Statistics Sources

The Government Documents/Microforms Collection is the primary location for statistics produced by the U.S. and other governments and by international organizations. Many reference sources for statistics of all kinds are located there.

HOLLIS records of books containing largely statistics bear the term <Statistics> attached to their subject headings, e.g., <France--Statistics> and <France--Emigration and immigration--Statistics>. You can enter <France> [Subject search] and scan the resulting list of subject headings or retrieve all the statistics books under France with a keyword subject keyword search, e.g., <France statistics>. This search will also retrieve <Aliens--France--Cultural assimilation--Statistics>.

Major Resources

United States Census Data Resources (Research Guide)

Historical Statistics of the United States (HSUS)

International historical statistics, 1750-2010

Proquest Statistical Insight combines:

  • American Statistics Index (1974- ) for all U.S. Government statistics
  • Statistical Reference Index (1980-) for other U.S. statistics
  • Index to International Statistics (1983- ) for international organization statistics

Full-text of the documents indexed is available on microfiche in Government Documents and Microforms.

Data Series Online (eh.net) 

FRASER: Federal Reserve Archive 

Federal Reserve Economic Data offers many economic data time series.

Statistical abstract of the United States, prepared by the chief of the Bureau of Statistics, Treasury Department. Washington, 1879- Proquest (2013-present),
LLMC (1916-2006)
Hathitrust (1878-2012)
HOLLIS Records

Vital statistics rates in the United States, 1900-1940, by Forrest E. Linder, and Robert D. Grove; prepared under the supervision of Halbert L. Dunn. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1947, 1051 p.
HOLLIS Record GovDocs
HOLLIS Record  Countway
HOLLIS Record  Baker, Widener, GovDocs
HathiTrust Online Version
--Extensive treatment of mortality by disease, White and Non-white distinguished

Vital statistics rates in the United States, 1940-1960, by Robert D. Grove and Alice M. Hetzel. Washington, U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 1968, 881 p.
HOLLIS Record
HathiTrust Online Version

Analysis and index of all reports issued by bureaus of labor statistics in the United States prior to November 1, 1892, prepared under the direction of Carroll D. Wright, commissioner of labor, for the use of the U.S. Department of Labor. Special report of the Commissioner of Labor ; 3rd, 1893, 376 pp.
Online Version
FindIt@Harvard

Index of all reports issued by Bureaus of Labor Statistics in the United States, prior to March 1, 1902 / prepared under the direction of Carroll D. Wright ; for the use of the United States Department of Labor. Washington : G.P.O., 1902, 287 p.
Online Version
FindIt@Harvard

Indexes:
Report on the statistics of labor. Boston. Department of Labor and Industries. Division of Statistics, 1869-1924:
Google Books version
FindIt@Harvard

City-Data. Largely post-1990s information.

The Municipal year book, 1934- . Washington: International City Management Association.
HOLLIS Record
HathiTrust Full Text (1934-2007)

County and city data book. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1947- .
Latest edition in Reference; backfile in stacks.  Includes number and % of work force in manufacturing
HOLLIS Record
Online version
Online version
2007 and 2000 ed.

Cities supplement, Statistical abstract of the United States: selected data for cities having 25,000 or more inhabitants in 1940. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1944, 47 p.
HOLLIS record

Annuaire international de statistique, 1916-1921.
Vols 1-8 (1916-1921) full text in HathiTrust

Continued by Aperçu de la démographie de divers pays du monde, 1922-1939 (5 v.) 
HOLLIS Record

Birth, death (includes causes of deaths by disease), marriage, divorce.

Research Guides

Statistical and Data-Related Resources (HLS guide)

United States Census Data Resources

Education Statistics

Guides to Data Resources (scroll down to the Statistics & Data option)

The University of Pennsylvania Library has an excellent guide to historical statistics.

Several overviews of U.S. and foreign statistics are available:

The statistical work of the national government, by Laurence F. Schmeckebier. Baltimore, Md., The Johns Hopkins Press, 1925, 574 p.
HOLLIS Record
HathiTrust Version
--Offers an excellent review of pre-1925 government statistics.

Bibliography of official statistical yearbooks and bulletins, by Gloria Westfall. Alexandria, VA: Chadwyck-Healey, 1986, 247 p.
Documents (Lamont) Ref HA155.Z99 W47 1986x
Internet Archive Full Text

Statistical sources for social research on Western Europe 1945-1995: a guide to social statistics, by Franz Rothenbacher. Opladen : Leske + Budrich, 1998, 399 p.
Widener | RR 4205.38
--Covers international organizations and the publications of individual countries. Gives references for works covering earlier statistics.

More sources in  A Guide to International and US Statistics Sources (Cornell University guide)