Skip to Main Content

Country Information: Overall Country Descriptions

Guide to find information resources on countries - main focus on quantitative and statistical sources

Country Information - list of relevant databases via CBS Library

Overall Country Descriptions - Websites

World Bank:

Contains tables and data on the social and economic development of countries and regions in the world. You can find data on more than 200 countries and more than 40 regions.
Search hint: by the menu item "By Country" it is possible to define data for a particular country

 

You can choose among more than 75 Databases covering different aspects of the development of countries and regions. The amount of Series (data variables) differ from database to database.

 

 

UN Data

More than 30 databases covering:

  • population
  • national accounts
  • education
  • labour market
  • price and production indices
  • international merchandise trade
  • energy
  • crime
  • gender
  • nutrition and health
  • science and technology
  • finance and environment
  • communication
  • tourism and transport
  • development assistance

Eurostat 

Eurostat - the EU official statistics office - collects statistics from the 27 countries of the EU and the candidate countries.

The database is divided into 9 topic areas and gives access to publications with comparable figures for all EU and candidate countries.

Statistics Explained gives a good introduction to the Eurostat database.

GlobalEDGE Country Insights:
A web portal for country information and statistics.

In their own words: 
"Global Insights provides international business and trade information on over 200 countries, the 50 U.S. states, as well as nearly two dozen industry sectors, and many of the world’s trade blocs. Use the drop-down boxes below to find the country, state, industry, or trade bloc you desire."

  • Insights by Country: statistical data for nearly every country around the world and in addition historical, economic, and political conditions are available
  • Insights by Trade Bloc: statistics, historical information, and resources about the world's largest trade blocs
  • Insights by Economic Classifications: entry by emerging, mature or frontier markets
  • Insights by Industry: source to find international business-related resources, statistics, risk assessments, and events for 20 distinct industry sectors.
  • Insights by US State: business and trade information on all 50 U.S. states

CIA World Fact Book:
The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities

Global Competitiveness Report:
The Global Competitiveness Report 2019 (published by World Economic Forum) assesses the competitiveness landscape of 140 economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity. 

BBC Monitoring Country Profiles:
Full profiles provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions. Besides updated news stories they also include audio and video clips from BBC archives.

Background Notes  (U.S. Department of State):
"Background Notes", prepared by the US Department of Foreign Affairs, contain general descriptions of countries

Population Resource Bureau:
demographic data on country, regional and world level

Africa Development Indicators
Africa Development Indicators was a primary World Bank collection of development indicators on Africa, compiled from officially-recognized international sources. No further updates of this database are currently planned. See World Development Indicators for more recent data on Africa.

Overall Country Descriptions - CBS Databases

EIU Viewpoint

Covering 203 countries, EIU Viewpoint provides analyses of economic conditions, the business environment, key industry sectors, supply and demand for major commodities, and coverage of global macroeconomic trends.
The content is divided into the following menu items:

  • Home: here you can find updated analyses on the global, regional and national development. The reports are supported with graphs and charts showcasing key data trends and forecasts. The Insights section provides you with in-depth analyses on politics, economy, and the business environment
  • Geography: in this section you can quickly access reports on a global, regional and country level. The reports correspond to the EIU Country reports.
  • Industries: you can find analyses and reports on the following industries: Automotive, Consumer goods, Energy, Financial services, Healthcare, and Telecommunications. Data and reports are available on a global and national level.
  • Topics: this menu is subdivided into the following sections: Politics, Economy, Policy, Business environment, and Commodities. The content of the first four sections is at country level. The content of the Commodities section is at commodity level
  • Current Themes: This section brings together updated analysis on current topics such as Environment and sustainability, Global goods and services trade, US-China competition, Coronavirus, and Brexit
  • Reports: access to readymade reports on global, regional, and country level. You can find reports on a Five-Year Forecast, the Business Environment, the Regulatory Environment and Industry Forecast
    Archive: access to reports starting from 2011
  • Data: access to time series on EIU Ratings, economic indicators, demographics, income and spending, investment and saving, consumer goods, commodity prices, and more. Data are available on country level from 1990 and forwards, and you can view the data as chart or as table and export the data to e.g. Excel.

GlobalData Explorer

Basic information on 110 countries, economic and political information, macroeconomic, demographic and social data (PESTLE analysis). The statistical information consists of figures for the last 5-10 years and forecasts. The country reports are all organized according to a PESTLE template. The reports are 60-100 pages with annual updates.
PESTLE: P = Political; E = Economic; S = Social; T = Technological; L = legal; E = Environmental.

Search hint:
Select the menu item "Countries" and search for the country you are interested in.
 

Business Source Ultimate

Find country reports from vendors such as:

  • IHS Markit
  • MarketLine
  • BMI, Business Monitor International eg. "country risk reports"
  • Country Watch

Some of these reports include even more political and cultural content than the EIU reports.

Basis sarch hint:

  1. Search by country and limit search result to Country Report in the Source Types.
  2. Subsequently, limit your search even further through Publication: Country Report (from EIU), Political Risk Yearbook, Country Review, Background Notes on Countries of the World, OECD Economic Surveys, etc. 
Advanced search hint:
Add the country name to the search bar, change the field to Title and select Country Report in the Publication Type dropdown.
 

OECDiLibrary:
Access to the OECD's extensive collection of publications and statistics.

Search hint:
On the front page, you can browse country by country by using menu item "Country". Under the menu item "Statistics" there is access to "Country Tables" in a number of fields. Likewise, there are access to "OECD Economic Outlook" and "OECD Economic Surveys", where you can find comprehensive descriptions of more than 35 countries. Eg. "OECD Economic Surveys" are available in digital format from 1961 and forwards.

EMIS Next

EMIS delivers news, company and financial data from more than 70 emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

It provides information on:

  • current news
  • company and industry information
  • financial markets data
  • macroeconomic analysis etc. 

CrossAsia

Access to articles, journals, newspapers, and databases covering political, social, and economic aspects of the Asian region.

The resources CBS Library gives access to are listed under Access to Content.

Literature from CBS Library on country issues

CBS Library, Solbjerg Plads 3, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

Homepage | Addresses and Opening Hours | Contact