Dataset description and subject overview
***Important*** The United Nations Common Database at ESDS International is no longer updated. The December 2007 edition of this database was the last release via ESDS International as it has now been made available freely via the UN's own interface at - http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cdb/cdb_help/cdb_quick_start.asp
The UN Common Database (UNCDB) is a major international databank that draws
together hundreds of key human development indicators for all available countries
and areas. It contains more than eight million data elements in over 300 statistical series for over 280 countries
and in most cases time series are available from 1970 or 1980. The database
contains statistics derived from 30 international data sources produced by
organisations such as FAO, UNCTAD, UNSD, WHO, World Bank, UNAIDS and ITU,
and includes the following topics:
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing
- Balance of payments
- Communication and culture
- Construction
- Development assistance
- Economically active/not economically active population
- Education and learning
- Energy
- Environment
- Financial statistics
- Health, health services; impairment, disabilities; nutrition
- Households and families, marital status, fertility
- Human settlements, housing, geog. distribution of pop.
- Income, consumption and wealth
- Industrial production
- International finance
- International tourism
- International trade
- Mining and quarrying
- National accounts
- Population composition and change Prices
- Public order and safety
- Science and technology, intellectual property
- Services industries
- Social security and welfare services
- Socio-economic groups and social mobility
- Transport
- Women and men
At ESDS International the UN Common Database is available via the data delivery
software Beyond 20/20 Web Data Server. Over 300 series are provided in the
UNCDB each with a unique series code name displayed in the corresponding table
or folder title (the majority of series within the UNCDB are presented as
separate tables within Beyond 20/20 WDS although a number of large series
have been split into individual country tables and are grouped in folders).
Certain tables within Beyond 20/20 WDS contain dimensions identified by a
'class code'. For example a dimension with the name 'Class 62' refers to the
System of National Accounts series number which is defined by the UN as 'numbers
which are used internally to indicate changes in methodology. They do not
have a meaning in themselves other than higher numbers indicating more recent
data.'
To view the description of the class code simply click the small summary
text icon next to the dimension or table heading or view a full
list of the class codes in pdf format (www.esds.ac.uk/international/support/user_guides/un/classcodes.pdf).
Footnotes are indicated in brackets and there may be multiple footnotes per
cell.
The December 2007 edition of this database was the last release via ESDS International as it has now been made available freely via the UN's own interface at - http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cdb/cdb_help/cdb_quick_start.asp
User Documentation
For a full list of international data sources the UN Common Database is derived
from see the UN's
Sources page at (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cdb/cdb_list_sources.asp).
The UN's Series
Notes page (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cdb/cdb_list_series.asp) provides a list of series presented in the UN Common Database.
By drilling down into a selected series you can see the source information
for this series, a list of the countries for which this data is available
and definitions of the terms used within the series. For example, the detailed
Series information provided for the table labeled Abortions
legally induced, urban and rural [code 14700] tells us that the source
for this information was United Nations Statistics Division, Demographic
Yearbook Database, provides a list of the countries where the data
is available and gives a definition of the urban population and abortions
legally induced.
The United Nations Common Database hosted by ESDS International is delivered
via Beyond 20/20 WDS - a guide to accessing the UNCDB data is available (www.esds.ac.uk/international/support/user_guides/un/uncdbwe.asp).
Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to read documents in pdf format. It can be downloaded free of charge from the Adobe website. (www.adobe.co.uk/products/acrobat/readstep2.html)
Accessing the UN Common Database
To access the ESDS International macro-economic datasets you must be a user from a UK higher or further education institution. We cannot provide data to users outside of this community due to the data re-distribution license agreements we have with our data providers. If you are a member of a UK higher or further education institution access to the macro-economic datasets is provided free of charge.
Access to data requires ESDS registration and uses the federated access management authentication system. Registration is a simple online process - go to the How to Register web page at www.esds.ac.uk/aandp/access/access.asp to begin the process.
Once you have registered with ESDS and attempt to access one of the macro-economic datasets, you will automatically be prompted to agree to additional dataset specific conditions if they apply.
Countries in the UN Common Database
This database provides statistics for over 200
countries and regional groups (http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cdb/cdb_list_countriesp.asp).
Periodicity and Time Range
The United Nations Common Database contains data from 1961 onwards.
The United Nations Common Database at ESDS International is no longer updated. The December 2007 edition of this database was the last release via ESDS International as it has now been made available freely via the UN's own interface at - http://unstats.un.org/unsd/cdb/cdb_help/cdb_quick_start.asp
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