Answered By: Sara H. Last Updated: Oct 31, 2023 Views: 289
Country Profiles
CIA World Factbook has country profiles that talk about geography, communication networks, and transportation as well as economic and demographic information.
Industries and Economic Indicators
GlobalEdge will help you answer questions about economic trends and trade information. You can research by country or one of 11 major trading blocks (EU, NAFTA, APEC, etc.) You can also research by industry. You can rank countries based on economic indicators, compare countries based on exports, GDP, or other indicators, and use their "Diagnostic Tool" to help you evaluate a business decision.
World Bank Data provides data sets on cultural, demographic, economic, environmental, and health data since 1960.
UNData provides statistics about economic data that are grouped so you can search them by keyword. You can also go to any country's own data service.
Demographics, population, etc.
World Bank Data provides data sets on cultural, demographic, economic, environmental, and health data since 1960.
UNData provides statistics about economic data that are grouped so you can search them by keyword. You can also go to any country's own data service.
Population Reference Bureau lets you create custom reports on different companies based on multiple different indicators.
International Businesses
Fortune Global 500 is a directory of the world's largest companies and the countries in which they're headquartered.
HSBC Global Banking & Markets offers information on different industries and business environments for businesses that want to expand internationally.
Imports and Exports
U.S. International Trade Commission for Import Data has import and export data. In order to search, you need to look up the tariff code for your product.
Trade Stats Express for Export and Import Data has quick import and export data, but it's not as detailed as the US ITC data.
Foreign Relations, Security, and Conflict
U.S. State Department's International Finance and Development (IFD) Division includes Investment Climate Statements, information about corruption, bribery of foreign officials, investment disputes, and more.
Developing Countries
World Bank Development Indicators has statistical tables on energy, the environment, the economy, etc. for developing nations. Updated annually.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has trade data and macroeconomic data by country. Not all of their resources are free.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has financial and economic data by country. Not all of their resources are free.
World Bank E-Library has annual Global Financial Development Reports and other reports that talk about risk and opportunity for business in different countries.
Infrastructure and Energy
CIA World Factbook has country profiles that talk about geography, communication networks, and transportation as well as economic and demographic information.
World Bank Data: Infrastructure look up indicators and see them mapped, such as internet users, number of air carriers, number of mobile phone users, electrical power consumption, etc.
International Energy Agency: Statistics country by country statistics on production and consumption of energy - oil, natural gas, coal, renewables, etc. Also carbon emissions.
Law and Taxes
World Bank Doing Business Law Library allows you to search the law codes of all different countries. You can narrow it down by type of law (labor, tax, environmental, criminal, etc.)
HSBC Global Banking & Markets offers information on different industries and business environments for businesses that want to expand internationally.
Etiquette, customs, protocol, and cultural information
U.S. International Trade Administration: Business Culture provides concise Country Commercial Guides to etiquette and cultural norms in different countries.
News, trade, and scholarly articles
In addition to searching for data and reports in these mostly government websites, you can also search for:
- Articles from newspapers in our database Regional Business News or in the Wall Street Journal.
- Articles in business magazines such as Forbes, The Economist, and Fortune.
- Scholarly articles from article databases like Nexis Uni, Business Source Complete and ProQuest Research Library
You may want to try something like "afghanistan" AND ("doing business" OR "business conditions") to begin.
Help with identifying and combining keywords from the library's Research Skills Tutorial.
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