Research and Course Guides: Country Economic Reports: Getting Started

Introduction

This guide will lead you to appropriate resources for the country analysis project.

Reports & Statistical Data Sources

Statista
Statista is an easy-to-search database of frequently sought statistics and studies gathered by government sources, scientific publications, market researchers, non-profits, trade organizations, etc. Individual statistics are usually displayed as a chart and the underlying data is downloadable in Excel. Search results also display dossiers (topical collections of statistics), infographics, country, industry, and some company reports.
Data-Planet Statistical Datasets
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Data-Planet allows users to retrieve U.S. and international statistics & data, and create tables, charts, & maps from a variety of sources. Data are organized by subject and source; users can browse by folders or keyword search.

Subject categories include: Banking, Finance, and Insurance; Criminal Justice and Law; Education; Energy Resources and Demand; Food and Agriculture; Government and Politics; Health and Vital Statistics; Housing and Construction; Industry and Commerce; International; Labor and Employment; Natural Resources and Environment; Population and Income; Prices and Cost of Living; Stocks and Commodities; Transportation and Travel. Java must be enabled to use this database.

Data-Planet: Guide to Statistics by Nation
A guide for each country, linking to data series by topical area.

Passport
Passport GMID includes research reports and statistics on countries. Use the Search Statistics or Find Analysis functions and search by country.
OECD Economics iLibrary
OECD iLibrary is the online library of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Contains analytical reports and statistical data.

Eurostat
Detailed statistics on the European Union and candidate countries.
World Bank Data portal
Downloadable data by country.
International Data Base
(IDB) U.S. Census Bureau.
Statistical tables of demographic and socioeconomic data for 227 countries and areas of the world.
FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
FRED is a database of more than 55,000 U.S. and international economic time series maintained by the Federal Reserve.

International Financial Statistics Online
IFS is a standard source of economic and financial data for most countries of the world. Includes many macroeconomic indicators including prices/inflation, employment, and national income & product accounts (GDP).

UN Data
The main statistical data search page for the United Nations.

Country Overviews & Economic Studies

Each of the sources listed in this box will give you a sizeable overview of a country's economic environment. Start with these to get a general view of the country's situation; additionally, these overviews may help answer many of the assignment's questions directly.

Passport
Search for "Belgium country profile," for example, or use the menu: Find Analysis>Economies & Consumers>Economics, Finance & Trade, then pick country and submit.

CIA World Factbook
Produced by the CIA, each country's profile includes such information as demographics, political, economic, and geographic data.
OECD Economic Surveys
Comprehensive economic analyses of OECD member and non-member countries

Political Handbook of the World Online Edition
Researchers will find this resource useful for comprehensive country profiles, chronicles of national history, government, and political parties, as well as information on intergovernmental organizations.
Political Risk Yearbook
Provides 45-65 page overviews of the history, economy, politics, and risk forecasts for 100 countries. It provides 10 years of economic data, with description and analysis of the political players and situation written by experts.

World Bank Countries & Regions
Includes country profiles, statistics, and general reports.
Statesman's Yearbook
An annual look at the politics, culture, and economies of the world. Browse or search within each annual volume.
Library of Congress Country Studies
Each Country Study includes information on the economic, political, and social system of a particular country. Also discussed are the people, their beliefs and values, and their interpersonal relationships. Covers 101 countries and regions.

Finding news & magazine articles

ProQuest US Newsstream, including Star Tribune
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US Newsstream enables users to search current U.S. news content, as well as archives that stretch back into the 1980s. It features top newspapers, wires, broadcast transcripts, along with national and regional news sources including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Star Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Chicago Tribune.
Business Source Premier
Business Source Premier provides the full text of more than 2 thousand business publications, including more than 1,000 peer reviewed journals. It is a comprehensive database that covers all disciplines of business including management, finance, marketing and international trade. It also contains company, industry and country reports, SWOTs and market research reports.

CLICsearch

Search Tips:

to focus your search, use the limits on the left side of the result page: select the "Newspaper Articles" filter, pick a date range, etc.
learn more about CLICsearch

Your Librarian: John Heintz

John Heintz

Email Me

Contact:

Data Services & Business LibrarianCharles J. Keffer Library
jpheintz@stthomas.edu

651-962-4646

Subjects:Accounting, Business, Data & Statistics, Economics, Finance, General - Interdisciplinary, Operations & Supply Chain Mgmt

Tips

GDP by component
For GDP measures, your best bet is probably Data-Planet Statistical Datasets. Search by keyword, or better yet, go to "Browse by Subject">International; for European countries, then pick A) Eurostat>Economy & Finance>National Accounts> Pick your country from the list. In the Table name box, pick GDP & Main Components (Current Prices).>In the Variable Name box, scroll to Not seasonally adjusted data-Final consumption expenditures of households: Percentage of GDP. Download that file. Then scroll down the list, finding Final consumption expenditures of general government: Percentage of GDP, then Gross fixed capital formation: Percentage of GDP, then Exports: Percentage of GDP and Imports: Percentage of GDP, downloading each file in turn. These are the technical terms for the 3 main components of GDP that you may have learned: Consumption + Investment (gross fixed capital formation) + Government + (Exports-Imports) = GDP.

For Defense, on the main search screen in Data Planet, just search for Defense GDP, and you should find a data series from the World Bank's World Development Indicators database that will let you pick your country and download the data.

Alternate sources of GDP: B) International Monetary Fund>World Economic Outlook>GDP Metrics, or C) Penn World Tables.

More Sources

Country Information
by Marianne Hageman Last Updated Sep 30, 2020 109 views this year