Rita K. Almeida (born 1974) is a Portuguese economist who joined the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

in 2002 as a research economist. After serving as a senior economist with responsibilities for lending and analysis in support of education in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, as of June 2020 she is human development programme leader for the countries of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. Over the years, Almeida has coordinated a range of World Bank and IZA publications in the areas of education, job training and public social spending. Since 2003, she has been a Research Fellow of the IZA Institute of Labor Economics.

Biography

Born on 16 August 1974 in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Rita Almeida studied economics at the

Catholic University of Portugal The Catholic University of Portugal ( Portuguese: ''Universidade Católica Portuguesa'', pronounced nivɨɾsiˈðad(ɨ) kɐˈtɔlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ, also referred to as Católica or UCP for short, is a concordat university (non-state-run unive ...

, graduating in 1997. She continued her economics studies at

Pompeu Fabra University Pompeu Fabra University (, ; ) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. Established in 1990 by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia and named after Pompeu Fabra, it is known for its competitiveness in resea ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, earning an

M.Sc. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

(1999) and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

(2003). From February 1997 to August 1998, Almeida worked in Lisbon for the Banco de Negócios Argentária as an equity research analyst. She then returned to Barcelona, working as a research assistant at

. Since 2002 she has been employed by the World Bank, initially as a researcher, specializing in labour economics and development. She subsequently became a senior economist covering education, social protection and the labour market. In particular, she managed lending and analysis in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa. As of June 2020, she holds the post of lead economist and human development programme leader for the six countries of Central America.

Selected publications

Rita Almeida has published a wide range of books and papers, including: * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almeida, Rita 1974 births Social scientists from Lisbon 20th-century Portuguese economists Portuguese women economists World Bank people Academic staff of Pompeu Fabra University Pompeu Fabra University alumni Catholic University of Portugal alumni 21st-century Portuguese economists 21st-century Portuguese women writers 21st-century Portuguese writers Living people