Business Research Guide

Global Economy Resources

• globalEDGE (Michigan State University)
  International business & trade info on over 200 countries, 50 U.S. states, as well as nearly 2 dozen industry sectors & many of the world’s trade blocs.
• Export.gov (U.S. Commercial Service)
  Includes: Country Commercial Guides, Market Intelligence,  & more.
• World Bank: Doing Business Report Series
  The Doing Business report series includes annual reports going back to 2004, a wide variety of subnational studies, and a number of special reports dealing with regions or topics. Use the tabs to read report summaries and to download. Additional country and regional reports can be downloaded.
• Bloomberg
• Index of Economic Freedom
  Ranks 185 countries by the extent of government involvement in the economy.
• Pew Global Attitudes Project
  Allows users to explore public opinion trends in 55 countries on topics ranging from attitudes toward the U.S. to people’s assessments of their own lives to views about globalization, democratization, extremism and other important issues.
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
  Country information and economic statistics.  See OECD iLibrary.
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Factbook
  Topics covered include population and migration; production and productivity; household income, wealth and debt; globalization, trade and foreign direct investment (FDI); prices, interest rates and exchange rates; energy and transportation; labor, employment and unemployment; science and technology including research and development (R&D) and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector; environment including natural resources, water,and air and climate; education resources and outcomes; government expenditures, debt, revenues, taxes, agricultural support and foreign aid; and health status, risk and resources.
• U.S. Census Bureau: International Programs
  Find demographic indicators, population pyramids, and source information for countries and areas of the world with a population of 5,000 or more.
• U.S. Census Bureau: International Statistical Agencies
  Provides links to the government entities that track statistics in each country.
• World Bank: Data and Research
  The Development Economics Group Vice Presidency (DEC) seeks to increase understanding of development policies and programs by providing intellectual leadership and analytical services to the Bank and the development community.
• World Bank: Open Knowledge Repository
  Over 18,000 resources on global policies, country info, economic and business info, and more.
• World Bank: International Debt Statistics
  Focuses on financial flows, trends in external debt, and other major financial indicators for developing and advanced economies (data from Quarterly External Debt Statistics and Quarterly Public Sector Debt databases). Includes over 200 time series indicators from 1970 to 2013, for most reporting countries, and pipeline data for scheduled debt service payments on existing commitments to 2022.
• World Bank: World Development Report
  The World Bank’s annual World Development Report provides a wide international readership with an extraordinary window on development economics. Each year, the report focuses on a specific aspect of development.
• World Bank: World Development Indicators
  The primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially-recognized international sources. It presents the most current and accurate global development data available, and includes national, regional and global estimates.
• World Bank: The Little Data Book 2016
  It is intended as a quick reference for users of the World Development Indicators database, book, and mobile app. The Little Data Book 2014 contains 55 key development indicators such as population and population growth, GNI, GDP, GDP growth, exports and imports, and gross capital formation, deforestation, water use, energy use and electricity use per capita; and more.
• World Bank: The Little Data Book on Private Sector Development 2016
  The Little Data Book on Private Sector Development is a pocket-sized book providing data for more than 40 key indicators on business environment and private sector development in a single page for each of the World Bank member countries and other economies with populations of more than 30,000.
• European Commission Eurostat: Your key to European statistics
  Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union situated in Luxembourg. Its task is to provide the European Union with statistics at European level that enable comparisons between countries and regions.
• International Monetary Fund
  The IMF publishes a range of time series data on IMF lending, exchange rates and other economic and financial indicators. Manuals, guides, and other material on statistical practices at the IMF, in member countries, and of the statistical community at large are also available.  See International Financial Statistics (IFS) and Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics.
• United Nations Data
  This site brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can now search and download a variety of statistical resources of the UN system.
• UNESCO Institute of Statistics
  The primary source for cross-nationally comparable statistics on education, science and technology, culture, and communication for more than 200 countries and territories.
• ILOSTAT: The World’s Leading Source on Labour Statistics
  View and download data and metadata for over 200 countries or territories.
  View and download data and metadata for over 200 countries or territories.
• U.S. Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics International Labor Comparisons
  Data used to assess U.S. economic and labor market performance relative to that of other countries & to evaluate the competitive position of the United States in increasingly global markets.
• World Trade Organization Statistics Database
  The WTO’s databases and publications provide extensive access to trade and tariff data.
• International StatisticsCompare countries on just about anything!
• ProQuest Statistical Abstracts of the U.S. – Foreign Commerce and Aid
  International Transactions By Type; Balances On International Transactions By Area And Selected Country; U.S. Government Reserve Assets; U.S. International Investment Position By Type Of Investment; International Service Transactions By Selected Type Of Service And Selected Country; Foreign Direct Investment Position In The United States On A Historical-Cost Basis; U.S. Majority-Owned Affiliates Of Foreign Companies-Selected Financial And Operating Data By Industry Of Affiliate; Employment Of Majority-Owned U.S. Affiliates Of Foreign Companies By State; U.S. Direct Investment Position Abroad, Capital Outflows, And Income By Industry Of Foreign Affiliates; International Trade In Goods And Services; U.S. Exports And General Imports Of Merchandise By Customs District; Exports, Imports, And Trade Balance By Country.
• Statista
  Over one million statistics available. Type a country, subject, or industry into the search bar.