I recently ran across several data directories. This is not a complete list, but it does cover some of the major ones:
- Government Data Directories
- Eurostat – Statistical and economics data on the Euro area countries.
- Data.gov – An Obama administration initiative to unify the federal government’s published data. There is quite a bit of government data here, along with information on its format and other metadata, but it doesn’t have everything. Still, it’s worth checking out.
- FedStats – while there is no data on this site, it does link together scores of the major U.S. government data providers. A great starting point for finding U.S. government data.
- Commercial Data Directories
- Infochimps Data Marketplace – Infochimps bills itself as the “Amazon of data.” I wouldn’t go that far, but they have been around for a while and do have some valuable data sets, and it is worth taking a look if you are thinking of selling data.
- Factual – This is the Amazon of data.
- Economagic – An extensive directory of datasets, with charting capabilities and data downloads. It is easy to use and puts the data right at your fingertips.
- EconData.net – An extensive set of links to economics data sites.
- Central Bank Data Directories
- People’s Bank of China Statistics – The site is mostly in Chinese, and there isn’t a whole lot of data here. If you are aware of a better source for Chinese economics data, please let me know.
- Federal Reserve Economic Data – This is a fantastic resource which is heavily used by economists. It contains thousands of time series covering numerous aspects of national and regional economics, searchable, linked and organized into folders. The data is updated relatively quickly (usually the day following its release).
- European Central Bank Statistical Data Warehouse – This site provides a top-down view of datasets covering various aspects the economies of countries in the Euro area.
- NGO Data Directories
- World Bank Open Data – a good resource with numerous time series covering every major country. Most of the data is updated relatively infrequently.
- Bank for International Settlements Statistics – Contains data on credit default swaps, international trade, debt and other topics.
- International Monetary Fund Data and Statistics – Information on exchange rates and other information maintained by the International Monetary Fund.
- World Trade Organization Statistics Database – Information on commodities prices, exchange rates, trade volume, trade restrictions and other aspects of international trade.
- Educational and Nonprofit Data Directories
- B&E DataLinks – An excellent data link directory maintained by the Business & Economics Section of the American Statistical Association. You can search for links on economics data, add new links and even–get this–view user ratings of data links. It’s a great resource.
