LibGuides: GLS101: Globalization: Locating Data & Statistics

About Datasets and Statistics

There are many sources for datasets and statistics that you may want to incorporate into your projects. Below are just a sampling of sources that may be found online. Most are freely available except where otherwise noted. The sources on this page are not intended to be a comprehensive list, but rather a starting point for your research.

Statistics Sources

USA.gov: U.S. Data and Statistics
Search across multiple departments of the government to find data and statistics. Some of the information you may find can include population, economic, or demographic data.
UNESCO: Institute for Statistics
Part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, the Institute for Statistics collects data from around the world on various topics related to education, culture, science, technology, and innovation.

Statista This link opens in a new window
Statista is a portal for quantitative data, statistics and related information. Use the search box to find information of interest, or choose from dropdowns providing access to information about industries, digital markets, consumer markets, and topics such as media, business, and society. Statistics, charts and/or graphs may be downloaded in the following formats: Excel, PNG Graphics, PowerPoint and PDF.
World Development Indicators (WDI) This link opens in a new window
World Development Indicators is a compilation of internationally comparable statistical metrics related to global development and the fight against poverty. The database contains time series indicators for more than 200 countries and over 40 country groups. Data for many indicators spans more than 50 years.

Gapminder
Gapminder gathers data from a variety of international, non-government organizations and public agencies. Gapminder World visualizes the collected data and displays much of the information over time in interactive graphs.

International Statistical Agencies (U.S. Census) This link opens in a new window
Compiled by the U.S. Census, International Statistical Agencies provides links to the official statistical agencies for countries of the world (note: some sites may not provide content in English). Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the full list of countries. Free resource.

Dataset Sources

Academic Torrents
Torrent site created to share papers and datasets (especially to help facilitate large dataset delivery) created by researchers from the University of Massachusetts.
Data.gov
Open data from the United States federal government. Can search and browse by topics including climate, education, energy, health, and more to find and download datasets.
EuroStat
Eurostat offers a whole range of important and interesting data that governments, businesses, the education sector, journalists and the public can use for their work and daily life. It is the European Union's statistical data arm.
FRED Economic Data
Economic data made available by the Federal Reserve Bank.
globalEDGE
Created by Michigan State's Broad School of Business, globalEDGE Insights by Country provides statistical data for nearly every country around the world, including GDP, economic indicators, labor and employment, and trade.
ICPSR: Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research
Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides downloadable data on a number of different topics related to the social sciences including economic behavior, education, health care, governments, organizational behavior, and more. Note: Some datasets are only available to member institutions and Bentley is not a member. To see if a set is publicly available to you, check the "Access Notes" for the dataset.
MPC Data Projects
Population and demographic data available from the Minnesota Population Center. Population data includes: international and national harmonized data from 1960 onwards, harmonized data from the Current Population Survey, the North Atlantic Population Project, the National Historical Geographic Inform, and American Time Use Survey-X.
OECD Data
Data made available from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with topics including economics, energy, education, health, innovation & technology, and government among others. Create your own queries using the OECD database OECD.Stat (Available without a subscription).
Pew Research Center Datasets
Datasets made available by the Pew Research Center with data covering topics related to U.S. Politics & Policy; Internet, Science, & Technology; Journalism & Media; Global Attitudes & Trends; and more!
UNData
United Nations Data contains official statistics, estimates and projections produced by countries and compiled by the United Nations. Domains covered are agriculture, crime, education, energy, industry, labor, national accounts, population and tourism. You can also find indicators such as Millennium Development Goals. Free resource.
WHO: Global Health Observatory (GHO) data
The World Health Organization's Global Health Observatory (GHO) provides data and statistics related to various health indicators across the globe.
World Bank Open Data
Freely available, open access data portal from The World Bank. Also provides access to World Development Indicators. You can also search using the Open Data Catalog.
World Trade Organization (WTO): Trade and Tariff Data
Data and tools available from the World Trade Organization related to international trade and tariffs.
Penn World Table (v. 10.0)
The Penn World Table provides information on relative levels of income, output, input and productivity. Version 10.0 covers 183 countries between 1950 and 2019.