POLI 127: Politics of Development (Winter 2025): International Statistics & Background

Country-Level Statistics & General Information

Research guides for cross national data sources by topic

International Government Data & Statistics
From UC Berkeley. List arranged by subject.
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Key Sources
Development
Economics
Education
Crime
Children & Families
Food
Environment
Health
Population
Politics
Social & Humanitarian
Urban & Housing
Women & Gender
Microdata
Open Data

Country profiles

CIA World Factbook
Latest edition of annual survey, with profiles of all countries and territories from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Internet Archive version includes captures back to 2007 and archives back to 2000. FDLP Archive version includes downloads back to 2000.
Country Analysis & Forecast (S&P Global Connect)
Country reports, risk ratings, industry analysis, daily alerts, and data. **First time users should follow the Create a New Account link, and use your @ucsd.edu email to register. An activation code will be sent to your @ucsd.edu email in order for you to complete the registration. Once your account is activated, login happens via UCSD’s Single Sign On.
EIU Viewpoint
NOTE: Institution-wide access to China Focus City Data ends on 8/31/25. EIU Viewpoint Country Analysis Advanced module contains background, trends and risk analysis on countries and regions. EIU is known for its global coverage of current political, economic, and business affairs. It features worldwide industry coverage for automotive, consumer goods, energy, financial services, healthcare and telecommunications. This EIU Viewpoint platform also includes “China Focus City Data,” which can be accessed under the “More” tab in the upper right corner of the Viewpoint homepage. Former names: Economist Intelligence Unit (UCSD portal), Access China All Cities
TRAC: Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium
TRAC provides detailed profiles of terrorist groups and vulnerable regions. Also includes articles on ideologies, targets, tactics, and current chatter.

Frequently Used Cross-National Datasets

The Quality of Government Institute - QoG Datasets
The flagship datasest is the QoG Standard Dataset, which is available in both cross-section and time-series. The QoG Basic Dataset is easier to use, offering the most used and the most qualitative variables in terms of data from the QoG Standard Dataset. The QoG OECD covers countries who are members of the OECD. The EU Regional Data consists of approximately 450 variables from Eurostat and other sources. The QoG Expert Survey is a dataset based on our survey of experts on public administration around the world.

See codebook for comprehensive list of links to political science datasets on almost any political topic you can think of.
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Data Sources:
Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions Dataset
AidData v. 2.1
Archigos. A Data Base on Leaders 1875 - 2004.
Autocratic Regime Data
Bertelsmann Transformation Index
Boix-Miller-Rosato Dichotomous Coding of Democracy, Version 2.0
Centripetal Democratic Governance
Characteristics of National Constitutions
Civil Society Organizations
Classification of Political Regimes
Comparative Political Data Set
Comparative Political Parties Dataset
Conntestation and Inclusiveness, 1950-2000
Corruption Perceptions Database
Country Ruggedness and Geographical Data
Country Statistical Profiles
CSES dataset
Data from Freedom Rising by Christian Welzel
Data used in the article "The Quality of Government"
Database of Political Institutions
Dataset for Information and Accountability Transparency
Democratic Electoral Systems Around the World 1946-2011
Economic Freedom of the World Dataset
Educational Attainment Dataset
Electoral Integrity Project (Version 3.5)
Electoral Systems and the Personal Vote
Environmental Performance Data
Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators
ESS1-6, European Social Survey - Cumulative File Rounds 1-6
Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country
Ethnolinguistic Fractionalization Indices, 1961 and 1985
Eurostat Datasets
Event History Coding of Democratic Breakdowns
Expanded Trade and GDP Data
FAO Statistics
Fractionalisation
Fragile States Index
Freedom of the World
Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 Data
Global Competitiveness Report
Global Corruption Barometer
Global Educational Attainment 1970-2015
Global Footprint Data
Global Integrity Report - Data
Global Terrorism Index
Governance Report Indicators. Public
Opinion Data
Hertie Governance Indicators 2014. The Indexes dataset
HRV Transparency Project
Human Development Report
ICRG Indicator of Quality of Government
IDA Resource Allocation Index (IRAI)
Index of African Governance
Index of Economic Freedom
Institutional Quality Dataset
Institutions and Elections Project Data
International IDEA Unified Database
Inter-Parliamentary Union Data
KOF Index of Globalization
Luxembourg Income Study Database and the Luxembourg Wealth Study Database
Maddison Project Database
Major Episodes of Political Violence
Dataset
Measures of Democracy 1810-2012
Measuring Income Inequality Database
Memberships in Conventional Intergovernmental Organizations Dataset
National Accounts Main Aggregates Database
National Average Happiness
National Elections Across Democracy and Autocracy
Natural Resource Management Index Data
New Data on Autocratic Breakdown and Regime Transitions
Oil and Gas Data, 1932-2014
Penn World Table
Pippa Norris. 2009. Democracy Time-series Dataset
Political Terror Scale
Polity IV Annual Time-Series, 1800-2014
Press Freedom
Red List of Threatened Species (version 2015.4)
Religion and State Project Constitutions Dataset and World Religion Dataset National Religion Dataset
Rule of Law Index
Sea Around Us Project Data
Settler Mortality
Shadow Economies: Model Based estimates
Social Citizenship Indicator Programme Database
Social Justice Index
State Antiquity Index
State Fragility Index and Matrix
Sustainable Governance Indicators
The Authoritarian Regime Dataset
The Cingranelli-Richards Human Rights Dataset
The Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset
The Economic Effects of Constitutions
The Economist Intelligence Unit's index of democracy
The ICTD Government Revenue Dataset
The ICTWSS database
The Logic of Political Survival Data Source
The Long-Term Effects of Africa's Slave Trades Dataset
The Ocean Health Index Data
The Parliamentary Powers Index
The Political Constraints Data
The QoG Expert-Survey
The World Top Incomes Database
The Worldwide Governance Indicators
UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Unified Democracy Scores
Varieties of Democracy Dataset
World Development Indicators
World Economic Outlook Database
World Values Survey Dataset and European Values Studies dataset
AidData
AidData is a collaborative initiative to provide products and services that promote the dissemination, analysis, and understanding of development finance information. At the core of the AidData program is the AidData web portal, which is a gateway to nearly 1 million records of development finance activities from donors around the world.
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) is a disaggregated data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping project. ACLED collects the dates, actors, locations, fatalities, and types of all reported political violence and protest events across Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Southeastern and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The ACLED team conducts analysis to describe, explore, and test conflict scenarios, and makes both data and analysis open for free use by the public.
Comparative Agendas Project: Datasets & Codebooks
The Comparative Agendas Project (CAP) assembles and codes information on the policy processes of governments from around the world.
Correlates of War datasets
The Correlates of War project collects and disseminates quantitative data in international relations. Datasets include: COW Country Codes; State System Membership; COW War Data; Militarized Interstate Disputes; Militarized Interstate Dispute Locations; National Material Capabilities; World Religion Data; Formal Alliances; Territorial Change; Direct Contiguity; Colonial/Dependency Contiguity; Intergovernmental Organizations; Diplomatic Exchange; Trade.

Cross National Time-Series (CNTS)
The Cross-National Time-Series Data Archive was launched by Arthur S. Banks in the fall of 1968 at the State University of New York at Binghamton. The archive was, in part, the outcome of an effort initiated some years earlier to assemble, in machine readable, longitudinal format, certain of the aggregate data resources of The Statesman's Yearbook, published since 1864. The archive has almost 200 variables and contains data for over 200 country units, with provision for entries from 1815 (excluding the two modern wartime periods, 1914-1918 and 1940-1945)

EuroStat
Top place to look for European statistics on economy and finance, population and social conditions, industry, trade, and services, agriculture and fisheries, transport, environment and energy, science and technology, and general and regional statistics.
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Eurostat is the Statistical Office of the European Communities. Its task is to provide the European Union with statistics at European level. By harmonising statistics from the European statistical system (ESS) to a single methodology, the statistics are made comparable.
FAOSTAT
On-line statistical databases covering international statistics in agriculture, food production, trade, forest products, fisheries and more. From the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Human Development Report
Full text of UNDP Human Development Reports, from 1990 to the next to most current year, plus national Human Development Reports and an excellent statistics section on industrialized and developing countries. Includes the Human Development Index and related indicators for Health, Education, Income/Composition of Resources, Inequality, Gender, Poverty, Work, employment and vulnerability, Human Security, Trade and Financial Flows, Mobility and Communication, Environmental sustainability, Demography, Socio-economic sustainability.
ILOSTAT
International Labour Organization (ILO) Database on International Labor Statistics, offering annual data from 1979 to the present for a wide range of variables, including employment and unemployment, earnings, wages, strikes and more.

IMF eLibrary Data
Provides comprehensive access to International financial statistics (IFS), Balance of payments statistics (BOPS), Direction of trade statistics (DOTS), and Government finance statistics (GFS) databases. View and download predefined data reports or create.

Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research (INSCR) Data Page
Datasets include:
Armed Conflict and Intervention (ACI) Datasets: Forcibly Displaced Populations; Major Episodes of Political Violence; PITF State Failure Problem Set; High Casualty Terrorist Bombings; Memberships in Conventional Intergovernmental Organizations (CIO)
Polity IV: Regime Authority Characteristics and Transitions Datasets: Polity IV Annual Time-Series; Polity IVd Polity-Case Format; Coups d'Etat
State Fragility Index and Matrix: State Fragility Index and Matrix; State Fragility Index and Matrix, Time-Series Data
Conflict in India Datasets: Crime in India: Riots, Murders and Dacoity; India Sub-National Problem Set
InterAmerican Development Bank - Specialized Datasets
Statistics for Latin American countries, offering annual data (from 1990) on a wide range of variables, including national accounts, balance of payments, prices, labor statistics, and more.

International Country Risk Guide: Table 3B: Political Risk Points by Component
The ICRG Researcher's Dataset - Table 3B provides annual averages of the 12 components of ICRG's Political Risk Ratings (Table 3B), as published in the International Country Risk Guide since 1984. Average ratings are provided for all countries covered by ICRG from 1984 through the last full calendar year. Researchers looking for an open access alternative should try the Quality of Government (QoG) Institute dataset, which includes ICRG variables ’Corruption’, ’Law and Order’ and ’Bureaucracy Quality’.

International Telecommunication Union statistics

International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events (ITERATE), 1968 - [most recent]
The ITERATE project is an attempt to quantify data on the characteristics of transnational terrorist groups, their activities which have international impact, and the environment in which they operate.

Military Intervention Project (MIP) dataset
The Military Intervention Project (MIP) within the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) seeks to solve the puzzle of US foreign military interventions. It is building a new, comprehensive dataset of all US military interventions from 1776 until 2017 to measure the costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of US military involvements abroad.
Millennium Development Goals Indicators
Has official data, definitions, methodologies and sources for more than 60 indicators to measure progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
Military Balance (Institute for Strategic Studies)
Annual publication with detailed statistical information about the world's militaries including budget, enlisted personnel, and firepower.
Monthly Bulletin of Statistics
The latest economic statistics and population estimates for most countries and areas of the world. Issued by the United Nations.
Political Risk Yearbook
The Political Risk Yearbook is an annual publication that “contains all 100 Political Risk Services’ Country Reports updated to the previous December, demarcated along regional lines, using the globally-recognized Coplin-O’Leary political risk rating methodology.” Included in Business Source Complete.

OECD iLibrary
OECD iLibrary is the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development's Online Library for Books, Papers and Statistics and the gateway to its analysis and data. Coverage includes development, economics, education, energy, environment, scitech, social issues, and more.

openAfrica
openAFRICA aims to be the largest independent repository of open data on the African continent.
Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) - Data
- Journal of Peace Research Replication Data
- Replication Data
- PRIO-GRID
- Data on Armed Conflict
- Small Arms Trade Database
- Mapping Arms Data
- Geographical and Resource Datasets
- Data on Governance
- Economic and Socio-Demographic Data
- ACDC Bibliography
Penn World Table
Alan Heston, Robert Summers, and Bettina Aten
The Penn World Table provides purchasing power parity and national income accounts converted to international prices for 168 countries starting with 1950.
SIPRI Databases
Facts on international relations and security trends
SIPRI multilateral peace operations database
SIPRI military expenditure database
SIPRI arms transfers database
SIPRI arms embargoes database
SIPRI national reports database
Status of World Nuclear Forces
Frequently updated estimates from the Federation of American Scientists.
Sustainable Development Goals
Click on Engage > Member States for country-level goals, statements, documents, and reports.
Sustainable Development Goals Indicators Database
Provides access to data compiled through the UN System in preparation for the Secretary-General's annual report on "Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals"
Transparency International research
Corruption Perceptions Index
Global Corruption Barometer
Bribe Payers Index

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.

UN Member States On the Record
Provides direct access to official documents reflecting the views of United Nations Member States by bringing together in one place documents available elsewhere.
UN Statistics Division
Links several free databases from UN Statistics Division.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) statistical institute website. Includes statistical data sets of world education and literacy indicators, and selected data from the UNESCO Statistical Yearbook.
USAID
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency that provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States. The site provides an overview of each county where the agency does work.
World Bank DataBank
DataBank is an analysis and visualisation tool that contains collections of time series data on a variety of topics. You can create your own queries; generate tables, charts, and maps; and easily save, embed, and share them. Includes World Development Indicators...
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Statistical Capacity Indicators, Education Statistics, Gender Statistics, Health Nutrition and Population Statistics, Poverty and Equity, Doing Business, IDA Results Measurement System, Millennium Development Goals, Quarterly Public Sector Debt, Joint External Debt Hub, Job, Global Economic Prospects, Africa Development Indicators, Population estimates and projections, Health Nutrition and Population Statistics by Wealth Quintile, Landmine Contamination Casualties and Clearance (LC3D), Enterprise Surveys, Global Economic Monitor (GEM), Exporter Dynamics Database, Arica Development Entrepreneurship, Remittance Prices Worldwide, Sustainable Mobility for All, PPPs Regulator Quality, Human Capital Index, World Bureaucracy Indicators, Logistics Performance Index (LPI), Health Equality and Financial Protection Indicators (HEFPI), Global Financial Inclusion and Consumer Protection Survey, Economic Fitness, Environment Social and Governance (ESG) Data, MIX Market, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), International Comparison Program (ICP) 2011, Wealth Accounts, Economic Fitness, Africa Infrastructure, International Debt Statistics (formerly Global Development Finance), Global Bilateral Migration, UNCTAD - Trade Analysis Information System (TRAINS), International Comparison Program (ICP) 2005, Global Financial Inclusion, The Atlas of Social Protection: Indicators of Resilience and Equity, Country Policy and Institutional Assessment, Global Partnership for Education, Global Financial Development, G20 Financial Inclusion Indicators, ESCAP World Bank: International Trade Costs, Sustainable Energy for All, Service Delivery Indicators, Adjusted Net Savings, Indonesia Database for Policy and Economic Research, Subnational Malnutrition, LAC EQUITY LAB, India Power Sector Review Database, Country Partnership Strategy for India (FY2013-17), Agriculture in Africa – Telling Facts from Myths, National Poverty Line - Subnational Poverty, Quarterly External Debt Statistics GDDS, Quarterly External Debt Statistics SDDS, Subnational Population

Foreign Country Statistics

ProQuest Statistical Abstracts of the World
A collection of the statistical abstracts of various countries, both individually searchable and cross searchable. These statistical abstracts are generally issued by the national statistical offices of foreign governments and contain country-level data not easily found elsewhere. Global and regional statistical compendia issued by international organizations and research firms are also included.

Country Statistical Yearbooks
List of statistical yearbooks by country compiled by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries
International Statistical Agencies
Compiled by U.S. Census Bureau as "Related International Statistical Activities." Links to the official statistical agencies of foreign countries.
Data Portals
DataPortals.org is the most comprehensive list of open data portals in the world. It is curated by a group of leading open data experts from around the world - including representatives from local, regional and national governments, international organisations such as the World Bank, and numerous NGOs.
Country Studies from the Library of Congress
Each online book contains historical and cultural background information on the country it covers. Formerly known as the Area Handbooks from the Department of the Army.

More Business & Economics Sources

UN Comtrade: Commodity Trade Statistics Database
United Nations database of detailed commodity imports and exports statistics by country, 1962-present. UCSD affiliates should establish @ucsd.edu login account credentials in upper right of page to gain premium/plus rights, including bulk downloads.

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.

Development and Aid Data

AidData
AidData is a collaborative initiative to provide products and services that promote the dissemination, analysis, and understanding of development finance information. At the core of the AidData program is the AidData web portal, which is a gateway to nearly 1 million records of development finance activities from donors around the world.
The Humanitarian Data Exchange
Find, share and use humanitarian data all in one place. The Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) is an open platform for sharing data across crises and organisations. HDX is managed by OCHA's Centre for Humanitarian Data, which is located in The Hague, the Netherlands. OCHA is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies.
CRS: Creditor Reporting System (flows)
The objective of the CRS Aid Activity database is to provide a set of readily available granular data that enables analysis on where aid goes, what purposes it serves and what policies it aims to implement, on a comparable basis for all providers who report their activity-level statistics to the OECD. Data are collected on individual projects and programmes, with a range of attributes for each activity.
Basic Sources of International Economic Statistics: Development/Aid - Data Research Guide - Princeton University Library