Government effectiveness (WGI)
Definition
Perceptions of the quality of public services, the civil service, and policy formulation and implementation. Estimate in units of a standard normal distribution (mean 0 and standard deviation 1 across countries), roughly from −2.5 to +2.5. Aggregates dozens of surveys and assessments by experts, NGOs and international organizations.
- Formula
- Unobserved components model weighting each source by its precision (Kaufmann, Kraay and Mastruzzi, 2011).
- Unit
- estimate (≈ −2.5 to +2.5)
- Uncertainty
- 90% confidence interval: estimate ± 1.645 × standard error published by the WGI.
- License
- CC-BY-4.0
Government effectiveness (WGI)
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Colombia
- Mexico
- Government effectiveness (WGI)
- Source: World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators · Source version: 2026-09-25 · Collected on: 2026-10-26 · License: CC-BY-4.0
· Paper behind the metric: Kaufmann, D
Uncertainty: 90% confidence interval: estimate ± 1.645 × standard error published by the WGI.
Download data (CSV) · View the code: collection code · chart.ts
View the data as a table
| Year | Brazil | Argentina | Chile | Colombia | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | -0.05 (-0.46–0.37) | 0.26 (-0.16–0.67) | 1.01 (0.60–1.43) | -0.03 (-0.45–0.38) | -0.46 (-0.87–-0.04) |
| 1998 | -0.25 (-0.67–0.16) | 0.08 (-0.34–0.49) | 0.92 (0.51–1.34) | -0.41 (-0.83–0.00) | 0.05 (-0.37–0.46) |
| 2000 | -0.23 (-0.64–0.19) | 0.03 (-0.38–0.45) | 0.96 (0.54–1.37) | -0.44 (-0.86–-0.03) | 0.03 (-0.38–0.45) |
| 2002 | -0.11 (-0.50–0.28) | -0.19 (-0.58–0.19) | 1.10 (0.71–1.48) | -0.79 (-1.18–-0.41) | -0.34 (-0.73–0.04) |
| 2003 | -0.16 (-0.55–0.23) | -0.11 (-0.50–0.27) | 1.15 (0.76–1.53) | -0.48 (-0.87–-0.10) | -0.30 (-0.69–0.09) |
| 2004 | -0.23 (-0.60–0.14) | 0.01 (-0.35–0.38) | 1.14 (0.77–1.51) | -0.29 (-0.66–0.08) | -0.24 (-0.61–0.13) |
| 2005 | -0.33 (-0.70–0.04) | 0.05 (-0.32–0.42) | 1.30 (0.93–1.67) | -0.34 (-0.71–0.03) | -0.14 (-0.51–0.23) |
| 2006 | -0.37 (-0.74–-0.01) | 0.09 (-0.27–0.46) | 1.27 (0.91–1.64) | -0.24 (-0.61–0.13) | -0.10 (-0.46–0.27) |
| 2007 | -0.38 (-0.74–-0.01) | 0.05 (-0.32–0.41) | 1.28 (0.91–1.65) | -0.23 (-0.60–0.14) | -0.17 (-0.54–0.19) |
| 2008 | 0.11 (-0.26–0.48) | -0.02 (-0.38–0.35) | 1.27 (0.90–1.63) | -0.09 (-0.45–0.28) | 0.14 (-0.22–0.51) |
| 2009 | 0.19 (-0.18–0.56) | -0.01 (-0.37–0.36) | 1.33 (0.97–1.70) | -0.15 (-0.52–0.22) | 0.23 (-0.14–0.60) |
| 2010 | 0.19 (-0.17–0.56) | 0.07 (-0.29–0.44) | 1.21 (0.83–1.59) | -0.03 (-0.40–0.33) | 0.07 (-0.30–0.44) |
| 2011 | 0.17 (-0.20–0.54) | 0.13 (-0.24–0.50) | 1.27 (0.89–1.66) | 0.07 (-0.30–0.43) | 0.21 (-0.15–0.58) |
| 2012 | 0.19 (-0.17–0.56) | 0.07 (-0.30–0.44) | 1.31 (0.93–1.69) | 0.03 (-0.34–0.40) | 0.30 (-0.06–0.67) |
| 2013 | 0.28 (-0.09–0.65) | 0.05 (-0.31–0.42) | 1.28 (0.90–1.66) | 0.06 (-0.30–0.43) | 0.31 (-0.06–0.67) |
| 2014 | 0.14 (-0.23–0.50) | 0.23 (-0.14–0.60) | 1.18 (0.80–1.56) | -0.07 (-0.43–0.30) | 0.19 (-0.18–0.56) |
| 2015 | 0.04 (-0.33–0.41) | 0.14 (-0.22–0.51) | 1.12 (0.74–1.50) | -0.00 (-0.37–0.37) | 0.16 (-0.20–0.53) |
| 2016 | 0.03 (-0.34–0.39) | 0.35 (-0.02–0.72) | 1.05 (0.67–1.44) | 0.02 (-0.35–0.38) | 0.18 (-0.18–0.55) |
| 2017 | -0.04 (-0.41–0.32) | 0.31 (-0.06–0.68) | 1.04 (0.65–1.42) | -0.03 (-0.39–0.34) | 0.09 (-0.27–0.46) |
| 2018 | -0.14 (-0.51–0.23) | 0.30 (-0.07–0.67) | 1.10 (0.72–1.48) | -0.01 (-0.37–0.36) | 0.04 (-0.33–0.40) |
| 2019 | 0.09 (-0.28–0.45) | 0.31 (-0.06–0.67) | 1.11 (0.72–1.49) | 0.03 (-0.34–0.39) | 0.05 (-0.31–0.42) |
| 2020 | -0.02 (-0.39–0.35) | 0.19 (-0.18–0.56) | 0.93 (0.55–1.31) | -0.02 (-0.38–0.35) | 0.01 (-0.35–0.38) |
| 2021 | -0.01 (-0.38–0.36) | 0.13 (-0.23–0.50) | 0.91 (0.53–1.29) | -0.02 (-0.39–0.34) | -0.03 (-0.39–0.34) |
| 2022 | -0.20 (-0.55–0.15) | 0.12 (-0.23–0.47) | 0.93 (0.56–1.29) | 0.02 (-0.33–0.37) | -0.09 (-0.45–0.26) |
| 2023 | -0.25 (-0.62–0.12) | 0.03 (-0.33–0.40) | 1.01 (0.64–1.37) | -0.04 (-0.40–0.32) | -0.11 (-0.48–0.25) |
| 2024 | -0.19 (-0.55–0.18) | 0.19 (-0.17–0.56) | 1.01 (0.65–1.38) | -0.04 (-0.40–0.33) | -0.19 (-0.55–0.18) |
| 2025 | -0.04 (-0.40–0.33) | 0.28 (-0.09–0.64) | 1.04 (0.68–1.41) | -0.09 (-0.46–0.27) | -0.18 (-0.54–0.18) |
Criticisms of the metric
- Confidence intervals are wide: small differences between years or countries are often not statistically significant.
- The scale is relative: the world average is 0 every year, so the indicator cannot show global improvement or decline, only position relative to other countries.
- Perception-based; sources may react to news and economic performance, not only to institutional quality.
- The series starts in 1996 and was biennial until 2002 (no 1997, 1999 or 2001).
References
- Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., & Mastruzzi, M. (2011). The Worldwide Governance Indicators: methodology and analytical issues. Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, 3(2), 220–246. doi:10.1017/S1876404511200046