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Government Publications: International Statistics

Africa

For a more in-depth list of resources, please refer to the Statistics page of the African Studies research guide.

  • African Statistical Yearbook. HA1955.U5
    Data are arranged, based on country, for the 53 Economic Commission for Africa member states, generally for the last nine years for which data are available. Covers a broad range of statistics including population, national accounts, agriculture, industry, transport and communication, tourism, foreign trade, prices, finance, social statistics and Millennium Development Goals.

  • African Development Indicators. HC800.A5653
    Data, assembled by the World Bank, representing over 1,400 indicators of development in Africa. Topics covered include fiscal accounts, infrastructure, human development, environment, labour, and more. Data from various years are available in book form or on CD-ROM.

    2012-2013 issue is available online. A few other issues are also available online at the World Bank's Open Knowledge Repository. Search for "African Development Indicators" plus the desired year to see if that particular issue is accessible.

  • Africa Statistics on the Web
    An annotated guide to statistics and databases for Africa, developed by Stanford University.

  • Africa Business Network - International Finance Corporation
    Provides basic economic and investment data for individual countries in Africa.

Asia

For a more in-depth list of resources, please refer to the Statistical Sources page of the Asian Studies - English Language research guide.

China

For additional resources on China statistics, please refer to the Statistics - China research guide.

  • China Data Online
    China Statistical Databases provide comprehensive and updated information on China's economic development at national, provincial, city, county, and industrial levels.
    China Census Databases provide a unique data collection of various Census data with a completed coverage of all provinces, cities, countries and townships of Mainland China, which include about 3,000 electronic Census data books.
     
  • National Bureau of Statistics of China
    Data and statistics that are made available by the National Bureau of Statistics of China.
     
  • China Statistical Yearbook. HA4631.C556
    Yearbooks are available for the following years: 2002,2006-2007,2009.
Japan
India
  • Census of India
    From the Office of the Registrar General, India. Includes data from the 2001 and 2011 censuses.
     
  • India: Ministry of Statistics
    Free downloads of a variety of statistical reports and publications from the Government of India's Central Statistical Organisation.
     
  • Digital South Asian Library: Statistics
    Digitized copies of Statistical Abstract Relating to British India from 1840 - 1920, plus links to current South Asian Census sites.

Europe

To locate statistical material in the UBC Library catalogue from a specific country, try a subject heading search using the format [geographic area] -- Statistics.

      For example:


Additional Resources:

  • Basic Statistics of the European Union. HA1107.S7
    Provides basic economic, demographic and social data for EU countries. Some comparative data for other European countries, Canada, U.S. and Japan are also available.

  • Eurostat
    Eurostat is the Statistical Office of the European Communities. It provides the EU with statistics at the European level that enable comparisons between countries and regions.

  • Eurostat Country Profiles
    The country profiles cover a wide range country indicators, including population and living conditions, labour, health and safety, education, economy and finance, business information, environment, energy, and the information society.

  • Eurostat Yearbook. HA1107.5 .E976
    Issues from 1995 to 2012 are available. The 1995 issue covers years from 1983 to 1993.
    Latest year is available online.

  • INEbase-Spain
    The system that Spain's Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE) uses to store statistical information online. It contains all of the information that the INE produces in electronic format.
    A list of statistical operations, sorted by subject, is also available. 

Middle East

Latin America

For a more in-depth list of resources, please refer to the Statistics page of the Latin American Studies research guide.

  • Latin American Government Documents Archive
    A wide range of ministerial and presidential documents from 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries. The Archive contains copies of the Web sites of approximately 300 government ministries and presidencies.

  • United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
    CEPALSTAT is the gateway to all the statistical information of Latin America and the Caribbean countries collected, systematized and published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

    The link takes you to the Spanish version of the website. Look for the "English" button near the top right corner of the page for access in English.

United Kingdom

  • UK National Statistics
    The Publication Hub remains the first port of call for all those seeking the latest statistics from government departments in the UK. It is the central website for hosting all first releases of National Statistics.

  • Office for National Statistics
    The agency that conducts the Census for England and Wales. This is a decennial census, meaning that it is conducted every 10 years. It's important to note that Census topics and interest areas are not universal. You may, for example, be surprised to discover that the Census for England and Wales does not ask for income and earnings figures.

    If you need income/earnings data for England or Wales you will have to settle for information derived from one of the smaller sample surveys conducted by the Office of National Statistics. For example, Income and Lifestyle topics are included in the annual Regional Trends reports.

    What sorts of topics were covered in past Census surveys?

    The major topic areas from the 2001 Census were:
    • Demographic and social information such as age; place of birth; ethnicity; general health; marital status; migrant status; religion; school children/students; Welsh language (only asked in Wales).
    • Employment and academic qualifications of people aged 16-74.
    • Number of households; type and composition of household.
    • Housing - i.e., shared or unshared; detached, semi-detached or terraced; etc.

      Census surveys from previous years:

      You can determine the topics covered in older Censuses by consulting the introduction at the beginning of each of the print volumes.
    • The print volumes are available for the Census years from 1921-1931, and 1951-1991. The 1941 Census was not conducted due to the War.
    • The best way to search for these print volumes at UBC Library is to navigate to the catalogue and choose the "Subject Keyword" search option. Then use the keywords: great britain census and select the census year you are interested in.
    • You will notice that each census publication has its own catalogue record and may even have a slightly different call number than its fellows. For this reason we strongly recommend that you conduct your research in the catalogue first, then go to the stacks with the relevant call numbers in hand.
    • For the 2001 Census, UBC Library only has a statistical highlights report in print with 145 tables "covering the range of topics of the 2001 Census." This is available at call number HA1124 .C46 2003

  • General Register Office for Scotland
    Scotland's Census is administered by the General Register Office for Scotland. A very limited array of data are available online for free for 1991; considerably more free data are available for 2001 and 2011 here.

    UBC Library has some limited print volumes from the Scottish Census including:
  • Northern Ireland Statistics and Research
    Northern Ireland's Census is administered by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research.

    UBC Library has print volumes for most of the released data from the 1981 Census and the 1991 Census.

    The Library also has the 2001 Census Report to Parliament, which provides a single volume of highlight tables; a volume of 2001 Key Statistics; and a volume of 2001 Standard Tables.