The World Bank is a group of international development institutions created at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference. Its purpose is to reduce extreme poverty and build shared prosperity by lending money, providing grants, guaranteeing investments and advising governments in developing member countries. In everyday usage, “World Bank” usually means two institutions, IBRD and IDA. The wider World Bank Group includes three more.
World Bank or World Bank Group?
The term “World Bank” on its own normally refers to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The World Bank Group adds the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Official documents often use the two names interchangeably, so check which entity a figure or program refers to.
| Institution | Full name | What it does | Who it serves |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBRD | International Bank for Reconstruction and Development | Loans to governments, funded mainly by borrowing on capital markets | Middle-income and creditworthy lower-income countries |
| IDA | International Development Association | Concessional credits and grants, funded by donor contributions replenished in cycles | The poorest countries |
| IFC | International Finance Corporation | Investments in private-sector companies | Private firms in developing economies |
| MIGA | Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency | Guarantees that protect foreign investors and lenders against political risk | Cross-border investment in member countries |
| ICSID | International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes | Arbitration and conciliation of disputes between states and foreign investors | Governments and investors that opt into its process |
Origins and history
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were both founded at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944. The Bank’s first institution, the IBRD, was designed to help Europe rebuild after the Second World War. Countries had to join the IMF before they could become members of the World Bank Group.
- 1944: The Bretton Woods conference creates the IMF and the IBRD.
- 27 December 1945: The IBRD’s Articles of Agreement come into force, according to secondary sources that cite this date.
- 25 June 1946: The IBRD begins operations with 38 members. Its initial focus is postwar European reconstruction.
- 1959: The IBRD earns a triple-A credit rating, which the Bank says it has kept since.
- 1960: IDA is established to serve the poorest countries.
- Later decades: IFC, MIGA and ICSID join the Group. The emphasis shifts from reconstruction of war-damaged economies to long-term development.
The 1945 entry-into-force date and the 1946 start date are reported by secondary sources and institutional histories; the 1946 date is the one the Bank itself uses for beginning operations.
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Purpose and mission
The World Bank has two stated goals, often called its twin goals. The first is to end extreme poverty. The second is to boost shared prosperity, which the Bank measures as income growth among the bottom 40 percent of the population in each country.
The Bank’s current mission statement, on its Who We Are page at worldbank.org/en/who-we-are, is to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity on a livable planet. The “livable planet” language is a newer addition to the older twin goals. The exact wording may differ slightly from the page, so check it there before quoting it verbatim.
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Earlier twin-goal targets were framed for 2030 and included an extreme-poverty benchmark of below 3 percent of the global population at the $2.15-a-day line, a figure reported by a secondary source. The international poverty line has since been revised, so the $2.15 figure should not be treated as the current benchmark.
What the World Bank actually does
The Bank’s work falls into two broad categories: providing money and providing knowledge and support.
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Financing
- IBRD loans are funded largely by the Bank borrowing on capital markets and lending on to governments.
- IDA credits and grants are funded by donor contributions and offered on concessional terms to the poorest countries.
- IFC investments go directly to private companies, including through financial intermediaries.
- MIGA guarantees insure investors and lenders against political risks such as expropriation or currency transfer restrictions.
Lending models, advice and data
- Project lending finances specific infrastructure, health, education or agriculture projects.
- Policy-based lending supports reform programs in areas such as public finance and governance.
- Technical assistance and advisory services help governments design and implement programs.
- Data and research produce economic and poverty statistics and analysis that many countries and institutions use.
- Convening brings together governments, donors and private partners around development priorities.
IBRD versus IDA
Most confusion about the Bank comes from the difference between its two main lending arms. The table compares them directly.
| Feature | IBRD | IDA |
|---|---|---|
| Borrowers served | Middle-income and creditworthy lower-income countries | The poorest countries |
| Funding source | Bonds and other borrowing on capital markets | Donor contributions, replenished in multi-year cycles |
| Terms | Loans | Concessional credits and grants |
| Member countries | 189 | 175 countries, according to the Bank’s members page |
| Countries eligible in FY25 | Not stated in this guide | 78 |
The IDA funding cycle is worth tracking. IDA20 closed and IDA21 launched during fiscal year 2025 (FY25, which ended 30 June 2025). Replenishment amounts and cycle details change, so check the Bank’s current IDA pages for the latest figures.
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World Bank versus IMF
The two institutions were created at the same conference and are often mentioned together, but they do different jobs.
| Question | World Bank | IMF |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Bretton Woods, 1944 | Bretton Woods, 1944 |
| Main purpose | Long-term development finance and poverty reduction | Macroeconomic stability and balance-of-payments support |
| Typical support | Project loans, IDA credits, guarantees, advisory work | Short- and medium-term financing tied to economic policy commitments |
| Membership | Group membership requires IMF membership first | 189 member countries (current figure) |
Ownership and governance
The IBRD describes itself as a global development cooperative owned by its member countries, of which there are 189. Each member’s voting power is tied to its shareholding. IDA has fewer members, 175 countries according to the Bank’s members page. The Bank’s leadership and board structure are set out on its official site and are not summarized here.
Scale: what the Group committed in FY25
These figures are for fiscal year 2025, which ended 30 June 2025. They are the most recent full-year numbers in this guide and come from the World Bank Group’s 2025 Annual Report and related publications.
- The Group committed $118.5 billion in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees. This was part of a total of $524.5 billion over five years.
- The Group mobilized $68.9 billion in private capital.
- The Group raised $79 billion from private investors through bonds.
| Institution | FY25 result | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| IBRD | $40.9 billion in new commitments | 139 operations |
| IDA | $39.9 billion | 303 operations: $31.1 billion in credits, $0.6 billion in guarantees, $8.2 billion in grants |
| IFC | $71.7 billion in commitments | Up 27.8 percent; includes mobilization |
| MIGA | $9.5 billion in guarantee issuance | Up 15.0 percent |
The $118.5 billion headline is split by region as follows: Sub-Saharan Africa $34.0 billion; Europe and Central Asia $25.1 billion; Latin America and the Caribbean $24.9 billion; South Asia $13.2 billion; East Asia and Pacific $12.2 billion; Middle East and North Africa $8.5 billion; and global programs $0.6 billion.
A broader “commitments” figure of $161.9 billion for 2025, up from $133.1 billion in 2024, appears in the Financial Summary table. It counts gross issuance and mobilized capital, so it is not comparable with the $118.5 billion headline.
Because the institutions report on their own fiscal calendars and revise figures, use the official annual report for any exact comparison.
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