Publications and statistical publications, AfDB
Publications and Documents; Data and Statistics, ADB
FAOSTAT, FAO
"Food and agriculture data for over 245 countries and territories and covers all FAO regional groupings from 1961 to the most recent year available."
Publications, FAO
Data and publications
ILOSTAT, ILO
Includes labour market indicators, population and labour force, employment, unemployment and labour underutilization, working time, earnings and labour cost, labour productivity, social protection, safety and health at work, industrial relations, labour migration, and consumer prices. Some data available back to 1969.
Publications and Research, ILO
International Financial Statistics Online, IMF
A standard source of international statistics on all aspects of international and domestic finance. It reports, for most countries of the world, current data needed in the analysis of problems of international payments and of inflation and deflation, i.e., data on exchange rates, international liquidity, international banking, money and banking, interest rates, prices, production, international transactions, government accounts, and national accounts. Updated monthly. Dates of Coverage: 1948-Present.
IMF Data Sources
Access to macroeconomic and financial data, including International Financial Statistics, Balance of Payments Statistics, Direction of Trade Statistics, and Government Finance Statistics. From the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
IMF eLibrary
Access to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s periodicals, books, working papers and studies.
World Economic Outlook, IMF
(two issues each year; 1997- )
The statistical annex in each issue contains many macroeconomic indicators for countries and country groups. Updated monthly.
World Economic Outlook Database, IMF
(1980- )
Selected macroeconomic series for countries and groups
OECD.Stat
Statistics for Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries and selected non-members. Subjects covered include: agriculture, environment, education, development, finance, health, labor, national accounts, science, demography.
OECD iLibrary
The online library of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), featuring its books, papers and statistics. It is also the gateway to the OECD's analyses and data. OECD iLibrary also contains content published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), the OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and the International Transport Forum (ITF).
Main Economic Indicators, OECD
print (Library has 1963-2009)
Online (1967-present)
Country data on national accounts, production, composite leading indicators, construction, retail trade, prices, earnings, employment & unemployment, interest rates, share prices, monetary aggregates, exchange rates, trade, and current balance. Updated monthly.
OECD Economic Outlook
Main Periodical (print; Library has 1972-present)
Online (1998-present)
In addition to chapters on special topics, has statistical annex with these sections: demand & output; wages, costs, unemployment & inflation; key supply-side data; saving; fiscal balances & public indebtedness; interest rates & exchange rates; external trade & payments; and other background data. Updated monthly. See also: OECD economic outlook. Historical statistics, 1960-1982 (Main Ref HC10 .O42 1960-1982).
UNData
United Nations statistical databases. Databases, tables and glossaries containing over 60 million data points cover a wide range of themes including agriculture, crime, education, employment, energy, environment, health, HIV/AIDS, human development, industry, information and communication technology, national accounts, population, refugees, tourism, trade, as well as the Millennium Development Goals indicators. Also provides access to data from other IGOs.
National Accounts Statistics: Main Aggregates and Detailed Tables, United Nations
Print and online (Annual; Library has 1982- )
Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, UN
Main Periodical, Annex (Library has 1919-2009)
Online (2000-present)
Country data on population, production, prices, employment, manufacturing, transport, construction, trade, finance and more. Updated monthly.
Statistical Yearbook, UN
Main Ref, Main Libr HA12.5.U63 (Library has 1948-present)
Online (1948-present)
Similar topics as the Monthly Bulletin of Statistics.
United Nations Demographic Yearbook, 1948-present
Human Development Report, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), online, 1990-present
Economic policy and advocacy as they relate to the goals needed to achieve long-term human well-being. Each yearly volume concentrates on a theme. Includes many tables of economic and social indicators. Internet version has regional and national reports as well as the global reports. See also Human Development Data.
The Least Developed Countries Report, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), online, 1996-present
Each issue contains a discussion of economic trends in the group of least developed countries then turns its attention to a specific topic such as "Escaping the Poverty Trap" or "Linking International Trade with Poverty Reduction. The Report concludes with a statistical annex.
World Economic and Social Survey, UN, online, 1948-present
Provides a discussion of the world economy, policies and poverty; concludes with statistical tables.
World Economic Situation and Prospects, UN, online, 1999-present
A look at the global economic situation with attention to trade, development and regional issues.
World Bank Open Data
"Free and open access to global development data."
World Development Indicators, World Bank
1960-present
Over 500 development indicators for over 200 countries and country groups. "World Development Indicators (WDI) is the primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized international sources."
World Development Report, World Bank
Main Ref, Main Libr HC 59.7.W659 (Annual; Library has 1978-2009)
Online (1978- )
A guide to the economic, social and environmental state of the world. Each annual volume provides analysis of a particular topic of development, e.g., creating a better investment climate, sustainable development, services. Each volume includes a statistical annex.
Methodology, used by the World Bank in measuring global poverty
Handbook on Poverty and Inequality, World Bank, 2009
Poverty & Equity Data Portal, World Bank.
"The Poverty and Equity Data Portal is the World Bank Group’s comprehensive source for the latest data on poverty, inequality, and shared prosperity. The portal allows you to explore several poverty and inequality indicators for countries and regions as well as explore countries by various income levels – low income, lower middle income, and upper middle income, and access poverty and inequality data for fragile, IDA and other country groupings."
PovcalNet, World Bank.
An online analysis tool for global poverty monitoring. Note: "PovcalNet was developed for the sole purpose of public replication of the World Bank’s poverty measures for its widely used international poverty lines, including $1.90 a day and $3.20 a day in 2011 PPP. The methods built into PovcalNet are considered reliable for that purpose. However, we cannot be confident that the methods work well for other purposes."
"The PovcalNet site will be replaced soon by the Poverty and Inequality Platform PIP."
Poverty and Equity Briefs, World Bank.
"The Poverty and Equity Briefs (PEBs) highlight poverty, shared prosperity and inequality trends for over 100 developing countries."
The World Bank's source of the national poverty estimates in [country] is provided in the Section on "Poverty Data and Methodology".
Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) about
Research and Publications, World Bank
The Economist
Has excellent international coverage on business, finance, economics, science and technology, books, and the arts. Dates of coverage: 1843-present.
State of the World, Worldwatch Institute
Main Ref HC59.S734 (Annual; Library has 1984-2014)
Environmental, economic and sustainability issues around the globe. Each issue has a separate focus, e.g., global security, consumerism, climate change. Excellent source for keeping abreast of these topics.
The World Economic Factbook, Euromonitor
Main Ref HC59.15.W67 (Annual; Library has 1997/98-2014)
Statistical source distinguished by its Comparative World Rankings section.
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). "The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program has collected, analyzed, and disseminated accurate and representative data on population, health, HIV, and nutrition through more than 400 surveys in over 90 countries."
Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS), World Bank. about
International Historical Statistics, 1750-
Worldwide coverage of statistics, including population & vital statistics, labor, agriculture, industry, trade, transport & communications, agriculture, education, and national accounts.
Statistical Year Book of the League of Nations
(print) Main Libr JX1975 .A25 subser (Library has 1931/32, 1935/36, 1939/40, 1941/42, 1942/44)
Polling the Nations
Polling the Nations is a compilation of surveys conducted by over 1000 polling organizations in the United States and 100 other countries from 1986 to the present time. The pollsters included in the database are: US polling organizations (e.g., Harris International, The Pew Center); universities (e.g., Rice University, University of Maryland); newspapers (e.g., New York Times, Los Angeles Times); Television news organizations (e.g., CBS, NBS, Fox, CNN); international polling organizations (e.g., Eurobarometer; special interest groups (e.g., Boy Scouts, AFL-CIO)
Roper Center
The Roper Center archives datasets from thousands of surveys with national adult, state, foreign, and special subpopulation samples. These datasets are listed in the Catalog of Holdings. Online access to many datasets are provided through the Roper Express service. US nationwide public opinion polls since 1935 are available through the iPoll service. A full-text retrieval system, the iPOLL online database is organized at the question-level.
Statista
Integrates thousands of diverse topics of data and facts from a wide range of sources. Sources of information include market research, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.
ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research) maintains a data archive of more than 500,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It hosts 16 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields.
Other poll sources from World Public Opinion
The International Gallup polls, public opinion, 1978-1979
Foreign newspapers may also include poll data.
Afrobarometer. "A pan-African series of national public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, and society"
Arab Barometer
"Arab Barometer is a nonpartisan research network that provides insight into the social, political, and economic attitudes and values of ordinary citizens across the Arab world. We have been conducting high quality and reliable public opinion surveys in the Middle East and North Africa since 2006."
AsianBarometer, University of Niigata Prefecture.
"Represents the largest ever, comparative survey in Asia, covering East, Southeast, South and Central Asia. Focuses on daily lives of ordinary people (bumi putra) and their relationships to family, neighborhood, workplace, social and political institutions and market place."
Central Asia Barometer
"The Central Asia Barometer is an independent non-profit sociological project, which mission is to measure the social, economic and political 'atmosphere' in the countries of Central Asia and disseminate the results among various interested groups: civil society, governments and government institutions, international donor organizations, private investors , non-profits, educational institutions."
Mansfield Asian Opinion Poll Database This site is down as of July 2022. Archived websites may be available by entering the most recent URL into the Wayback Machine: http://mansfieldfdn.org/program/research-education-and-communication/asian-opinion-poll-database/.
Eurasia Barometer
"Its main aim is to monitor political, social and economic transformations in the countries of post-communist Europe and post-Soviet Eurasia in the opinion of their populations. The target geographical coverage of Eurasia Barometer includes countries of Eastern Europe (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria), the Balkans, Russian Federation, Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia), Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan)."
Eurobarometer: Public opinion in the European Union, European Union
The Gallup international public opinion polls, France, 1939, 1944-1975
The Gallup international public opinion polls, Great Britain, 1937-1975
Latinobarómetro
"Latinobarómetro is an annual public opinion survey that involves some 20,000 interviews in 18 Latin American countries, representing more than 600 million inhabitants."
Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), Vanderbilt University. "Uses 'gold standard' approaches and innovative methods to carry out targeted and national surveys; conduct impact evaluation studies; and produce reports on individual attitudes, evaluations, and experiences". Includes AmericasBarometer.
Major sources are listed on this page.
The Statistical Abstract of the United States (section 30) is another great place to start looking. Even if the data that you want are not there, look at the footnotes for relevant tables and the introduction to section 30 for pointers to more comprehensive sources. Previous editions, 1878-, are also available.
Central Data Catalog, International Household Survey Network. A catalog of almost 7000 surveys and over 4.1 million variables. The catalog can be keyword searched and can be filtered by country and by year(s).
Agencies and Organizations provides tips on how to find international organizations or international or foreign statistical agencies.
Please contact us if you would like assistance with data!
