International data sources
The following is a brief overview of available, web-based, resources for health and well-being related data for European and other countries.
| Name | Source | Description | Contents | Coverage | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Health Indicators in the WHO European Region | WHO | Annual publication (most recent report is for 2022) | Annual reports containing country level tables of indicators for relevant topics (e.g. demographic and socioeconomic context, mortality, morbidity, health service utilisation, health expenditure, 'risk factors') | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | PDF reports |
| Demographic Yearbook System | United Nations | Annual (long-running) U.N. publication of basic population & demographic related statistics. Data currently available for the period 1948-2020. | Set of tables grouped within these headings: population, fertility, foetal mortality, infant & maternal mortality, general mortality, 'nuptiality', divorce. | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | On-line database. Note that all U.N. statistical databases are listed on the UN statistical databases list web page |
| European Core Health Indicators (ECHI) | European Commission | Set of indicators aimed at providing "comparable health information and knowledge system to monitor health at EU level". | Total of 66 indicators grouped under the following headings: demographic and socio-economic situation; health status; health determinants; health interventions (health services & health promotion). | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | Data can be extracted/ downloaded via the ECHI data tool |
| ESPAD (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs) | Collaborative project (51 countries) co-ordinated by the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN) | Project aimed at studying adolescent substance use in Europe | Project has collected comparable data on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | All data can now be accessed via an online "explorer tool" |
|
European Health For All Database (HFA-DB) NB Note that a Scottish version of this database is available from the ScotPHO website - see the Scotland and European Health for All (HfA) Database |
WHO Regional Office for Europe | National-level database with large array of health & health-related data | Contains data on about 600 health indicators, grouped within the following domains: demographic & socioeconomic indicators; mortality; morbidity, disability & hospital discharges; lifestyles; environment; healthcare resources; healthcare utilisation & expenditure; maternal & child health. | National only: over 50 Member States of WHO European Region, including UK but not Scotland |
On-line database, plus downloadable off-line version |
| European Health Information Gateway | WHO | Part of the main WHO website, this provides access to various WHO data and evidence resources | Information can be explored/extracted by specific themes, by means of country profiles, by a main 'data' access point (which links to the Health for All Database, the European Mortality Database and much more), as well as an overall 'indicators explorer'. |
National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) |
Website/interactive data explorer |
| European Mortality Database (MDB) | WHO Regional Office for Europe | Mortality data supplement to the European Health For All Database (HFA-DB). | Data (numbers of deaths, crude rates, standardised rates) for a broad set of different causes of death by age and sex, and going back to 1980. | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) |
Online system, a version of which can be downloaded |
| Eurostat website | European Commission/ Eurostat | Website of Eurostat - the statistical arm of the European Commission | Website includes a vast range of statistical information relating to EC member states. This includes regional data from a specific regional database (see next entry below), some of which is included within their series of annual regional yearbooks (see entry further below). | National and regional | Website |
| Eurostat regional database |
European Commission/ Eurostat |
Regional statistics from Eurostat, available free of charge on-line (previously known as the REGIO database) |
Large volume of regional data covering topics such as demographics, economic statistics, education, environment, migration, health, transport and labour market. |
Regions (defined as NUTS areas) |
Online database |
| Eurostat regional yearbook |
European Commission/ Eurostat |
Annual Eurostat publication of regional statistics |
Examines regional differences under 15 headings including: population, labour market, economy, health (mortality, healthcare resources), tourism. |
Regions (NUTS areas) | Paper publication, but which is available free of charge as a .pdf file. Data from the publication can also be examined via an online interactive mapping system. |
|
EU-funded collaboration |
EURO-URHIS was an EU funded multi-centre project to create comparable health & wellbeing related profiles (based on existing data, and newly collected adult and child survey data) for cities across Europe. Note: the profiles were published in 2012 (and thus the data are becoming increasingly out of date). |
Website with set of downloadable .pdf files | City-level | Website | |
|
EU-SILC: European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions |
EU-funded survey | A project 'aiming at collecting timely and comparable cross-sectional and longitudinal multidimensional microdata on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions' | Website with instructions on how to access the data | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) |
Website |
| Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, USA |
Created by the IHME (an 'independent global health research center'), the GHDx is described as a 'catalogue' of global health and demographic data. |
Includes vast array of health-related data sets (including population censuses, surveys, indicators, registry and administrative data) from countries around the world. More specifically it provides access to the data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study |
Mainly national data (although some regional data included for some data sets). Some data - including Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data via the GBD Results Tool - are available for Scotland |
Website and online system | |
| WHO |
Part of WHO's website, and which provides 'theme pages' and data/ analyses 'on global health priorities'. |
Includes a broad set of data, grouped within around 40 different themes. |
National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) |
Website and online system | |
| WHO |
Now one of the above Global Health Observatory's 40 themes, this is described as an 'essential tool for assessing and monitoring the health situation and trends related to alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm, and policy responses in countries' |
Provides access to a range of alcohol-related information including alcohol consumption, alcohol-related harm, and policy responses in countries. |
National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) |
Website and online data system | |
| Human Mortality Database | Collaborative project between University of California (USA) and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Germany) | A online database created 'to provide detailed (historical) mortality and population data to researchers, students, journalists, policy analysts, and others interested in the history of human longevity'. | Historical mortality and life expected related data (births, deaths, population, life tables, life expectancy) for more than 35 countries | National only (includes data for Scotland) | Website from which data can be downloaded |
| National and International Data Sources and Links | United Nations | Page of U.N. website with links to many countries' national statistics pages | Set of links | n/a | Web page |
| OECD Health Statistics 2022 | OECD | Comparative analysis of data for 30 OECD countries | Data arranged in domains including: health status (morbidity, mortality), healthcare resources, healthcare utilisation, expenditure on health, healthcare financing, social protection, pharmaceutical market, non-medical determinants of health (lifestyles & behaviour: food, alcohol, tobacco, BMI), demographic references, economic references. | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | Online database |
| OECD Society at a Glance - OECD social indicators | OECD | Large report analysing (and allowing access to) a wide range of 'social' indicators for all OECD countries | Data topics include: self-sufficiency (e.g. employment, education); equity (e.g. income inequality, poverty, social spending), health (e.g. life expectancy) and social cohesion (e.g. life & work satisfaction, crime). | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | Online report |
| Oral Health Country/area Profile Programme (CAPP) | WHO Headquarters Geneva - Oral Health Programme and WHO Collaborating Centre, Malmo University, Sweden | Presents global information on dental diseases and oral health services | Databases include: oral health profiles by country and WHO region; significant caries index; systemic and oral health; oral diseases and related factors; tobacco and oral diseases. | National only | Website |
| Scotland and European Health for All (HfA) Database | ScotPHO and WHO Regional Office for Europe | See note to European HfA database above. | See note to European HfA database above. This contains the same data within the same data system but with comparative figures for Scotland. | Scotland plus over 50 Member States of WHO European Region, including UK | On-line database plus downloadable off-line version. Also briefing notes interpreting the key findings for Scotland |
| UNECE data portal | UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) | UNECE database of national-level economic, gender and transport statistics | Provides access to a large set of data including demographic, economic, health, gender-balance and transport related indicators. Country profiles and indicator-based charts, tables and maps are included. | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | Online database |
| Urban Audit cities data | EC DG-REGIO (Directorate General for Regional Policy of European Commission), Eurostat | Selection of Eurostat indicators for selected towns & cities, so-called 'kernels', and larger urban zones. | Nine Domains: demography (age, gender & nationality, household), social aspects (housing, health and crime), economic aspects (employment and income), civic involvement (elections and local administration), training & education (education levels), environment (climate, air quality, water and waste), travel & transport (travel to work, accidents), 'information society' (ICT use & ICT sector), culture & recreation (cultural activities and tourism sector). | European cities and associated geographies (258 cities in all) | Online database |
| World Inequality Database | Part of the World Inequality Lab - a research collaboration funded by various public/non-profit institutions including the European Research Council. | Online database with access to charts and (downloadable) data. | Long-term trends in different measures of income, wealth and gender inequality for a broad range (>120) of countries | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | Online database |
| World Income Inequality Database (WIID) | UNU-WIDER (United Nations university - World Institute for Development Economics Research) | WIID 'collects and stores information on income inequality for developed, developing, and transition countries' | A wide range of income inequality related measures are available in a downloadable database. Supporting documentation is also available. | National only (and no separate data for Scotland (only UK)) | Downloadable database |
| World Population Prospects Population Database | United Nations | Population related data, with projections to the year 2100 | Population by age & sex, growth rate, birth & death rates, life expectancy, migration, dependency ration, infant mortality. | National only | Online database |
Page updates:
- The last major update of this page was completed in April 2023.
- The next review is due to be carried out by May 2024.
