Library Guides: Demography: Statistics & Data

Start Here

Sage Data (formerly Data Planet)
Explore time series data from US and international sources

Population Reference Bureau
Gathers, interprets, and disseminates information on the facts and implications of national and world population trends.
Statistics (finding numbers)
This guide provides a list of resources that are useful as a starting place for users looking for topics described by numbers.

National Statistical Abstracts

Statistical Abstracts of the United States (1878-2012)
This is the official, authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Published by the US Census Bureau.

Historical Statistics of the United States
Provide excellent essays on the history of US agencies statistics gathering as well as time series data.

United Nations Demographic Yearbook
The United Nations Demographic Yearbook collects, compiles and disseminates official statistics on a wide range of topics. Data have been collected from national statistical authorities since 1948.

National Censuses

You are encouraged to use the two comprehensive library research guides seen below. Particularly if you don't have a familiarity with the scope of a national census and awareness that there are different types of censuses.

If you simply want to get started using resources click on the link Finding Census Information

National Household Surveys

Country Labor Force Surveys
List of countries that provide access to their labor force surveys online.
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program
Funded by USAID DHS conducts more than 300 surveys in over 90 countries focusing on health and population trends in developing countries.
Global Health Data Exchange
Not all of the surveys in this catalog are available.
International Household Survey Network
Catalog of household surveys. Many have data sets available. Method for limiting to gender indicators and countries.
Living Standards Measurement Study
The Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) is a household survey program focused on generating high-quality data, improving survey methods, and building capacity. The goal of the LSMS is to facilitate the use of household survey data for evidence-based policymaking.
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS)
UNICEF assists countries in collecting and analyzing data in order to fill data gaps for monitoring the situation of children and women through its international household survey initiative the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS).
World Bank Enterprise Surveys
Free access, but you must register with the Enterprise Analysis Unit (DECEA) by completing the Enterprise Surveys Data Access Protocol. Files are STATA.
World Food Programme Survey Data Portal
Library Research Guide for International Population Census
Humanitarian Data Exchange
Coordinated data by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Comparative country data

UNdata
Statistical resources of the UN System.
UN Statistics Division
Policy and statistical intergovernmental agency coordinating Census gathering within the United Nations.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
Reports, statistics and monographs published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Eurostat, European Commission
Central statistical coordinating unit for the European Commission.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Works with countries in Southeast Asia to coordinate statistical gathering and creation of comparative products.
Afristat Data Portal
AfriStat is the principle organization. Their publications are primarily available in French with limited English content. The Portal is accessible in English.
CEDLAS and The World Bank – Socio-Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean (SEDLAC)
International programs (US Census)
The US Census conducts demographic, economic, and geographic studies of other countries. The site provides a wealth of time series comparative data.

World Bank Data (WDI, GDF, ADI, GEM)
Access to numerous data sets from the World Bank

Social Science Data Archives

ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research)
Data archive of social and political data

re3data.org
A directory of research data repositories.
Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives
coordinating services and access to datasets from social science archives around Europe.