Linking World Bank Open Data as a source

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Alpha release

This source is currently in alpha. The interface and available tables may change.

The World Bank Open Data connector syncs countries, indicators, sources, and more into the PostHog data warehouse, so you can analyze them alongside your product data.

Prerequisites

None. The World Bank Open Data API is public, so no account or API key is needed.

Adding a data source

In PostHog, go to the Sources tab of the data pipeline section.
Click + New source and click Link next to this source.
Enter your credentials (see Configuration below) and click Next.
Select the tables you want to sync, choose a sync method and frequency, then click Import.

Once the syncs are complete, you can start querying this data in PostHog.

Pull country-level development statistics from the World Bank Indicators API.

The API is open, so no credentials are required. The World Bank publishes around 16,000 indicator series, which is far too much to sync wholesale, so enter the indicator codes you want (up to 50), one per line. For example:

SP.POP.TOTL
NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
IT.NET.USER.ZS

You can look codes up in the indicators table or on data.worldbank.org. Observations for every code you enter land in a single indicator_data table.

The API has no "changed since" filter, and the World Bank revises historical values on each quarterly release, so every table syncs as a full refresh.

You'll be asked for:

Indicator codes: for example SP.POP.TOTL NY.GDP.PCAP.CD IT.NET.USER.ZS.

Sync modes

Each table can be synced in one of several modes, depending on what the source supports:

Webhook (when available) – the source pushes changes to PostHog in real time. Fastest freshness, lowest ongoing cost, and the only mode that reliably captures updates and deletes.
Incremental – only new or updated rows are synced on each run, using a cursor field (such as an updated_at timestamp). Cheaper than a full refresh, but deletes aren't captured.
Append only – new rows are appended using a cursor field; existing rows are never updated. Ideal for immutable, append-only tables like event logs.
Full refresh – the whole table is reloaded on every sync. Use it when a table has no reliable cursor or when you need deletions reflected.

See sync methods for a full explanation of how each mode works and how to choose between them.

All World Bank Open Data tables are full refresh. Each sync replaces the contents of the table.

Configuration

Option	Type	Required
`Indicator codes`	textarea	Yes

Supported tables

Table	Description	Sync method	Incremental field	Primary key
`countries`	Countries and aggregates, with their region, income level, lending type, and capital city.	Full refresh	—	—
`indicators`	Catalog of every indicator series the API exposes, with its unit, source, and topics.	Full refresh	—	—
`sources`	Databases the indicator data comes from, such as World Development Indicators.	Full refresh	—	—
`topics`	Subject areas indicators are grouped under, such as Health or Climate Change.	Full refresh	—	—
`regions`	Geographic regions and regional aggregates used to group countries.	Full refresh	—	—
`income_levels`	World Bank income classifications, such as high income or low income.	Full refresh	—	—
`lending_types`	World Bank lending categories, such as IBRD, IDA, or blend.	Full refresh	—	—
`indicator_data`	Observations for every indicator code you configured, one row per country and period.	Full refresh	—	—

Troubleshooting

If the connection fails with an authorization error, the API key is wrong, expired, or has been revoked. Create a new one, then reconnect the source.
If a table syncs no rows, the credential may not have access to that data. Check its permissions, then reconnect the source.

If your sync is failing or data looks wrong, see the Data warehouse troubleshooting guide. If that doesn't help, contact support – we're happy to help.