Inside the Index

Published annually since 2003, the Commitment to Development Index reminds the world that reducing poverty in developing countries is about far more than giving money. The CDI assigns points in seven policy areas: aid (both quantity as a share of income and quality), trade, investment, migration, environment, security, and technology. Within each component, a country receives points for policies and actions that support poor nations in their efforts to build prosperity, good government, and security. The seven components are averaged for a final score. The scoring adjusts for size in order to discern how much countries are living up to their potential to help.








To request hard copies of these materials for conferences or classroom use, contact John Osterman.

About the Project

The Center for Global Development has compiled the Commitment to Development Index every year since 2003. It was published in Foreign Policy through 2006. Mapping Worlds made the data browsing tool. CGD staff members and outside collaborators designed and collect data for the seven individual components. The Index receives support from the CDI Consortium. CGD is solely responsible for the published design of the CDI.

David Roodman is the chief architect of the Commitment to Development Index. Roodman also designed the aid component, revised the trade component, building on the work of CGD Senior Fellow William Cline, and drafted the original environment component. Julia Clark is the project coordinator for the Index.

The collaborators have been:


Data and Code

Global CDI spreadsheets
  • 2011
  • 2010 (original 2010 methodology)
  • 2009 (original 2009 methodology)
  • 2008 (original 2008 methodology)
  • 2007 (original 2007 methodology)

  • 2006 (original 2006 methodology)
  • 2005 (original 2005 methodology)
  • 2004 (original 2004 methodology)
  • 2003 (original 2003 methodology)




SQL databases
  • 2011—Zipped folder with two databases that, along with the global CDI spreadsheet, generate most of the CDI. (Exception: tariff measures are computed from the CEPII version of the MAcMap database, which is not yet publicly available.)

Scores and Rankings


Background Papers

Aid component
David Roodman

This paper elaborates on the private charity subcomponent. The aid component was influenced by an earlier paper by William Easterly.
Trade component
David Roodman

The trade component is influenced by an earlier paper by William Cline, Senior Fellow, Center for Global Development

Investment component
Theodore Moran, Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Global Development
Migration component
Kimberly Hamilton and Elizabeth Grieco, Migration Policy Institute

A 2006 paper by B. Lindsay Lowell and Victoria Carro of the Institute for the Study of International Migration proposes additional indicators.

Environment component
Amy Cassara and Daniel Prager, World Resources Institute

A 2007 paper by David Roodman adds the BRICs to the environment component to see how these countries stack up.
Security component
Michael O'Hanlon and Adriana Lins de Albuquerque, Brookings Institution

Technology component
Keith E. Maskus, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado at Boulder

The technology component was influenced by an earlier paper by Alicia Bannon and David Roodman.

Previous-year Reports

Commitment to Development Index

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