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International Trade Data Workshop: Overview of Data Sources

World Bank Data

Accessibility

Coverage

  • All countries
  • 1960-present

Notable Content

  • The World Bank's primary data set is World Development Indicators (WDI)
  • Many other economic topics, including trade, are also covered
  • The data is compiled from officially-recognized international sources

Search Tips

  • Browsing by indicators gives you a good sense of what's included in the database
  • Build a comprehensive search step-by-step
  • Some indicators link to external World Bank data sources; use these to explore a topic further

Unique Features

  • The Data Catalog lists all available data from the World Bank and allows for bulk downloads

Weaknesses

  • It can be hard to navigate because there are so many choices

Download Formats

  • Excel, XML, CSV

IMF Data

Accessibility

Coverage

  • All countries
  • 1900-present

Notable Content

  • Monetary statistics, exchange rates, CPI, investment stasistics, balance of payments 

Search Tips

  • Browse countries, indicators or predefined reports

Unique Features

  • Depth and breadth of financial, monetary and investment statistics unavailable elsewhere
  • Some data is available monthly, quarterly, and annually 

Weaknesses

  • Tables load slowly
  • Requires a bit of a learning curve, especially for users without finance or economics background

Download Formats

  • Excel, PDF, RTF, EMF, PPT, HTML, MHT

UN Comtrade Database

Accessibility

Coverage

  • All Countries
  • 1962-present

Notable Content

  • Disaggregated trade statistics
  • UN trade database of record
  • Imports, exports, re-imports, re-exports

Search Tips

  • Click the Get Data button to get to the search interface 
  • Users can download up to 50,000 records with the free version

Unique Features

  • Commodity level bilateral trade data
  • Easy to use

Weaknesses

  • One trick pony

Download Formats

  • CSV

OECD.Stat

Accessibility

Coverage

  • Member countries, or member countries and their trade partners, or all countries; it depends 
  • 1960-present

Notable Content

  • Statistics and data on a variety of economic and development topics including finance, industry, trade, globalisation

Search Tips

  • GSU users access via OECD iLibrary then click Statistics → OECD.Stat → DATA
  • Browse topics by theme or search 

Unique Features 

  • Industry structural analysis database (STAN) 
  • Bilateral trade data

Weaknesses

  • Mix of free and subscription content is confusing
  • Non-member country data not always included

Download Formats

  • Excel, CSV, PC-Axis, Developer API, XML

ILO Stat

Accessibility

Coverage

  • All countries
  • circa 1967-present

Notable Content

  • Earnings, hours, (un)employment, injuries, strikes, cost of labor

Search Tips

  • Country Profiles provide a basic overview of labor statistics by country 

Unique Features

  • Includes data on the Informal Sector
  • Users can bookmark tables

Weaknesses

  • Not all countries collect/report employment data the same way

Download Format

  • Excel

Passport

Accessibility 

  • Passport is a subscription resource available to Atlanta Campus GSU users only 

Coverage

  • Covers consumer markets for 27 industries in most countries
  • 1997- present
  • Forecasts through 2020

Notable Content

  • Market sizes, company shares, brand shares, distribution data

Search Tips

  • Use the Search Full Tree tool to select Categories and Topics (i.e. industries) and geographies
  • Use the Dashboard to create charts, graphs and maps

Unique Features

  • Comprehensive global company, brand and market data

Weaknesses

  • Only covers 27 industries
  • Data available for most, not all countries; hard to predict what's covered

Download Formats

  • Excel, PDF