The UN produces a large number of databases. Many are freely available. ESDS International hosts the important subscription databases produced by the UN and its agencies. The UN Common Database has used for many years internally by the UN as a basis for policy formation and covers a huge range of human development indicators such as employment, childhood, health, access to clean water access to the internet and land use. It has a wider range of indicators than the World Bank development indicators but it is a little bit patchy with shorter time series.

The United National Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) produces the Industrial Statistics Databases and Demand Supply Balance Database.

These annual databanks cover employment and trade world-wide, broken down by country and manufacturing sector. They provide data that can be used to analyse patterns of growth, structural change, industrial performance and employment by gender and sector worldwide.

The International Labour Organisation, the oldest of the UN agencies, collects data on the labour market and working conditions worldwide. It principle publication is the Key Indicators of the Labour Market, a frequently cited database on labour market statistics worldwide.