Country Information

The following resources are starting points in the search for country information, from an international business perspective. Some of the resources are freely available on the web. Others are Leddy Library subscriptions; if you are off-campus, you will have to sign on with your University of Windsor ID and email password. If you do not find what you are looking for, please contact: Katharine Ball at (519) 253-3000 ext. 3852
Start with the Leddy Library Databases

These are located on the Business Administration Subject Page
https://leddy.uwindsor.ca/get-help/subject/business

Economist Intelligence Unit
https://viewpoint-eiu-com.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca

Reputable, up-to-date information; see the Country Reports, Country Forecasts, Country Data, and Country Commerce databases.


Business Source Complete
https://search-ebscohost-com.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca/login.aspx?authtype-ip,uid&profile=bsi

Broad international business coverage; includes journal and trade magazine articles, country, industry, and company profiles, as well as a wide range of other business and economic information.

Country Reports (right-hand side). There are reports from a variety of organizations. For example:

Marketline: Country Profile: indepth PESTLE insights
Business Monitor: Country Risk Report
IHS Markit: Country Monitor/Country Report: country risk analysis
CountryWatch: Country review: broad analysis, including social and environmental factors
PRS Group: Country Report: political risk


Passport
https://www-portal-euromonitor-com.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca

See under the Economies and Consumers tabs at the top.


OECD iLibrary
https://www-oecd-ilibrary-org.ledproxy2.uwindsor.ca

Covers economic and social issues from macroeconomics to trade, education, development, science, and innovation. Browse by country or use the advanced search option.

 
Supplement with Free Country Information from the Web
Focus your search by considering who might be producing the information you are looking for. The national government of your country is an obvious place to start. Some governments also produce reports on other countries. Inter-governmental organizations are another excellent resource for international business information. Their statistics tend to be a little more dated than those you might get directly from a particular country's statistical or trade office. However, the numbers are usually more comparable among countries. Accounting firms, consultants, universities, and libraries can also be good sources of free information, reports, and guides. Below are a few examples.

Country and Regional Profiles (UNESCO)
https://en.unesco.org/countries
Key indicators for education, literacy, science, technology and innovation, and culture; also links to the Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS) profiles.

Country Commercial Guides (U.S. Department of Commerce)
https://www.trade.gov/ccg-landing-page
Select your country; covers the political and economic climate, trade regulations, financing, etc.

Country Risk Assessments (Coface)
https://www.coface.com/Economic-Studies-and-Country-Risks
Choose a country from the drop-down menu to view profiles that include macroeconomic indicators, a list of strengths and weaknesses and risk assessment ranking and commentary.

Business Ready Environment  (World Bank)
https://www.worldbank.org/en/businessready
This resource is in transition. See under “Doing Business Legacy” to get to the old Doing Business Reports. For each country, the reports give information on starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. For some countries, sub-national snapshots are available. 

Enterprise Surveys  (World Bank)
https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/en/enterprisesurveys
Select an economy. For each country, has information on regulations and taxes, corruption, crime, informality, gender, finance, infrastructure, innovation and technology, trade, the workforce, firm characteristics, and performance. See also the Country Profile.

Guides to Doing Business  (Lex Mundi)
https://www.lexmundi.com/resources/guides-toolkits/country-guides
Legal and regulatory aspects of doing business in 100+ countries.

Taxation and Investment Guides and Country Highlights (Deloitte)
https://dits.deloitte.com/#TaxGuides
Country guides focusing on taxation.

World Factbook (CIA)
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook
Information on the geography, people and society, government, economy, energy, military and security, transportation, and transnational issues for about 270 entities.

Worldwide Tax Summaries Online (PWC)
https://taxsummaries.pwc.com
Corporate and individual taxes in over 150 countries.



Updated May 2024