Data & Statistics from International Government Organizations

1. Data & Statistics from International Government Organizations Jim Church UC Data Research Seminar March 16, 2012

2. International Governmental Organization (IGOs) Broad Framework • United Nations System of Organizations • European Union • Economic & Financial Organizations • Other Regional & Multiregional Organizations

3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) The UNSD is arguably the world’s most important international statistical organization, especially in the area of international statistical classifications and standards. It’s mission includes: • Collection, processing and dissemination of statistical information • Standardization of statistical methods classifications & definitions: International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) Standard International Trade Classification (SITC ) Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS) System of National Accounts (SNA) • Coordination of international statistical programs and activities

4. UN Statistics Division Databases • UnData • Monthly Bulletin of Statistics Online • UN Comtrade • UN Service Trade • National Accounts Main Aggregates

5. UNData and Monthly Bulletin • UNdata. One stop-shop portal for data from the United Nations Statistics Division and UN and specialized agencies. Provides links to databases from which the data is derived. Interface makes multiple variable downloads difficult. • Monthly Bulletin of Statistics Online. Nice interface makes selection and downloading of variables easy. Limited number of indicators (55). Chief advantage is the data is monthly.

6. United Nations Statistical Yearbooks They still make them. Famous UN Yearbooks & Handbooks include: Statistical Yearbook of the United Nations Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean African Statistical Yearbook Demographic Yearbook Energy Statistics Yearbook Industrial Commodity Statistics Yearbook International Trade Statistics Yearbook National Accounts Statistics: Main Aggregates and Detailed Tables World Investment Report & Directory UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics Least Developed Countries Report These can be great for historical research. The UN Statistical Yearbook has data that no other source has going back to 1946.

7. The League of Nations The League of Nations was the UN’s predecessor and had amazing data for its time. Most of it is not online and is still buried in libraries but some has been digitized. Key League of Nations statistical publications include: League of Nations Statistical Yearbook International Trade Statistics International health year book Money and Banking World Economic Survey See this Primer of League of Nations Documents Research at Princeton University Library for more information.

8. Comtrade & Service Trade • Comtrade. Commodity trade (banana pulp and pig iron) data between countries with values for quantity and value over time. • Requires understanding of Commodity Classification systems (SITC and HS) to use. • “Comtrade explorer” is the view-only version. Select “submit query” after variable selection is complete and click direct download. • UN Service Trade is relatively new and offers statistics of international trade in services. Free but requires user registration. Uses the Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification (EBOPS) for services. • Trade in services also available for OECD countries via OECDiLibrary

9. United Nations Agency Databases • UNDP Human Development Indicators. Development Indicators from the United Nations Development Programme. Home of the Human Development Index and the Human Development Report. • United Nations Environment Programme. Offers detailed environmental and related socio-economic data by detailed geography. • UNIDO Industrial Statistics Database (CD in Doe Library). Global Industrial statistics, i.e. firms, employees and wages by industry. This is the closest thing to an international economic census. • UNU-WIDER World Income Inequality. Database of world income inequality. The University of Texas Inequality Project site has more sources.

10. Human Development Reports Detailed development indicators for countries around the world. Each national report has a different theme; data annexes are in the back. Created by UNDP country offices (over 150 worldwide).

11. More United Nations Agency Data • AIDSInfo Online. The UN AIDS agency. Global HIV/AIDS data by detailed geography, sometimes down to state/provincial levels. • UNCTADStat. Source for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and other unconventional metrics of trade and investment. • UNICEF Statistics & Monitoring. Statistics on children & youth. Includes the Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS). • UNHCR Online Population Database. UN High Commissioner for Refugees database. Data on refugees, asylum-seekers, stateless persons, etc. • UN Habitat UrbanInfo. From the UN Commission for Human Settlements. International urban and housing data.

12. UN High Commissioner for Refugees

13. UN Specialized Agencies United Nations specialized agencies are largely autonomous and have their own charter and budget. They are related to the UN via international treaties. • International Labour Organization. LABORSTA database. Includes wages, unemployment, hours of work, strikes, etc. See especially the October Inquiry. • Food and Agricultural Organization. FAOSTAT. Food and agriculture, fisheries, prices, forestry, production, and trade. • World Health Organization. Global Health Observatory Database. Nutrition, epidemics, health systems, HIV/AIDS, immunizations, etc. • International Telecommunication Union. World Telecommunications Indicators database (Password access only – ask at any library reference desk). • UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Educational, communication, cultural and science/technology data. • UPU Postal Statistics. Statistics on postal services and the mail (fun).

14. UN Regional Commissions United Nations countries are officially divided into five groupings. These commissions publish statistics about their respective regions in official yearbooks and databases. • UN ESCAP Annual Core Indicators – Asia & the Pacific • CEPALStat – Latin America & the Caribbean • UN ECE Statistical Database - Europe • UN ECA Statbase – Sub-Sarahan Africa • UN ESCWA – Western Asia (print publications only)

15. Eurostat • Extensive national and sub-regional data for Europe from the Statistical Office of the European Union. • Covers economics & finance, industry and trade, population , agriculture, transport, the environment and more. • For Europe this is my “go-to” database. • Interface requires drilling down through multiple menus. • Tables look static but are not. Choose “select data” at the upper right to adjust variables, geographies and years.

16. Eurostat Navigation

17. Remember those codes?

18. Look for Hidden Clues….

19. OECD iLibrary • Portal of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for data and publications. Data is mostly for OECD countries. • Not the same as data on the free OECD site. The OECD iLibrary is subscription-based. • OECDStat is the statistics section. Includes Main Economic Indicators (monthly data, widely cited) international trade data by commodity, development aid data (also widely used) insurance, banking, taxation, productivity and more. • UC Berkeley has access to International Energy Agency (IEA) data and OECD health data. • Examples of famous studies include PISA and the World Economy.

20. International Monetary Fund Via the IMF eLibrary (which includes e-books we do not pay for). Some data goes back to 1940’s. Includes: International Financial Statistics (IFS) – Exchange rates, interest rates, foreign reserves, money, banking, gold etc. Goes back to 1946. Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS) – Aggregate trade flows between countries going back to 1946. Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPS) - Transactions in goods, services, and income between an economy and the rest of the world. Government Finance Statistics (GFS) – Summarized and standardized government budget data. Older data via ICPSR. World Economic Outlook (WEO) – Macroeconomic indicators, projections and commodity data (free) from the IMF.

21. World Bank Data Catalog Comprehensive listing of all World Bank publicly available data. The free availability of all this information is a major milestone. Some major World Bank data sources include: • World Development Indicators. For international data this is the gold standard for usability and comprehensiveness. • Global Development Finance. World Bank (external) debt database. Years ago the print version was called World Debt Tables. • African Development Indicators. Primary world bank database for statistics on Africa. Contains unique data not in WDI. • GenderStats. Good database for international gender data (surprisingly difficult to find).

22. World Bank & Microdata World Bank Microdata Catalog. Catalog of World Bank microdata: impact evaluation surveys, living standards measurement surveys, etc. Includes guides on types of microdata useful for poverty interventions.  See especially sources of data useful for poverty analysis.  Living Standards Measurement Surveys.   Data on multiple indicators of household well-being, useful for assessing household behavior and evaluating the effect of government policies on the living conditions of the population. International Household Survey Network Catalog. Catalog of household surveys And links to national or international databanks. 

23. Indexes and Aggregators Third parties index and purchase rights to IGO data or “add value” to it if in the public domain. Examples include: CEIC Global Database. Data from central banks, the IMF, World Bank, BIS and many other sources consolidated. WDI on steroids. Global Financial Data (GFD). Extremely long runs of international financial Economic data, sometimes back hundreds of years. For my “Ottoman Empire” questions. Proquest Statistical Datasets. Proquest’s attempt to consolidate all the statistics in the World into one database. ProQuest Statistical Insight. Indexes and in some cases provides links to US, State and local, commercial and international sources. This is where I go when stumped.

24. Contact Info Come see us - librarians are here to help! Jim Church Librarian for Economics, Development Studies, Political Economy, and International Government Information University of California, Berkeley 438 Doe Library Berkeley, CA 94720 USA Email: jchurch@library.berkeley.edu Tel: (510) 768-7611