How to turn World Bank data into a chart animation
Furlen connects directly to the World Bank’s open-data API, so you can ask for a series in plain English — “India GDP over the last 10 years”, “compare US and China population” — and get an animated chart back without downloading anything first. Fifteen indicators are connected today, each returned with its World Bank indicator code, the years covered, and the exact rows as a downloadable CSV. If no connected source covers what you asked for, Furlen says so rather than guessing.
Do you need to download the data from the World Bank first?
No. Describe the series you want and Furlen queries the World Bank API at request time, so you never touch the databank UI, an indicator picker or a CSV export. You can still upload your own file if you have one — the two paths converge on the same editor. What you get back either way is a chart plus the rows behind it.
Which World Bank indicators can you chart?
These fifteen are connected today. Each is resolved to the World Bank’s own indicator code, which is printed with the chart so anyone can check the series against data.worldbank.org. Where the list says simply “GDP” it means the nominal, current-US-dollar series, NY.GDP.MKTP.CD — the inflation- and exchange-rate-adjusted one is listed separately as GDP (constant 2015 US$), and the difference between them is large enough to have its own story below.
- GDP
- · NY.GDP.MKTP.CD
- GDP (constant 2015 US$)
- · NY.GDP.MKTP.KD
- GDP per capita
- · NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
- GDP growth
- · NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG
- Population
- · SP.POP.TOTL
- Inflation (CPI, annual %)
- · FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG
- Unemployment rate
- · SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS
- Exports of goods & services
- · NE.EXP.GNFS.CD
- Imports of goods & services
- · NE.IMP.GNFS.CD
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows
- · BX.KLT.DINV.CD.WD
- Life expectancy at birth
- · SP.DYN.LE00.IN
- Internet users (% of population)
- · IT.NET.USER.ZS
- Military expenditure
- · MS.MIL.XPND.CD
- Personal remittances received
- · BX.TRF.PWKR.CD.DT
- Urban population (% of total)
- · SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS
How do you make one?
Type what you want in plain English — “India GDP over the last 10 years”, “compare US and China population”. No indicator code needed, though one will come back with the result.
The resolved indicator code, the country, the years covered and the source are shown with the data before you build anything. If it resolved to the wrong series you will see that immediately.
Pick a chart type and motion, then export MP4 in 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1. The source line is rendered onto the video itself, so the citation travels with the file.
What happens when the World Bank revises its figures?
The World Bank revises national accounts several times a year, which means a chart that was correct when it was made can quietly stop being correct. Every published Furlen data story carries two separate dates: the date it went up, which never moves, and the date its figures were last checked against the live API. The second one only advances after a script re-pulls every series and compares every cell of the published CSV. If anything has drifted, the story keeps its old date rather than being given a fresh one it has not earned.
That check runs monthly. The most recent run re-verified 174 cells across four published stories with zero drift.
What does a finished one look like?
These are published pages, not mockups. Each one has the animation, the finding written out, and the exact rows behind it as a downloadable CSV.
Japan grew and shrank at the same time
The two measures do not even agree on which year was Japan’s worst: in constant dollars it was 2020, when output actually fell; in current dollars it was 2022, when output rose.
World Bank — GDP constant 2015 US$ (NY.GDP.MKTP.KD) and GDP current US$ (NY.GDP.MKTP.CD)
Germany didn’t overtake Japan by growing
Japan’s economy did not shrink by a fifth; its dollar price tag did — and a ranking built on dollar price tags will move even when nothing is produced differently.
World Bank — GDP (current US$), indicator NY.GDP.MKTP.CD
China’s fertility fell 44% after it lifted birth limits
In 2023 China’s fertility rate fell below one birth per woman for the first time — 0.999 — seven years after it stopped limiting how many children couples could have.
World Bank — total fertility rate, births per woman (SP.DYN.TFRT.IN)
What can’t it do?
The honest limits, because a page that only lists strengths is not much use when you are deciding whether a tool fits:
- — Only the fifteen indicators above are resolvable by name. The World Bank publishes thousands. A series outside that list — total fertility rate, for example, which one of our own published stories uses — has to be brought in as a CSV rather than asked for.
- — Country-level only. Sub-national regions, cities and World Bank income-group aggregates are not resolved.
- — Furlen does not audit the World Bank. It reports what the API returns, names the indicator, and re-checks it — but if the source is wrong, the chart is wrong, and the page will say where the number came from rather than vouch for it.
- — Coverage is uneven across countries and years, which is the source’s own gap, not a rendering failure. Missing years are left missing rather than interpolated.
Common questions
Is there a tool that turns World Bank data into an animated chart?
Yes — Furlen resolves a plain-English request to a World Bank indicator, pulls the series from the live API, and renders an animated chart video with the indicator code and source shown on the chart. The rows behind it download as CSV. Fifteen indicators are connected, including GDP, population, inflation, life expectancy and remittances.
Do I need a World Bank API key?
No. The World Bank’s open-data API needs no key and Furlen calls it for you, so there is nothing to register for and no quota to manage on your side.
Can I check the numbers against the World Bank myself?
That is the point of showing the indicator code. Every chart names the exact series — NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, SP.POP.TOTL — so you can open data.worldbank.org and compare. Published data stories also ship the exact rows as a CSV, and those rows are re-verified against the live API monthly.
Is it free?
Charting public data and previewing is free. Watermark-free export is on the paid plans. Pricing is on the pricing page and does not change based on which source the data came from.
Other public sources
The World Bank is one of several connected sources. IMF WEO, FRED, Eurostat, UN Comtrade, WHO and company filings from SEC EDGAR, ESEF, DART and EDINET work the same way — ask in plain English, get the series with its citation.