International migration for temporary employment is a critical component of South Asia's development path, from both the jobs and remittance flows perspectives. South Asian economies are at a stage of demographic transition where people of working-age are generally still increasing shares of...

This Assessment is conducted as part of a larger platform established in 2016 through a joint World Bank and UNHCR initiative to support Afghanistan's forcibly displaced population. The platform aims to inform and support the dialogue between stakeholders in Afghanistan in order to: (i) seek...

This policy note aims to advance our understanding of urban forced displacement, induced by conflict, by looking at the issue from the perspective of receiving towns and cities. It explores why we need a different approach to addressing urban forced displacement; how to "think differently" about...

Southern Africa has a long history of human mobility centered around the migration of labor to farms and mines in the region. Patterns of migration and displacement have since been transformed by the end of Apartheid, changing economic systems, and conflict and political instability, both in the...

This report is part of a larger series of stocktaking and analytical products on plastic pollution in South Asia. It supports the Bank's commitment to work with countries of South Asia to pursue and scale-up policies and programs that help them move toward a circular plastic economy and, in...

South Asia region's economies continue on a recovery path, with production and export having recovered to pre-COVID trend levels. But the recovery has been uneven across countries and sectors, and significant risks exist that could jeopardize short-term recovery and long-term growth. Over the...

This report provides a region-wide analysis on the status of the digital economy in South Asia. It identifies opportunities and challenges for national and regional action to realize the transformational potential of digitalizing economies, societies, and governments. The report synthesizes and...

The report presents both the opportunities of and the bottlenecks for furthering the digital agenda. It emphasizes that the first step is to get the basics right. This includes enabling access to and adoption of high-quality affordable broadband, initiating a paradigm shift in building digital...

South Asia's growth rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but inflation is higher, and the Russia-Ukraine war will add to these pressures, negatively impact external balances, and exacerbate financial vulnerabilities. Higher energy prices provide an opportunity to transition to greater use...

The South Asia Economic Focus is a biannual economic update presenting recent economic developments and a near term economic outlook for South Asia. It includes a Focus section presenting more in depth analysis of an economic topic of relevance for stability, growth and prosperity in the region...