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On December 11, 2025, the World Bank published “World Development Report 2025: Standards for Development.” The Report provides a comprehensive assessment of standards and their role in accelerating economic development. It highlights the growing importance of technical and regulatory standards to economic growth and offers practical frameworks for countries at different stages of development.

The Report explains that modern trade depends less on tariffs and more on conformity with technical standards. By 2024, almost 90 percent of global trade is affected by nontariff measures, including product safety rules, environmental measurement criteria, and labeling requirements, compared to 15 percent in the 1990s. However, the Report also states the risks that increase global inequities caused by the rapid expansion of standards, such as the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism making several countries vulnerable.

The Report emphasizes that standards can serve as drivers. To help low- and middle-income countries navigate this shifting landscape, it proposes an “adapt–align–author” approach. Accordingly, countries should first adapt international standards to local industrial capacity, then align their frameworks with global norms as institutions mature, and participate in drafting standards through engagement in bodies.

Overall, the Report describes standards as tools for market trust and international cooperation. The standards are increasingly shaping development outcomes across multiple sectors, including trade, climate policy, emerging technologies, or financial systems.