Data on Developing Countries

The International Household Survey Network maintains a very comprehensive central survey catalog that can be searched by country or survey series.

BREAD/Mcarthur/CCPR Survey Database can be searched by location, survey module. Less comprehensive than the above, but covers most of the major surveys and has a detailed listing of topics to browse by.

Complex Emergency Database (CE-DAT) Many small and specialized surveys carried out in small specific populations e.g. refugee camps. Displays a few indicators. Cites data but does not provide info on how to access.

The International Labour Association list of Labour Force Surveys
Links to data from national statistical agencies. Microdata not necessarily available or in English. Includes child labour surveys

African Census Analysis Project (ACAP)
Censuses from 23 countries in Africa

IPUMS, the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series International now has censuses for 55 countries.

Measure DHS Demographic and Health Surveys
Over 240 surveys in over 85 countries. Focus on fertility, family planning, maternal and child health, gender issues, and nutrition. Special surveys include: Malaria, AIDS Indicators Surveys, Service Provision Assessments, and the scaled-down Key Indicators Surveys. Coverage includes Low and middle income countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Europe.

The World Bank Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys
Around 90 surveys in 40+ primarily middle-income countries from 1985 to present. Key topics of household questionnaire: consumption, income, savings, employment, health, education, fertility, nutrition, housing and migration

Unicef's Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys
Designed to assess progress on World Fit for Children Plan of Action and Millennium Development Goals. The third wave, 05-06, was carried out in 50+ countries, in Central/Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, but not all datasets available. Good coverage of low-income countries. Focus on fertility, family planning, maternal and child health, very limited demographic and income/employment information.

International Food Policy Research Institute Datasets (IFPRI)
Cover Africa, Asia and Latin America. Two main types of survey available: Household- and Community-level Surveys and Social Accounting Matrices. The household and community surveys include several surveys of household characteristics, consumption and health as well as agricultural information and land use, while the Social Accounting Matrices are an economic framework study with a focus on agriculture. Their data also includes program evaluation surveys such as the “Food for Education” study.

MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) studies
A network of professors around the world who use Randomized Evaluations (REs) to answer questions on poverty alleviation. Site has a database of REs with a handful of datasets available on topics such as microfinance, female policy makers, textbook provision.

International Development Statistics (OECD)
Provides several ways of looking at both official and private development aid AidData (Brigham Young University, the College of William and Mary, Development Gateway)
A searchable development finance activity directory, broader coverage than the OECD project.

World Bank Enterprise Surveys
Company-level survey data from 123 low and middle income countries. Topics include regulation, corruption, business constraints, workforce quality, financing and infrastructure. Country and region level macrodata available, full surveys can be accessed after registering.

Economic Research Forum Data
Middle East and North Africa Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Turkey. Primarily the Micro and Small Enterprises data, a detailed survey on entrepreneurs, Also houses the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey (ELMPS) 2006

Centre for the Study of African Economies (Oxford University)
Surveys primarily of manufacturing firms, with cross-national firm-level datasets available. A couple of household panel surveys, and some more specialized datasets from working papers.

World Values Survey
Survey of the “basic values and beliefs of the publics of more than 80 societies.” 5 waves, conducted between 1981 and 2008, with a sixth starting. Includes low, middle and high income countries, though Europe is over-represented. Global Barometer
Repeated at approximately 3 year intervals. The series is designed to be a comparative survey of attitudes and values toward politics, power, reform, democracy and citizens' political actions. A core module of questions asked across regions (the Global Barometer) while the regional barometers include additional region-specific questions. Regional barometers include:

• Afrobarometer
• Arab Barometer
• Asian Barometer
• Latinobarometro
• Eurasia Barometer (not yet available)

U.N. Data – data.un.org

World Bank’s World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance

These two sources between them cover most if not all of the core development topics.

International Development Statistics (OECD)
Provides several ways of looking at both official and private development aid AidData (Brigham Young University, the College of William and Mary, Development Gateway)
A searchable development finance activity directory, broader coverage than the OECD project.

Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) databases
Commodities, Elasticities, Agricultural Policy

RIGA: Rural Income-Generating Activities (United Nations Food and Agriculture Office)