Research Guides: Diplomacy and World Affairs: Finding Data

Key DWA Data Sets

International Database
Population estimates and demographic measures of over 200 countries and areas with populations of 5,000 or more, and for thousands of subnational areas; from U.S. Census.
World Bank
Free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
IMF Data
Search financial statistics by country, topic, or data source. *This is the open source version with limited data available without subscription.
Dataset of World Refugee and Asylum Policies (DWRAP)
Complete dataset of de jure asylum and refugee policies for all 193 countries from 1951-2022. The DWRAP index aggregates policies from 5 fields: Access; Services; Livelihoods; Movement, and Citizenship and Participation; with values ranging from 0 to 1, where values closer to 1 indicate more liberal policies.
Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
PRB data sheets are ready references of demographic and health indicators by country and region including population projections and key data insights.
CIRIGHTS Data Project
The largest human rights dataset in the world, CIRIGHT scores a representative sample of all internationally recognized human rights for all countries of the world since 1981.
UN Statistical Yearbook
Provides a comprehensive compilation of internationally available statistics on social and economic conditions and activities, at world, regional and national levels, for an appropriate historical period.

U.S. Census Bureau
Leading source of up-to-date demographic data about the United States people and economy.
ICPSR Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research
Data archive of more than 350,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences, including specialized collections of data in health, population health, education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other social science fields.
IPUMS
Database of census and survey data from around the world integrated across time and space. Users must create a free account to access.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy.
State of Working America Data Library
Provides researchers, media, and the public with easily accessible, up-to-date, and comprehensive historical data on the American labor force. It is compiled from Economic Policy Institute analysis of government data sources. Use it to research wages, inequality, and other economic indicators over time and among demographic groups.
General Social Survey
Contains a standard 'core' of demographic, behavioral, and attitudinal questions, plus topics of special interest since 1972 to facilitate time-trend studies as well as replication of earlier findings.
American National Election Studies
ANES produces high quality data from its own surveys on voting, public opinion, and political participation.
National Center for Education Statistics
The primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.

CLASP Center for Law and Social Policy
CLASP conducts analysis of national, state, and local data to accurately document racial disparities and disparate policy impacts by race to inform our policy recommendations and advocacy.

American Immigration Council
State-by-state immigration data and facts.
World Bank
Free and open access to data about development in countries around the globe.
UN Statistics Department
Compiles and disseminates global statistical information, develop standards and norms for statistical activities, and support countries' efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems.