Explore what businesses experience across the world
TheFormal 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 topic, browse the surveys, or access the granular data on the WBES data portal.
Data publication update
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Data collection update
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 and listings of active businesses.
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, which discovers these businesses while also obtaining representative samples.
Explore globally comparable indicators, browse the surveys, or access the granular data on the data portal. Also, see ongoing and upcoming projects, and discover more about the methodology.
Call for papers
Data publication update
Data collection update
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:
Explore the indicators, browse our surveys, or access the granular data on the WBES data portal.
Call for papers
Data publication update
Data collection update