World Bank Data shows untapped potential and resilience in emerging markets

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2024—The World Bank Group today published sought-after proprietary statistics that reveal the credit risk profile of private and public sector investments in emerging markets.

Making this data publicly available is the latest in a concerted effort to drive more private sector investment to emerging and developing economies.

Key Takeaways of World Bank Group Statistics:

• The IFC’s private sector portfolio had a low default rate of 4.1% from 1986 to 2023, suggesting the untapped potential and resilience of private sector investments in emerging markets.
• For investments rated as “weak” by IFC’s internal rating system, the default rate was only 2.6% during the period between 2017 and 2023, indicating that even investments considered higher risk can perform better than could be expected.
• For sovereign borrowers, defaults are rare, averaging just 0.7% annually,…