LibGuides: Economics: Country Statistics & Data Sources

Introduction & recommended starting points

Getting current, authoritative economic indicators for a country (or a set of countries) is one of the most common research needs, and a dozen or so publications here answer most of the recurring queries. Far and away our top two statistical publishers are the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which feature suites of key data products.

World Bank

The recent World Bank "Open Data" initiative has released scores of datasets and thousands of series for public use.
World Development Indicators (WDI)
The primary World Bank database for development data from officially-recognized international sources is now augmented with external debt and financial flows statistics. This Contains over 1200 series dating as far back as 1960.

Alternative views of World Bank open data come from these new sites.
Data
Portal to open World Bank data series by country , indicator, and topic, with expanded content, dynamic graphing, gradient maps, and widgets.
Data Catalog
Includes African Development Indicators, Education Statistics, Gender Statistics, Global Economic Monitor, Health Nutrition Population Statistics, Joint External Debt Hub, Millennium Development Goals, Quarterly External Debt Statistics, and more.
Global Economic Monitor (GEM)
Providing daily updates of global economic developments, with coverage of high income as well as developing countries. Daily data updates are provided for exchange rates, equity markets, interest rates, stripped bond spreads, and emerging market bond indices. Monthly data coverage (updated daily and populated upon availability) is provided for consumer prices, high-tech market indicators, industrial production and merchandise trade.
International Monetary Fund

The top IMF data products remain on subscription, although now with an improved, consolidated interface.
IMF eLibrary Data
Carries the flagship International Financial Statistics (IFS) database with exchange rates, balance of payments, money supply, total imports and exports, GDP, and much more. Also with Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPS), Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS), Government Finance Statistics (GFS), and new foreign investment and financial soundness indicators.

These IMF data products are free.
Primary Commodity Prices
Includes a spreadsheet file (CSV) with monthly data for 8 price indices and 49 actual price series from 1980.
World Economic Outlook Database
The World Economic Outlook (WEO) database contains selected macroeconomic data series from the statistical appendix of the World Economic Outlook report, which presents IMF analysis and projections of economic developments at the global level, in major country groups, and for many individual countries.

More Global Coverage

CEIC Data
CEIC Data contains economic, industrial and financial time-series data. Access limited to 5 simultaneous users. Try again later if refused.
Four databases are included in this package:
• China Premium Databases
The China Premium Database offers over 415,000 time-series records on macroeconomic, sector, industry and regional data dating back to 1949. The China Premium Database is available in both English and Chinese.
• Brazil Premium Databases
The Brazil Premium Database covers 13 macroeconomic and 13 industry growth sectors with unmatched coverage of the energy, biofuel, and automobile sectors. Regional data are also available for Brazil's 5 regions, all 27 states, and 6000 municipalities.
• Global Database
CEIC Data’s Global Database provides access to granular macroeconomic data covering both developed and emerging markets covering over 200 economies and is ideal for business students, professors and lecturers for macroeconomic research projects and course assignments.
• Daily Database

IADB Data
Global governance indicators spanning political, market, rule of law, public management, and socioeconomic themes.

EMIS Intelligence (formerly ISI Emerging Markets)
Provides economic studies, company & industry reports, country risk, statistics and political news on emerging market countries. Covers public & private companies & global industry reports. Includes interactive data analysis tools & news alerts. Excellent China coverage.

FAOSTAT (UN Food and Agriculture Organization)
Country food, agriculture, fisheries, land, and foresty statistics, including production, prices, and trade.
Global Financial Data
GFD provides some 6500 historical and current financial and economic data series from over 150 countries. Many series reach back with deep data runs to prior centuries. Easy graphing and downloading is available on the system.
Human Development Indicators (United Nations Development Programme)
Human Development Index, Gender Inequality Index, and Multidimensional Poverty Index composites and components for 195 countries.
ILOSTAT - formerly LABORSTA (International Labour Office)
Includes economically active population, employment and unemployment, hours of work, wages, labor cost, consumer price indices, occupational injuries, strikes and lockouts, household income and expenditure, and international labor migration.
Millennium Development Goals Indicators (United Nations)
This site presents the official data, definitions, methodologies and sources for more than 60 indicators to measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDS).
OECD iLibrary
Interactive subscription database of OECD books, periodicals, and statistics. Country coverage includes members Mexico, Korea, and Japan. Additional non-member coverage for Brazil, China, Indonesia, India.
UN Comtrade
Detailed commodity imports and exports statistics by country, 1962-present.
UNCTADstat
Interactive database for merchandise trade (including by region and by product), international trade in services, foreign direct investment (stocks and flows), national accounts, balance of payments, exchange rates, commodities, debt, development assistance, remittances, international reserves, population and labor force, and maritime transport.

See also their FDI "Country Fact Sheets" with latest data in ready PDF releases.

UNdata
Single search interface for data produced and collected by various United Nations (UN) organizations. Provides 442 economic, social, cultural, health, and demographic data series for countries of the world. Data providers include UN, UNESCO, FAO, WHO, IMF, UNICEF, ITU, and World Bank. Some indicators reach back as far as the 1940s.

Regional Sources

CEPALSTAT (United Nations ECLAC)
Demographic, social, economic, environmental, and related statistics. Includes coverage of Millennium Development Goals (MDG), gender, social cohesion, sustainable development, and information and communication technologies (ICT).
ESCAP Data & Statistics (United Nations ESCAP)
Time series data for selected indicators covering demography, migration, education, health, poverty, gender, employment, economy, government finance, employment, transport, and environment. Includes data visualization features. Includes Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and related indicators for Asia and Pacific region.
IADB Numbers for Development (Inter-American Development Bank)
Monitored sectors include economic activity and employment, trade, prices and wages, fiscal accounts and public debt, external accounts, money and banking, and financial markets. Coverage begins 1992. Formerly DATAINTAL, this site now includes more of the IADB data, covering topics like climate, social issues and more.
Statistics Database (World Trade Organization)
Provides country trade, tariff, and services (transportation, telecommunications, finance, insurance) profiles, plus interactive retrieval of international trade statistics.

Country Sources

National statistical offices, central banks, and government ministries in most countries offer varying amounts of official country data online. Use these lists to identify sites across the globe.

International Data (FRED)
Compiled by Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. IES simplifies the search for worldwide economic indicators, with links to individual series (such as GDP and CPI) for each country, as well as a detailed description of the data. Descriptions are searchable by title, country, subject, and keyword. The links are checked regularly to maintain accuracy. Indicators are continually added.
International Statistical Agencies
Compiled by U.S. Census Bureau.

Indiastat.com
Comprehensive portal to economic, social, political, and related statistics about India. Over half-a-million pages of statistical data are presented in a user-friendly Web format. Our subscription permits two (2) concurrent user connections.
China Data Online 中国数据在线
Includes monthly and yearly reports on China's macroeconomic development, statistical databases about China's population and economy at the county and city level, and financial indicators industrial branches; also includes statistical yearbooks.

Developing Country Surveys and Microdata

Annotated Listing of Panel Datasets in Developing and Transitional Countries
From the Chronic Poverty Advisory Network. A listing of studies by country.
Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS)
World Bank.
Family Life Survey Overview
The Family Life Surveys (FLS) are a set of detailed household and community surveys of developing countries conducted by the RAND Corporation, in collaboration with research institutions in the given countries. The currently available country surveys cover Malaysia (1976-77, 1988-89), Indonesia (1993, 1997, 2000), Guatemala (1995), and Bangladesh (1996).
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series — International (IPUMS)
IPUMS-International is a project dedicated to collecting and distributing census data from around the world. Its goals are to:
Collect and preserve data and documentation
Harmonize data
Disseminate the data absolutely free.

IPUMS requires user registration for access.