International Business Sources - Country Data

Statistics and Tables

Every country has its own sources of official statistics, and many have unofficial sources such as trade associations. Sometimes the appropriate government department is self-evident; for example, labor statistics generally come from the department of employment or labor. For data which affect more than one department, such as GDP or balance-of-payments figures, good sources include the central bank or a central statistical agency, such as the Commerce Department in the U.S.

There are several well-known organizations and sites that have aggregated and listed links to the websites of these offices, making the job of finding them much easier.

• OFFStats
  Free statistics from official sources arranged by country, region, or topic ..
• International Statistical Agencies
  The U.S. Census has gathered links to the official statistical sites of many countries around the world.
• United Nations Statistics Division: Information on National Statistical Systems
  The UN collects and disseminates statistics from National Statistical Offices worldwide. It provides a global center for data on international trade, national accounts, energy, industry, environment and demographic and social statistics.
• Fedstats
  Indexes U.S. government web sites with statistical content. Many government sites collect statistics for foreign countries.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
  
  Includes "Comparative Economic Statistics" that contain more than 50 tables giving figures for the world as a whole, and for many countries, on a comparative basis with the U.S. The tables often give several years of data. They also serve as a useful index to more detailed information.
• International Economic Statistics Database
  The International Economic Statistics Database simplifies the search for worldwide economic indicators. The database provides links to individual indicators (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.

International Agencies

United States Government

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International Agencies

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International organizations publish various national and international data, frequently in standardized or semi-standardized form, within a few weeks of their original release. Key sources include the IMF, the OECD, the Bank for International Settlements, the International Finance Corporation, OPEC, and the United Nations.

United Nations
The U.N. pulls together an enormous amount of useful economic, industry, labor, and other international statistical data of potential value for industry research.

TIP:

The global public sources highlighted in this section produce mountains of valuable data, buth they aren't necessarily easy to use. Here's a quick tip to make your search job easier: Be sure you are aware of any industry, occupational, or other categorization coding system used by the country or agency, and know how to look up the correct codes ahead of time. Doing this can make your job a lot easier and your results much more precise. For U.S.industries, use: SIC or NAICS codes. For European industries, use: NACE codes. For Australia and New Zealand, use: ANZSIC. For Japan, use: JSIC. For the United Nations, use: ISIC or ISCO.

• Infonation
  Statistical data on U.N. member states' geographies, economies, population, and social indicators.
• UNData
  
  A great deal of U.N.-housed searchable statistical databases, including areas like industries and crime.

European Commission

• Eurostat
  Eurostat is the Statistical Office of the European Communities situated in Luxembourg. Its task is to provide the European Union with statistics at European level that enable comparisons between countries and regions.

OECD

• OECD
  (Organization for Economic Organization and Development)
  Countless tables, data sets, and collections of data related to employment, income, education, labor, and more for countries around the globe.Currently the organization has 30 member countries, mostly wealthy developed countries. With active relationships with some 70 other countries, NGOs and civil society, it has a global reach.

Latin America

• Latin American Network Information Center
  LANIC's mission is to facilitate access to Internet-based information to, from, or on Latin America.

Japan

• JETRO: Japan External Trade Organization
  Information on Japanese companies, trade, industries, and related data on business in Japan.

The World Bank
The World Bank collects and disseminates statistical data on about 100 nations. These are three of the key pages and URLs to review:

• The World Bank: Data and Research


• Knowledge Resources for Financial and Private Sector Development
• World Development Indicators
Provides a detailed compilation of data on developing countries. Lists more than 2000 indicators and 90 tables. You can review the entire PDF or download just the sections of most interest.

International Labour Organization
The ILO aggregates labor force surveys from countries around the world and publishes its own labor-related series. These are the key sections to check:

• Key Indicators of the Labour Market


• Statistics and Databases


• LABORSTA database
  Provides a searchable dataset of labor statistics on employment and industry data for more than 200 countries around the world. LABORSTA is one of the most comprehensive web-based, accessible sites of global employment, unemployment, wages, consumer prices, occupational injuries, and other labor-related industry statistics, and it’s all from a highly reputable source. You can search by topic (e.g., public sector employment, retail prices of certain items, and so on) or by country or by a specific statistical publication.

International Monetary Fund

• World Economic Outlook.
  (A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund) Examines the current economic situation, poling issues, and short and medium term prospects in industrial and developing countries. That statistical appendix provides financial and economic data.

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United States Government

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Although the U.S. government publishes numerous sites for business information, the following sites are particularly useful for locating international industry statistics:

U.S. Commercial Service

• BuyUSA e-Market Express


• Market Research Library
  Includes country commercial guides, market research reports and more.

U.S. International Trade Center

• Interactive Tariff and Trade DataWeb
  Import, export, and tariff statistics.
• Directory of International Trade Analyst Commodity Service Assignments

U.S. Dept. of Commerce

• Office of Industry Analysis
  As a service of the International Trade Administration, this department develops and disseminates trade and economic data. It examines issues affecting U.S. manufacturing and services competitiveness in domestic and global markets.
• U.S. Foreign Trade Highlights
  Includes Frequently Asked Questions that will lead you to specific sites that answer questions on trade statistics from different regions of the world.

Export.gov

• Export.gov
• TradeStats Express

U.S. Dept. of Labor

• Foreign Labor Trends
  From the U.S. Department of Labor. Provides information on labor institutions, practices, and recent key developmnets in the countries reported.

Information for this guide comes from, "Roundup: The Best Sources of International Industry Statistics", The Information Advisor, Vol. 21, No. 12, December 2009.

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