Finding Statistics

Searching for statistics for assignments or projects can sometimes be daunting and it is difficult to know where to start. Many statistics will be freely available, but it can be tricky to know which websites to look on. Often the easist thing to do is Google 'statistics' and the topic you are looking for, e.g. GDP or  employment in retail sector. However, do make sure that the statistics have been produced by a reputable source; look at the url of the website or go to the homepage to find this.

Many statistics in the UK are produced by the Office for National Statistics and cover a range of topics including economic indicators, education, population, industry etc. So if you are looking for UK statistics it is often a good idea to include the words "Office for National Statistics" or "ONS" in your search. However, the ONS do not produce statistics relating to specific companies or market research data. Market research data is commercially valuable, so there is usually a charge made for this information. Statistics of this type are available from Mintel, Passport GMID and Marketline reports on Business Source Complete. Passport GMID also has economic indicators for a large number of countries.

There is a section giving links to statistics websites on Locate, so this can be a good starting point.  From the Subject Databases link, choose 'Statistics' from the drop down list and click on 'Find Databases'. If you click on the drop-down arrow next to 'subcategories' you will see various subcategories of statistics including Industries and Companies, Economics and Finance and International. Within each section are selected websites that produce or provide access to statistics. These include;

ESDS (Economic and Social Data)
PRODCOM
Bank of England
ONS, including Consumer Price Indices, Consumer Trends, UK Balance of Payments: the Pink Book, UK National Accounts: the Blue Book
Eurostat
World Bank

Information on the local economy

I have found that a good place to search for information about the local economy is on the Council's website, http://www.coventry.gov.uk/ . This is certainly true for Coventry City Council and will probably be the case for other local authorities.

To find this information on Coventry City Council's website, go to 'Your Council and Democracy', then choose 'information and statistics' from the links at the side. Here there are a number of different reports and links to statistics under the headings of 'Facts about Coventry, Key statistics and 'State of the City'. The statistical material from the Office for National Statistics covers Coventry and the West Midlands/Warwickshire area.

Under these sections you will be able to find information about the local economy, population, demographics, labour market and unemployment, Coventry's top employers and links to census information. There is also information here about health, education and housing.

If you are looking for information about the local economy, businesses, workforce, employment etc for your assisgnment or dissertation, then this website is definately worth a look.