Statistics and country data
The Library provides access to specialist statistical databases and many statistics are also freely available online. Publishers include governments, international agencies, membership organisations and private entities.
When searching for statistics, consider:
- are statistics likely to have been collected on this topic? If so, which organisation would collect and publish these type of statistics?
- the most recent statistics may be several years old.
How to find:
- Country overviews
- Economic and financial statistics
- Health statistics
- Crime and justice statistics
- Education statistics
Country overviews
For statistical overviews of countries use either:
- The World Factbook, compiled by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from authoritative sources.
- Countries, economies and regions, compiled by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This includes information about Australia's consular relationships with other countries and provision of foreign aid.
Economic and finance statistics
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides official economic and financial statistics for Australia.
- The Queensland Government Statistician's Office provides official economic and financial statistics for Queensland.
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provides comparative tables across all (OECD) countries under the Data section. OECD Publications also include many key statistics.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) eLibrary contains a range of fiscal, monetary and trade data under the IMF DATA heading. This database is a good source of data on developing and third world economies.
Generate your own country statistics
Use these databases to generate selected statistics across one or more countries, markets or industries:
Country risk ratings
PRS country data provides access to:
- International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) ratings, which publishes current risk ratings for economic, financial and political risk for 140 developed, emerging and frontier markets. Also refer to ICRG Methodology (PDF, 238KB)
- The Coplin-O'Leary PRS Forecasts predicts a similar range of economic, financial and political risk factors for periods ranging from 12 months to five years from the present year. Also refer to PRS Methodology (PDF, 282KB).
Health statistics
International:
- OECD iLibrary provides comparative tables of health status, resources, risks and equipment across all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. OECD iLibrary reports also include many key statistics.
- Global Health Observatory (GHO) data is the World Health Organization's (WHO) gateway to health-related statistics and analyses. This data monitors global, regional and country situation and trends.
Australian:
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides statistics covering many aspects of Australian health indicators and health services.
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) data covers many aspects of the health status of Australians and much of this data is included in AIHW publications.
- Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet - Health facts is recommended for Indigenous health statistics, in addition to ABS data and AIHW publications.
- Queensland's official health statistics are available via the Queensland Government Statistician's Office. The Health Statistics Unit (QLD Health) collects and disseminates statistics on the health of Queenslanders and their use of health services.
Crime and justice statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides statistics for Australia covering many aspects of crime and justice.
Queensland's official crime and justice statistics are available from the Queensland Government Statistician's Office.
Use the Queensland Police's Online Crime Map to generate crime statistics:
- by geographic area (e.g. suburb or postcode)
- time period
- offence type.
The Online Crime Map provides an easy visualisation option.
Education statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides statistics for Australia covering many aspects of education.
Queensland's official education statistics are available from the Queensland Government Statistician's Office. The Department of Education provides statistics and demographic information about state schools.
OECD iLibrary provides comparative tables across all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries comparing educational attainment and national resources dedicated to education (e.g. expenditure, teaching hours, salaries).