LibGuides: South Asian Studies: Data Sources

Data Sources

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics Data Catalog
Provides data in PDF, XML, and JSON files and has a free API.
Department of Census and Statistics of Sri Lanka
National Data Archive (Govt. of India)
A project of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Includes raw data from efforts such as the National Sample Survey (NSS), the Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), and the Economic Census.
Open Data Nepal
Data collected by the Central Bureau of Statistics of the Government of Nepal. Primarily CSV files.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics
Includes National Summary Data Page (NSDP) which has data available in PDF and XML files.

Historical Climate Data
IMF Data
Includes macroeconomic & financial data, including GDP and population data from 1949 to the present. Supports CSV and has a free API.

IMF eLibrary This link opens in a new window
1945 - present. Unlimited users.
Updated several times a year. Provides statistics on all aspects of international and domestic finance. Provides users with time series data of major economic aggregates used in economic analysis. The IFS reports, for most countries of the world, current data needed in the analysis of problems of international payments and of inflation and deflation, i.e., data on exchange rates, international liquidity, international banking, money and banking, interest rates, prices, production, international transactions, government accounts, and national accounts. Contains data from 1945 until the latest current month data has been released for (there is usually about a 2 month lag time).
OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
India is not an OECD country but OECD iLibrary contains a considerable amount of data re: India. Data is available at both quarterly and yearly levels and often can be downloaded as CSV files. Particularly helpful for economics related questions.
Updated regularly. The online publications portal of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Comprises 17 Studies by Themes for monographs and reports; all OECD books and papers published since 1998; and the OECD statistical datasets online, which cover over 80 countries with data going back to the 1960s.
Note: Datasets from the International Energy Agency (IEA) are not included in our subscription.

UN Statistical Yearbooks
Includes data from the 1930s & 1940s. Data after 2013 available as CSV (PDFs before then).
World Bank Microdata Library
Good for survey data about population, housing, agriculture. Includes sample surveys from households and business establishments.

World Development Indicators (WDI) This link opens in a new window
Contains content from 1960 onwards which can often be downloaded as CSV files. Particularly helpful for questions related to poverty, education, social justice and human rights.
Updated quarterly. An extensive collection of data about global development. Provides more than 550 times series covering demographic, social, economic, financial, natural resources and environmental topics for more than 200 countries and 18 country groups. You can access the data through the dataBank, as an ebook, or in Excel or CSV formats.
World Bank Terms of Use

GADM
International data for administration subdivisions of all levels from many different countries including India
GEO Sadak: PMGSY National GIS [India]
Includes data on Facilities, Habitation (Cities/towns/village points) with population, Roads, Proposed roads
India Village Boundaries (Maps)
Includes Assembly constituencies, Parliamentary constituencies, State boundaries, District boundaries, Municipalities, and Village boundaries
Natural Earth
Includes vector and raster data and notes rivers and lakes
Open Government Data (India)
Includes many different spatial and non-spatial datasets
Open Street Map (Geofabrik) [India]

Demographic and Health Survey
Includes household level data from sources such as the National Family Health Survey of India
IMHE Global Health Data Exchange
Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys from UNICEF
National Family Health Survey (India)
WHO Global Health Observatory
Includes links to CSV as well as visualizations
World Bank Open Data

Getting Started with Statistics

As you start to search for statistics, think about how and why the data behind the statistics might have been gathered, including by whom. Ask questions such as

What is the time period? Is this historical or more recent data?
What is the geographic region covered by the data? Is local, regional, national level data?
Who created the data and why? Was is a governmental project? a think tank? a community-based project?

Think also about the research method used in gathering the data as well as the methods you might like to use with it. Can you download the data (Excel, CSV), manipulate and/or visualize it (charts, graphs), does it include geospatial data (for GIS)?