PREFACE This year the preliminary results of the International Comparison Program are being released,providing new comparisons of price levels for more than 140 countries.The program,the largest single data collection effort ever undertaken,is a salutary example of what can be accomplished through global partnership,technical innovation,and systematic attention to building local statistical capacity.When the final results become available in next year's World Development Indicators,we will know more about the size of the world's economy and the welfare of its people than ever before.And what we have learned by working together through the program will help us to manage new large-scale efforts to improve development statistics. As always,we welcome your comments and suggestions for making World Development Indicators,its data- bases,and related publications more useful to you. Shaida Badiee Director Development Data Group vi 2007 World Development Indicatorsvi 2007 World Development Indicators This year the preliminary results of the International Comparison Program are being released, providing new comparisons of price levels for more than 140 countries. The program, the largest single data collection effort ever undertaken, is a salutary example of what can be accomplished through global partnership, technical innovation, and systematic attention to building local statistical capacity. When the final results become available in next year’s World Development Indicators, we will know more about the size of the world’s economy and the welfare of its people than ever before. And what we have learned by working together through the program will help us to manage new large-scale efforts to improve development statistics. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions for making World Development Indicators, its data￾bases, and related publications more useful to you. Shaida Badiee Director Development Data Group preface WDI07 frontmatter.indd 6 3/25/07 12:17:50 PM