6. Statistics
United Nations statistics are among the most highly regarded for their reliability and high standards. The statistics have the advantage of providing comparability across many regions and countries. The United Nations has a link to its Statistical Databases. While the organization continues to evolve in the ways that it makes this valuable data available, some of the more frequently used sources are listed here:
Free UN statistics online
United Nations Statistics Division web page links to free UN statistical databases, some of which are listed or more fully described below. In addition, statistical databases covering disabilities, millenium indicators, national accounts, statistical indicators, census questionnaires on population and housing, vital statistics, statistics on women and men, and other topics are made available via this site.
UN Common Database
This UNSTATS Database uses a Web browser interface to access hundreds of statistical series for all countries and areas of the world, with descriptions of the international sources and methods used in compiling the data. The series can be accessed alphabetically, by sources or by topics. For each series international sources and definitions of terms are given. Among the main data sources are the Statistics Division's own databases in merchandise trade, national accounts, demography and population, energy, status of women and industrial commodities production; and statistics from the Population Division, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Project Link, FAO, ILO, IMF, ITU, OECD, UNESCO, WHO, WIPO, World Bank and World Tourism Organization, among others.
Demographic Yearbook System includes the electronic Demographic Yearbooks from 2000, special topics, as well as the Demographic Yearbook 1997-Historical Supplement with data back to 1948
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is a UN related organization with significant statistics on tariffs, trade, and development. Its statistical databases are found in UNCTAD' Statistical databases on-line and include:
- Handbook of Statistics provides analysis of international trade, investment and development, for individual countries and for economic and trade groupings
- Commodity Price Statistics provides price indices for commodity groups starting January 1960.
- TRAINS provides free aggregated tariff statistics directly online. TRAINS/WITS provides full disaggregated tariff data and is available via Harvard subscription and password. Please call Government Documents Librarians for an appointment 617-495-2106.
- Foreign Direct Investment provides FDI statistics for 112 countries.
- Millennium Indicators is a database which lists some 48 indicators as part of the monitoring for the implementation of the Millennium Declaration.
UN Statistics via subscription (via Harvard E-Resources or password)
United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (COMTRADE) (via Harvard's E-Resources)
This Database provides international trade statistics from over 130 countries by commodity and partner country.
TRAINS/WITS provides full disaggregated tariff data and is available via Harvard subscription and password. Please call Government Documents Librarians for an appointment 617-495-2106. (The free online resource TRAINS provides only aggregated tariff statistics.)
LexisNexis Statistical (via Harvard E-Resources)
Limit search to IIS for International Statistics. Then use the IIS fiche collection in Microfiche S 505 (Lamont Level B) for those documents cited without a hotlink.
MBS-online (Monthly Bulletin of Statistics)
The MBS-online source, like its paper counterpart Location Documents (Lamont) UN 84.579 (Level D), presents current monthly economic statistics for most of the countries and areas of the world. In addition, each month a different selection of special tables is presented showing annual and/or quarterly data on a variety of subjects illustrating important economic long-term trends and developments.