is intended to support the implementation of the country’s development agenda as outlined in “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development” (Azerbaijan 2030) (President of the Republic of Azerbaijan 2021). The analysis is built on the findings of the first generation Azerbaijan SCD, which was published in 2015, and also updates the analysis to account for recent developments since 2015. The SCD likewise plays a crucial role in providing an analytical basis for the Country Partnership Framework (CPF), a document that will guide the World Bank’s engagement and partnership with the government of Azerbaijan over the next four to six years. -
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Haiti Systematic Country Diagnostic Update: Pathways to Responding to Recurrent Crises and Chronic Fragility
(Washington, DC, 2022-06)Haiti's economic and social development continues to be hindered by political instability, corruption, and fragility. This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) Update draws on existing and new analysis, publications, and extensive consultations and ongoing dialogue with public and private sector stakeholders in Haiti. Throughout the discussions, there was broad consensus on the diagnosis of challenges, in particular the country’s weak governance, as well as the priorities ahead. The document is structured as follows: Chapter 1 examines trends in poverty and shared prosperity in Haiti; Chapter 2 analyzes growth trends and challenges; Chapter 3 identifies risks to the sustainability of development; and the final chapter takes stock of these elements and identifies priorities ahead, building on those identified in the 2015 SCD. -
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Colombia - Systematic Country Diagnostic Update: Together for a Better Future
(Washington, DC, 2022-05)Colombia has long held great promise. The World Bank’s 1950 report on Colombia, the institution’s first ever study on a developing country, declared, “The potentialities for development in the future are great.” The country boasts a vibrant culture, rich natural resources, and resilient people. Despite its great potential, the country’s development has been disappointing. As recently as the early 1980s, Colombia’s income per capita was similar to that of Chile, Malaysia, Poland, and the Republic of Korea (Figure 1). Subsequent growth in those countries has exceeded Colombia’s, and the Republic of Korea is now four times richer in per capita terms than Colombia. Three interlocking long-run constraints have held Colombia back. The first is violence, which has claimed the lives of one million Colombians since 1948. The second is inequity rooted in the nation’s history—the Currie Report highlighted 70 years ago that “a wide disparity in levels of income exists between a small wealthy group and the great mass of the population.” The third is institutions that have favored the interests of an elite over inclusive growth. -
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El Salvador Systematic Country Diagnostic: Addressing Vulnerabilities to Sustain Poverty Reduction and Inclusive Growth
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022-03-31)The 2015 Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) concluded that El Salvador was “trapped” in vicious cycles of low poverty reduction and growth and argued for a “big push” in six priority areas. Three mutually reinforcing cycles hampered growth and shared prosperity: (i) low growth and violence, (ii) low growth and migration, and (iii) low growth, savings, and investments. The SCD concluded that a big reform push in six priority areas was needed to break these cycles. Despite progress in some of these areas, previous governments have not built consensus for the “big push” of simultaneous reforms to break the cycles. This SCD Update (the Update) builds on the SCD as follows: (i) updating the country context and assessing progress in poverty and growth, (ii) broadening the analysis to include a vulnerability lens, and (iii) rerunning the prioritization framework to confirm or update priorities. -
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Chad Systematic Country Diagnostic: Boosting Shared Prosperity in a Landlocked Country Beset by Fragility and Conflict
(Washington, DC, 2022-03-20)Chad remains among the least developed countries in the world, and its GDP per capita has contracted since 2015. Its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (in constant 2010 US dollars) was US$710 in 2019, down significantly from US$961 in 2014 and lower than the average of US$840 and US$1,590 in low-income countries and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), respectively. Mirroring this poor economic performance, the country ranked 187th out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index in 2020, and access to basic services and infrastructure is low compared to regional and structural peers. The SCD proposes six solution areas to address the binding constraints to poverty reduction. The first set includes three cross-cutting prerequisites that are critical to: strengthen the social contract, improve the management of natural resources and adapt to climate change; and achieve adequate macro-fiscal management as well as a business-friendly environment. These prerequisites are particularly important to address constraints associated with conflict, oil price volatility, climate change, and weak public administration. The second set of solutions includes three pathways aimed at raising worker productivity and improving access to improved earning opportunities: (a) supporting improvements in human capital to improve worker productivity; (b) improving Infrastructure to raise productivity, and (c) promoting sectors with a strategic advantage for more and better jobs. -
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