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Political Science: Statistics Sources: International, Other Nations

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This page lists print and online statistical resources covering the world as a whole, and other nations individually.

Statistics Sources: International, Other Nations

International statistics: 

  • CIA World Fact Book
  • - Information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
  • Cross-National Time Series, 1815-1973
    - A longitudinal national data series for 167 nations covering demographic, social, political, and economic topics, from ICPSR.
  • Eurostat
    - Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union, tasked with providing statistics at European level that enable comparisons between countries and regions. Eurostat processes, consolidates and publishes comparable statistical collected by the statistical authorities of Member states. 
    - See especially the Eurostat Yearbook (found under "Publications" on the Eurostat web site); for the 1995 - 2008 editions of the Yearbook, go to Main Library HA1107 .E89.
  • IndiaStat
    [online resource; UCSB IP addresses only] 
    - Statistical data from Indian government and private sources covering finance, agriculture, health, housing, transportation, and many other areas. Includes census data. 
  • OECD iLibrary
    - Contains publications and datasets released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Energy Agency (IEA), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), OECD Development Centre, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), and International Transport Forum (ITF) since 1998.Look especially for datasets, indicators and statistical books series listed under the Statistics tab on the OECD iLibrary home page.
  • Penn World Tables
    - The Penn World Tables provide annual time-series data on purchasing power parity and national income converted to international prices, for 189 countries and territories, for some or all of the years 1950-2014.  Access to the most recent version of this data is maintained at the University of Groningen, Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC).
  • World Almanac and Book of Facts
    - Latest edition in print at Ref Desk AY67.N5 W92; earlier editions in Main Library.
  • World Bank. World Development Indicators.
    - Over 2,000 indicators from World Bank data sets on development in countries around the globe, capturing data on agriculture & rural development, energy & mining, the environment, infrastructure and more, with economic time series going back to 1960.

The United Nations Charter established the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1945 as one of the six main organs of the United Nations to advance sustainable development with respect to international economic, social, cultural, educational, health, and related matters. ECOSOC in turn established five regional commissions to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation. Each of these commissions supports statistical work covering its member states. The five regional commissions are:

  • United Nations. Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
    - ECA's African Centre for Statistics provides access to the annual African Statistical Yearbook of economic, demographic and social statistics; find it under the "Publications" link on the data & statistics page.   
     
  • United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). 
    - ESCAP's Data Centre and, more generally, its Statistics Division provide access to the Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific and other statistical information about this region.
     
  • United Nations. Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).
    - See especially the ECE Statistical Division's UNECE Countries in Figures which presents a profile of social and economic indicators for each of the 56 UNECE member countries.
     
  • United Nations. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) 
    (In Spanish, the Commission is known as CEPAL: La Comisión Económica para América Latina.)
    - ECLAC provides access to the Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y El Caribe | Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and The Caribbean via its Statistics pages.
     
  • United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
    - See especially ESCWA's Statistics Division periodic Statistical Abstract of the Arab Region

In addition, ECOSOC established the United Nations Statistical Commission to serve as the highest body of the global statistical system. The Statistical Commission oversees the work of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which compiles and disseminates global data and statistical information on international trade, national accounts, energy, industry, environment and demographic and social statistics. See especially UCSD's UNData service which provides access to a variety of UN statistical databases through a single entry point.  The Division also regularly publishes such useful sources of statistical information as the Statistical Yearbook and World Statistics Pocketbook

Older editions of the Statistical Yearbook in print can be found at Main Library HA12.5 .U5.

Among other United Nations organs that provide access to statistical information, consider:

  • UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Institute for Statistics. (UIS)  
    - Source for cross-nationally comparable statistics on education, science and technology, culture, and communication for more than 200 countries and territories. See especially the Institute's UIS.Stat data resource, with over 1,000 types of indicators and raw data on education, literacy, science and technology, culture and communication.