BRASS Best of the Best Business Websites - INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: Country Profiles and Statistics

Find background information and current news on individual countries and regions. Site is provided by the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Learn about market conditions, purchasing power, consumer trends, distribution channels, navigating entry constraints, best sectors, key contacts, and more from Export.gov.

Eldis provides both country profiles and regional profiles, subdivided by topic (agriculture, finance, governance, trade, etc.). Suitable for browsing or keyword searches.

Browse by country to locate full country profiles for the 34 OECD member countries (or news for non-member countries). An OECD country profile is subdivided by: Find (most popular), Display all (by topic or date), Statistics, Books, and What's New. While some publications require a subscription or online purchase, substantial material is freely available from this site.

Select the “Countries” tab to browse by region or choose a country. Available from this World Bank site are development reports, global economics and trade data, country and regional information, current research projects, and information on international development loans and activities.

Published by the U. S. Central Intelligence Agency, the World Factbook contains country profiles with economic, social, and political information, arranged by country or location. Included are maps and cultural information for international business.

Provides publicly available governance indicators by country or by region. It contains approximately 400 governance indicators grouped within five categories: Democratic system, market system, public management, rule of law, and socioeconomic indicators.

Website of the Statistical Office of the European Communities, providing extensive statistical data and publications on EU countries. Browse or search and download predefined data and tables focused on: EU policy indicators; general and regional statistics; economy and finance; population and social conditions; industry, trade and services; agriculture and fisheries; external trade; transport; environment and energy; and, science and technology.

FITA promotes international trade, provides import-export information, and links to tools in international logistics management and international finance.

An abundance of information for U. S. exporters on trade and industry statistics, market data, and export and import data and procedures.

Data and metadata on labor statistics for over 200 countries or territories. Statistics are arranged by topic, country, or ILO publication. Country annual statistical data are available from 1999-2008, and include economically active population by industry and occupation, total employment by occupation, unemployment by economic activity, hours of work by economic activity, wages in manufacturing, and much more. Site is managed by the International Labour Office (ILO) Department of Statistics.

The University of Michigan Library has their country data sources parceled out within the International Studies field. Look for country information by regional area studied.

Easy access to data and metadata for OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and selected member countries. Uses four search methods: Keyword (with terms such as: Education, Finance, GDP, Health, Income, Prices, Population, or Trade), Theme, Country (via selection of key indicators in latest annual, Country Statistical Profiles), or access your saved queries under “Browse Queries.”

This site, maintained at the University of Auckland Library, provides links to official organizations around the world that provide "freely and easily accessible" current statistical data (and some time series). Arrangement is by country, region, and subject. Statistical sources cover vital statistics, industries, trade, economics, labor, energy, tourism, health, crime, education, social indicators, and more.

Authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics, primarily on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. For foreign country data, see Foreign Commerce and Aid (Section 28) for statistics on exports & imports, foreign aid, foreign investment, and international transactions. See International Statistics (Section 30) for comparative international statistics by topic (agricultural production, economy, labor force, trade, vital statistics, and more).

Major reports on economic development, global finances, and investments, with statistical data and key information about countries worldwide. From UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Data dissemination system with free access to comprehensive statistical time series and indicators essential for the analysis of world trade, investment, international financial flows, and development.

United Nations statistical databases (33 in all, at last count) are accessible through a single entry point. These databases, tables and glossaries contain over 60 million data points and a wide range of themes, such as Agriculture, Education, Employment, Energy, Environment, Health, Human Development, Industry, Information and Communication Technology, National Accounts, Population, Tourism, Trade, and Millennium Development Goals indicators.

Develop a customized chart of world inflation at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland site. Choose a Source (compare up to four countries or regions) and Frequency (monthly, quarterly, or yearly). View the chart or download data for 1990-today.

Links with annotations to individual countries and international business topics (such as trade information and economic trends), original articles, plus dynamic tables for country comparison. The most comprehensive of international business portals, from the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at Michigan State University.

BRASS Best of the Best Business Website Winner 2012