Library Guides: Statistics & Data for the Social Sciences: A Guide: International Data

Finding International Data

Use the links on this page to find global data, and data about individual countries.

The best sources for data about a specific country are often the website of that country's national office for statistics. Use one of the directories below to locate the appropriate site for your desired country.
The best sources for data that is comparative or on an international scale are often the United Nations or one of its affiliated agencies. The websites and databases in the right column of this page link to these resources.

Directories of National Statistical Agencies

These sites contain links to the national statistical agencies and offices of countries around the world. For data specific to a single country, locate that nation's official statistics agency from one of these directories.

UN Data
A data access system to UN databases and national data/statistics agencies.
Center for International Development at Harvard University - National Statistical Offices
Collection of national statistical office links from around the world produced by the Center for International Development at Harvard University.
International Statistical Agencies (US Census Bureau)
Scroll down the page for a country by country list of the agency within the country that reports domestic statistical information. Compiled by the U.S. Census.

Statistics & Data from International Organizations

United Nations Statistical Databases
The United Nations provides free access to over 15 UN statistical databases.

Corruption Perceptions Index
The Internet Center for Corruption Research provides you with empirical and experimental data on corruption and studies on reform.
EuroStat
Official statistical and demographic data of the European Union. EuroStat provides the European Union with detailed statistics on the EU and candidate countries that enable comparisons between countries and regions.
Failed States Index
An annual ranking prepared by the Fund for Peace and published by Foreign Policy of the world's most vulnerable countries.
Financial Tracking Service (FTS)
A global, real-time database which records all reported international humanitarian aid (including that for NGOs and the Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement, bilateral aid, in-kind aid, and private donations).
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FTS is managed by the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). All FTS data are provided by donors or recipient organizations.
Health Nutrition Population Statistics (HNP Stats)
A data hub for health, nutrition and population.
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It draws on a variety of data sources including administrative statistics and household surveys compiled by the World Bank Group and its client countries, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Food and Agricultural Organization of United Nations (FAO), United Nations Population Division, United Nations Statistics Division, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Government Finance Statistics This link opens in a new window
The International Monetary Fund's Government Finance Statistics (GFS) database contains detailed annual statistical data on revenue, expense, transactions in assets and liabilities, and stocks of assets and liabilities of general government and its subsectors as reported by member countries.

International Human Development Indicators
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary composite index that measures a country's average achievements in three basic aspects of human development: health, knowledge, and income.
LABORSTA (Labor Statistics)
Covers official core labour statistics and estimates for over 200 countries since 1969. Also provides methodological descriptions of main national statistical sources.
Produced by the International Labor Organization (ILO) a division of the United Nations.
Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS)
Research project started in 1980 by the Development Economics Research Group (DECRG) to explore ways of improving the type and quality of household data collected by statistical offices in developing countries.
Nation Master
Database of variables for comparing countries. Provides demographic indicators covering various statistical areas. Statistics available in pie charts, scatterplots, and correlation graphs. Data is taken from public domain.
OECD iLibrary
Statistics and economic and social data of OECD Nations.
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OECD iLibrary contains all the publications and datasets released by OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF) since 1998.
Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)
The Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI™) is a simple and accurate tool that measures poverty levels of groups and individuals. Using the PPI, microfinance institutions (MFIs) can better determine their clients’ needs, which programs are most effective, how quickly clients leave poverty, and what helps them to move out of poverty faster.
United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics
UN Comtrade contains detailed imports and exports statistics reported by statistical authorities of close to 200 countries or areas. It concerns annual trade data from 1962 to the most recent year.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the statistical branch of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). It delivers comparative data for countries at all stages of development to provide a global perspective on education, science and technology, culture, and communication.
World Bank - Data
The World Bank provides free and open access to a comprehensive set of data about development in countries around the globe.
World Values Survey
WVS is an opinion survey similar to the GSS in questions and topics addressed, but includes representative samples from about 90 countries ranging from post-industrial democracies to developing nations.

Commercial Databases

These subscription databases include statistics and data from the international organizations and include some coverage of non-US topics.

SAGE Data This link opens in a new window
Standardized and structured statistical data including key economic indicators. Covers subjects including banking and finance, criminal justice, education, industry and commerce, housing and construction, population and income, stocks and commodities, and more. International data includes China Data Center, International Monetary Fund, imports and exports, international finance statistics, World Bank statistics, and Stats Canada. NOTE: from off campus this resource is not compatible with the Firefox web browser.
Also includes EASI Market Planner with 13 data sets covering consumer behavior, consumer expenditures, consumer price index, consumer spending analytics, demographics, gross domestic product, health, industries, life stages, media, quality of life, and retail sales.
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) This link opens in a new window
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Business and political intelligence for more than 200 countries. Reports and Services include: Country Reports, Country Forecast, Global Outlook, Commodities, Industry Briefing, CountryData and Market Indicators & Forecasts.

Statista
Integrates over 60,000 diverse topics of data and facts from over 10,000 sources onto a single platform. Sources of information include market researchers, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases.

Turchin Business Library

Statistics & Data for the Social Sciences: A Guide

Finding International Data

Directories of National Statistical Agencies

Statistics & Data from International Organizations

Commercial Databases

International Statistics in Print