Overviews

Economist Intelligence Unit

In-depth country and selected industry analysis and data

Includes quarterly analysis and forecasts of the political, economic, and business environment in more than 180 countries, including analysis of trade policies and investment climate.

Includes information on major U.S. cities; employers; job and internship listings, and information on companies that have applied for H1B visas.

World Factbook

Produced by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, provides brief surveys of the economic, geographic, and political conditions of most countries, dependent areas, and other entities.

ABI/ProQuest

Articles from over 1,000 academic management, marketing, and general business journals. Alumni version available via eBaker. 

In ABI/ProQuest browse to "Industry and Market Research"  to access country reports by Business Monitor International (BMI).

See also the Fast Answers on Business Culture and Entrepreneurship by Country.

Rankings

IMD World Competitiveness Online

Country profiles and competitiveness rankings on criteria related to domestic economy, international trade, international investment, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

Analyzes and ranks the ability of nations to create and maintain a competitive environment. Contains cross-country and regional comparisons.

Pocket World in Figures

Ref. HA 155 .P63 in the Stamps Reading Room.
Annually Ranks countries in areas such as geography, population, business, the economy, trade, transport, finance, industry, demographics, the environment, society, culture, and crime.

Social Progress Index

Provides multiple measures of countries' social progress and well being, including basic needs such as nutrition, water and sanitation, and shelter; foundations of well being such as access to information and communications; and opportunity, such as access to advanced education.

Global Competitiveness Report

Ref. HF 1414 .G56 in the Stamps Reading Room.
Also available online from the World Economic Forum, analyzes and ranks countries by openness, quality of government, finances, infrastructure technology, management, labor, and institutions. Two-page country profiles include strengths and weaknesses. Major portion of publication is devoted to global and regional analyses.

Transparency International

Rates and ranks countries by corruption and openness.

Global Cities Index

A.T. Kearney ranks 60 cities in 40 countries on city-level responses to globalization.

Business and Economic Environment

Business Enabling Environment (BEE) project

The World Bank Group is developing a new project to measure the business enabling environment in economies worldwide.

Economist Intelligence Unit

In-depth country and selected industry analysis and data

Provides EIU City Data, EIU Country Commerce, and EIU Country Finance.

OECD iLibrary

Country studies, forecasting publications, reports, periodicals, and socio-economic databases from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 

Select statistics can be downloaded. Includes information and data on non-OECD countries.

Standard & Poor's RatingsDirect

Research on bond issues from around the world, including public finance and structured finance issues.

Includes analysis of debt issues, including sovereign debt.

Handbook of Country Risk: A Guide to International Business and Trade

Provides analysis on risks involved in trading in countries worldwide and assigns a rating to each country. Provides key economic indicators and performance by industry sector. There is a companion site, Coface.

U.S. Commercial Service: Country Commercial Guides

In-depth reports on the business environment in various countries. Some industry reports are also available.

CountryData.com

Political risk data with over 75 country risk-related variables including political, social, economic, financial, and government stability.

The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

A visualization tool that allows users to create a visual narrative of countries, and the products they trade.

Social and Cultural Environment

Human Development Reports

Focused analysis from the United Nations Development Programme. Includes rankings of countries on measures such as the life expectancy, access to health care and technology, income distribution, and literacy.

Global Corruption Report

Provides regional assessments of corruption. Goal is to raise awareness of the impact of corruption and advocate policy reforms.

Craighead's International Business, Travel, and Relocation Guide to Countries

Information on travel and relocation to 90 countries around the globe. Includes sections on business practices, medical care and insurance, school systems, banking and currency.

Hofstede Insight

Evaluates a country's  culture based on metrics such individualism, masculinity, power distance and indulgence .

The World Happiness Report

A survey of the state of global happiness that ranks 156 countries by how happy their citizens perceive themselves to be. 

Statistics

Economist Intelligence Unit

In-depth country and selected industry analysis and data

Click on data tool under the Reports drop-down menu in order to extract economic and finance data by country, item and year. Includes forecasts.

IMF Data

Statistical data and reports from the International Monetary Fund.

Includes International Financial Statistics, Balance of Payment Statistics, and Direction of Trade Statistics.

Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web

A list of links to national statistical agencies. This website is good source for country-specific social and economic indicators, including national census data.

International Statistics Database 

Produced by the St. Louis Federal Reserve, provides a way to look for worldwide economic indicators. Links to individual indicators (such as GDP and Inflation) available for countries. Descriptions are searchable by title, country, subject, source and keyword.

Passport

Market research reports on consumer products and industries worldwide from Euromonitor International.

World Development Indicators

Statistics from the World Bank for almost 600 development indicators, dating as far back as 1960.

Includes development indicators for public health, environment, education, and labor force.

CEIC Data

Macroeconomic, industrial, and financial time series for China and other countries.

Provides external debt and financial flow data for the 136 countries that report public and publicly guaranteed debt to the World Bank's Debtor Reporting System.

Global Consumption Database

Data on household consumption patterns in developing countries. Select data by country and sector.

Global Financial Data

Comprehensive economic and financial time-series database covering 150 countries and 6,500 different data series

NationMaster

Search for statistics by subject, including agriculture, economics, energy, immigration and transportation.