ÿþ China Data & Statistics
University of Toronto. Data Library Service

Finding China Data & Statistics

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Note: When looking for and analyzing data and statistics on China, make sure to check what regions are covered. "China" can include the People's Republic of China (PRC, Mainland), Hong Kong, Macau, and/or Taiwan, depending on the source.

Aggregate / Time Series

  • Asian Development Bank
    URL: http://www.adb.org/Statistics/default.asp
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Annual indicators (1990 to most recent) including population, labour force, national accounts, production, energy, price indexes, money and banking, government finance, external trade, balance of payments, international reserves, exchange rates, external indebtedness; and Millenium Development Goals statistical tables (most recent) including poverty, education, and health.

  • Bureau of Economic Analysis International Economic Accounts
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    URL: http://www.bea.gov/international/
    Description: Quarterly and annual US-China economic activity, including Us direct investment in China and china direct investment in the US (1990s to most recent).

  • CANSIM on E-STAT, Statistics Canada
    URL: http://estat.statcan.ca/
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Aggregate statistics for China-Canada relations including trade, foreign investment, travel, immigration.
    . Updated once a year. Also available at CHASS, updated daily, but Restricted:

  • CEIC Data
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: National, province and municipal, prefecture level city, county level region
    Description: CEIC Data's China Premium Database offers annual, quarterly and monthly aggregate statistics; coverage ranges from 1950s to most recent, depending on data. Use search function or browse by category for: national accounts (GDP), government and public finance, socio-demographic (population), labour market (employment, income & wages), household survey, consumer goods market, inflation, foreign trade (bilateral), balance of payments, money and banking, interest and exchange rate, investment, business and economic survey, price, private equity, financial market, land and resources, environmental protection, agriculture sector, industrial sector, textile sector, petrochemical sector, pharmaceutical sector, metal and steel sector, electronic sector, machinery sector, automobile sector, energy sector, utility sector, construction sector, wholesale, retail & catering sector, transport, storage & telecom sector, insurance sector, real estate sector, advertising sector, tourism sector. Data exports to Excel.
    Restricted: Available on a workstation in Joseph L. Rotman Business Information Centre (BIC), University of Toronto. Go to BIC reference desk to request access to database. Users can also reserve workstation in advance (email bicstaff@rotman.utoronto.ca).

  • Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong SAR, PRC
    URL: http://www.info.gov.hk/censtatd/home.html
    Type: Aggregate
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Recent key economic and social macro-indicators for Hong Kong.

  • China Data Online, China Data Center, University of Michigan
    URL: Access via http://main.library.utoronto.ca/eir/EIRdetail.cfm?Resources__ID=66331&T=R&FID= or directly at http://chinadataonline.org/
    Type: Aggregate, some time series
    Geography: Nation, province, county, and city level
    Description: Includes monthly statistics, national/provincial/city/county statistics, monthly industrial data, yearly industrial data, national/provincial/city yearbooks, economic census, industrial census, Census 1982, Census 1982 (10%), Census 1990, Census 1995 (1%), Province Census 2000, County Census 2000, Census 2005 (1%).
    Restricted: Access by University of Toronto IP addresses only.

  • China Dimensions Data Collection, Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, Center for International Earth Science Information Network
    URL: http://sedac.ciesin.org/china/
    Type: Aggregate (some GIS), time series
    Geography: Nation, province, county level
    Description: China administrative regions (national, provincial), maps, county-level data on population (census) and agriculture, county-level data on hospitals and epidemiology stations (1950-1985), county-level data on provincial economic yearbooks, agricultural statistics of People s Republic of China. Refer to readme.txt files before downloading.

  • China Historical GIS, Harvard University
    URL: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~chgis/
    Type: Aggregate (GIS)
    Geography: Administrative areas
    Description: Population by 1999 administrative areas.
    Restricted: Requires registration. Available only for non-commercial use for academic research and educational purposes.

  • China Population Information and Development Research Center (CPDRC)
    URL: http://www.cpirc.org.cn/en-cpdrc/en-home.htm
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation, region level
    Description: Crude birth, death and natural growth rates, population, population density (1949 to 1998), output of grain (1978 to 1998).

  • China Statistical Data, China Internet Information Center
    Type: Aggregate
    Geography: Nation level
    URL: http://www.china.org.cn/e-company/index.htm
    Description: Monthly macroeconomic indicators concerning industry, investment, price, domestic and foreign trade, import and export, and finance and budget from 2000 onwards. All data are collected from the National Bureau of Statistics.

  • Database of World Infrastructure Stocks, 1950-1995, World Bank
    URL: http://www.worldbank.org/html/dec/Publications/Workpapers/WPS1900series/wps1929/canning1.xls or http://prod.library.utoronto.ca:8090/datalib/datar/utm/wb/wis/canning1.xls [restricted]
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description:Includes electricity generating capacity, infrastructure quality, telephone main lines, paved road length, rail route length, telephones, Annual data, 1950-1995. Excel format.

  • Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS), International Monetary Fund (IMF)
    URL: http://datalib.chass.utoronto.ca/inventory/1000/1532.htm
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: The quarterly issues, yearbook, and CD-ROM of the Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS) present, for most member countries of the International Monetary Fund (the Fund), current figures on the value of merchandise exports and imports disaggregated according to their most important trading partners. The quarterly issues (DOTSQ) present current figures for about 158 countries. The yearbook (DOTSY) presents, for 182 countries, figures on the value of merchandise exports and imports by trade partners for the years 1999 through 2005. The CD-ROM presents the same information as DOTSY from 1980 onwards for annuals/quarters and months. Area and world aggregates showing trade flows between major areas of the world are presented in DOTSQ, DOTSY and the CD-ROM. Reported data are supplemented by estimates whenever such data are not current or are not available in monthly frequency.
    Restricted: University of Toronto faculty, students, and staff, for academic research and teaching only. Access via non-circulating CD-ROM at the University of Toronto Data Library Service.

  • EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal, World Resources Institute
    URL: Current edition at http://earthtrends.wri.org/miscell/whatsnew.cfm; 2000-2001 edition at http://datalib.chass.utoronto.ca/codebooks/un/wri.htm
    Type: Aggregate
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Includes biodiversity and protected areas, forest and grasslands, coastal, marine and inland waters, agriculture and food, freshwater, atmosphere and climate, energy and resource use, population and human development, and economic indicators (incl. GNP, GDP, external debt, exports and imports of agriculture, food, fuel, metals, and manufacturing, government expenditures, exchange rate, official development assitance, military expenditures, debt service, foreign direct investment, tourism receipts, Gini coefficients, income distribution, commodity prices, poverty rates.
    Restricted: Access by University of Toronto IP addresses only.

  • GapMinder
    URL: http://www.gapminder.org/
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Province level
    Description: Population by province for select years over the past 2000 years, urban/rural differences, electricity & income. Interactive chart and map features.

  • Human Development Report,United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
    URL: http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_CHN.html. Can also access via http://datalib.chass.utoronto.ca/codebooks/un/hdi.htm
    Type: Aggregate
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Includes child mortality, profiles of human development and deprivation by country. Also has calories, safe water, malnourished children, under-5 mortality, child survival, low birth weight. Has Index of Human Development and formerly had Gini Coefficient (newer editions do not include the Gini Coefficient). Most recent year and select previous years for some indicators.

  • International Database (IDB), US Census Bureau
    URL: http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Demographic indicators from 1950 to latest. Toyal midyear population (area, density); crude birth & death, net migration, & growth rates, births, deaths, & migrants; life expectancy, infant mortality rate, and infant deaths; total fertility rate; midyear population, by age and sex.

  • International Monetary Fund Databases @ CHASS
    URL: http://dc1.chass.utoronto.ca/imf/
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation leve
    Description: International financial statistics (1948 to latest); Government finance statistics, Balance of payments statistics and Direction of trade statistics (1961 to 1994).
    Restricted: Access by University of Toronto IP addresses only.

  • International Trade and Tariff Data, World Trade Organization
    URL: http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/statis_e.htm
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Most recent indicators for trade, tariffs, and key infrastructure services (transportation, telecommunications, finance and insurance). Aggregate time series statistics (1999 to most recent) for international trade.

  • National Bureau of Statistics of China
    URL: http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Annual macroeconomic and social indicators, 1996-latest. Includes national accounts, population, employment and wages, investment, production and consumption of energy, government finance, price indices, households, agriculture, industry, construction, transport and telecommunication, domestic trade, social services, tourism, banking and insurance, education, culture.

  • National Statistics of Taiwan, Republic of China
    URL: http://www.stat.gov.tw
    Type: Aggregate, some time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Provides statistics from Taiwan, some Mainland. Includes national accounts, green national income, family income and expenditure, labour force, earnings and productivity, social indicators, social security, indicators by gender, industry and commerce, population and housing, agriculture, forestry, fishery, national wealth, social development trends (2001 by county-level city). 1961 onwards.

  • OECD iLibrary, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
    URL: http://www.oecdilibrary.org/oecd/ (search by country)
    Type: Aggregate
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Aggregate statistics for economic and social indicators. Time series statistics available for OECD countries. (Successor of SourceOECD.)
    Restricted: Full access by University of Toronto IP addresses only.

  • Penn World Table
    URL: http://dc1.chass.utoronto.ca/pwt/
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: The Penn World Table provides purchasing power parity and national income accounts converted to international prices, 1950-2004. The European Union or the OECD provide more detailed purchasing power and real product estimates for their countries and the World Bank makes current price estimates for most PWT countries at the GDP level.

  • UNdata, United Nations Statistics Division
    URL: http://data.un.org/
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Includes population, fertility, gender equality, education, literacy, GDP, and industry. Annual statistics, coverage depends on individual datasets.

  • UNICEF - China Statistics
    URL: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/china_statistics.html
    Type: Aggregate
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Most recent indicators for nutrition, health, HIV/AIDS, education, demographic indicators, economic indicators, women, child protection, rate of progress, under-five mortality rankings.

  • World Bank
    URL: http://www.worldbank.org/ (or directly to China data and statistics via http://go.worldbank.org/F4UH2U22P0)
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Key development data & statistics (most recent annual), millennium development goals (every five years from 1990), external debt (most recent four quarters and most recent annual), multilateral investment, global economic outlook (annual, most recent five years), measures of poverty and inequality (every 3 years from 1981), business regulation indicators (most recent annual).

  • World Bank Database @ CHASS
    URL: http://dc1.chass.utoronto.ca/wbk/, or go directly to http://dc1.chass.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/wbk/jump?c=217633&DBTYPE=world and http://dc1.chass.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/wbk/jump?c=402898&DBTYPE=debt
    Type: Aggregate
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: The two World Bank databases are: World Bank World Tables of Social and Economic Indicators (18,209 series covering period of 1950-1991.) ; World Bank Debt Tables (24,083 series covering period 1950-1991.) WBK is no longer being updated at CHASS.
    Restricted: Access is currently restricted to the University of Toronto faculty, staff, and students.

  • World Development Indicators, World Bank
    URL: http://www.google.com/ or http://datafinder.worldbank.org/indicators
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: World development indicators (WDIs) available via the public data search feature of Google Search. For example, searching for  Chinese fertility rate brings up a graph of average number of births per woman in China from 1960 to most recent. The 17 WDIs are CO2 emissions, electric power consumption, energy use, exports of goods and services, fertility rate, GDP, GDP growth, gross national income (GNI) per capita, GNI, imports of goods and services, GDP deflator inflation, internet users, life expectancy at birth, military expenditure as a percentage of GDP, mortality rate under 5, population growth, and total population.

  • The World Factbook, US Central Intelligence Agency
    Type: Aggregate
    Geography: Nation level
    URL: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ (select region)
    Description: General aggregate statistics and comparison to US, most recent statistics only.

  • World Resources, 2000-2001: People and Ecosystems, World Resources Institute
    URL: http://datalib.chass.utoronto.ca/codebooks/un/wri.htm
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Annual statistics include biodiversity and protected areas, forest and grasslands, coastal, marine and inland waters, agriculture and food, freshwater, atmosphere and climate, energy and resource use, population and human development, and economic indicators (incl. GNP, GDP, external debt, exports and imports of agriculture, food, fuel, metals, and manufacturing, government expenditures, exchange rate, official development assitance, military expenditures, debt service, foreign direct investment, tourism receipts, Gini coefficients, income distribution, commodity prices, poverty rates).356 data files (MS Excel and .wk1 format; number of logical records varies) and accompanying documentation.
    Restricted: Access by University of Toronto IP addresses only.

  • World Telecommunications/ICT Indicators Database, 2008 ed, Geneva, CH: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
    URL: http://datalib.chass.utoronto.ca/inventory/3000/3854.htm
    Type: Aggregate, time series
    Geography: Nation level
    Description: Telecommunication statistics covering telephone network size and dimension, mobile services, Internet, quality of service, traffic, staff, tariffs, revenue and investment. Indicators include: population, population density, GDP per capita, total telephone subscribers, effective teledensity. main (fixed) telephone lines, waiting list, local telephone network, teleaccessibility, fixed telephone tariffs, mobile cellular telephone subscribers, international telephone traffic, telecommunication staff, telecommunication revenue, telecommunication investment, ISDN and DSL, network growth, broadband and bandwidth, Internet.
    Restricted: University of Toronto faculty, students, and staff, for academic research and teaching only. Access via non-circulating CD-ROM at the University of Toronto Data Library Service.

Microdata / Time Series

  • AsiaBarometer
    URL: https://www.asiabarometer.org/
    Description: Comparative survey in Asia, covering East, Southeast, South and central Asia. Focuses on daily lives of ordinary people and their relationships to family, neighbourhood, workplace, social and political institutions, and market place. The 2008 survey covers such topics as governance, democracy, social virtues, happiness, quality of life, international alignments, new middle class, religiosity, mass media, identity, and globalization.
    Restricted: Must apply to access survey data at https://www.asiabarometer.org/data/abdl.php.

  • Chinese General Social Survey, 2003, National Survey Research Center, Renmin University of China
    URL: http://datalib.chass.utoronto.ca/inventory/3000/3906.htm
    Description: The China GSS is an annual or biannual questionnaire survey of China s urban and rural households aiming to monitor systematically the changing relationship between social structure and quality of life in urban and rural China.
    Restricted: University of Toronto faculty, students and staff, for academic research and teaching only.

  • China Health and Nutrition Survey, 1989, Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina
    URL: http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/china
    Description: The China Health and Nutrition Survey was designed to examine the effects of the health, nutrition, and family planning policies and programs implemented by national and local governments and to see how the social and economic transformation of Chinese society is affecting the health and nutritional status of its population. The impact on nutrition and health behaviors and outcomes is gauged by changes in community organizations and programs as well as by changes in sets of household and individual economic, demographic, and social factors. SAS XPORT files for 1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006.
    Restricted: Requires registration.

  • ICPSR: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research
    URL: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/
    Description: Survey data on health and nutrition, housing, demography, household income, military conflicts, terrorism, crime. Also has some time series data, including balance of payments and government finance statistics. Includes China Housing Survey, 1993.
    Restricted: Requires registration with a University of Toronto email address.

  • IPUMS International
    URL: https://international.ipums.org/international/
    Description: Census microdata (1982 and 1990) for social and economic research at the household level.
    Restricted: Prospective users must submit an electronic authorization form identifying the user by name, electronic address, and institutional affiliation.

  • Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, University of Connecticut
    URL: http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu
    Description: Small number of survey results from Hong Kong. US public opinion polls on topics related to China.
    Restricted: Requires registration from University of Toronto IP addresses.

Other Resources


Created: February 26, 2010; Last updated: 2010-02-26.