International data sources
The following is a brief overview of available (and almost all web-based) resources for health- and well-being-related data for European and other countries.
| Source | Description | Contents | Coverage | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alcohol Control Database | WHO Regional Office for Europe | Provides 'data to track and assess alcohol policies and their implementation within and across countries of the European region' | Data tables include policy developments 2004-05, alcohol consumption restrictions, licensing, drink-driving, treatment of alcohol consumption/dependence, and can be accessed for individual countries or via 'consolidated regional alcohol profiles'; in addition, there are a dozen 'consumption and harm' indictors available. | National only | Website |
| Atlas of Health in Europe (2008) | WHO Regional Office for Europe | Statistical atlas of 'key health figures for the WHO European Region' | Uses data taken principally from the European Health For All Database (HFA-DB) (see below), and thus contains a similar type of data. The data are arranged within the following chapters: demography (population, births, abortions), life & death (life expectancy, all-cause and cause-specific mortality), diseases, lifestyle & environment (smoking, alcohol, food-borne disease, home & work accidents), healthcare. | National only | Paper report, but .pdf version available to download |
| Demographic Yearbook System | United Nations | Annual (long-running) U.N. publication of basic population & demographic related statistics | Set of tables grouped within these headings: population, fertility, foetal mortality, infant & maternal mortality, general mortality, €œnuptiality€, divorces. | National only | On-line database. Note that all U.N. statistical databases are listed on the UN statistical databases list web page |
| ECHI (European Community Health Indicators) project | European Community (EC)-funded collaborative project | EC-funded study to develop a 'coherent set of European Community Health Indicators' | Total of 88 indicators grouped under the following headings: Demographic and socio-economic factors; Health status; Determinants of health; Health interventions (health services & health promotion).This project ran from 2003 to 2008. A follow-on project running from 2008-2013 is ECHIM (European Community Health Indicators Monitoring) (see below). | National | Data can be extracted/ downloaded via a new (2010) data tool ('Heidi') which includes download options such as 'dynamic graphs', maps and tables. |
| ECHIM (European Community Health Indicators Monitoring) | EU funded project | ECHIM continues the work of ECHI above. Its aim is to 'develop and implement health indicators and health monitoring in the EU and all EU Member States' | Note there are actually two websites. This 'product' (indicators) website, and a separate 'project website'.This 'product' website provides access to all products from the different phases of the ECHI(M) projects. This includes detailed definitions of ECHI indicators, and will later include actual data to download. | National only | Website |
| EUPHIX (European Public Health Information System) | EC funded project | 'Web-based knowledge system' which presents public health related information at country (EU member state) level | Includes information/data under two headings: 'EUphact' (topics related to: health status; health determinants; health interventions & systems; health policies; demography) and 'EUphocus' (broader public health themes and cross-cutting topics with current policy relevance) | National only | Website/on-line system (with some interactive elements) |
| 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 | Apart from downloadable reports, there is an online database ('Key result generator') |
| 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 & socio-economic indicators (e.g. population, births, deaths, unemployment); mortality (life expectancy, disability-adjusted life expectancy (DALE), infant mortality, neonatal mortality, cause-specific death rates); morbidity, disability & hospital discharges (incidence, prevalence & hospital discharges for various conditions); lifestyles (smoking, alcohol, road traffic accidents, diet); environment (food-borne diseases, occupational disease, work-related accidents); healthcare resources; healthcare utilisation & expenditure; maternal & child health (e.g. abortions, live births, immunisation). | 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 Interview & Health Examination Surveys Database | EC-funded collaboration | Website-based inventory of nationally and internationally administered health surveys in EU Member States and elsewhere | Covers 2 types of health surveys: Health Interview Surveys (HIS) and Health Examination Surveys (HES). Allows comparison of questions, methodologies etc. | National | Website |
| European Detailed Mortality Database | WHO Regional Office for Europe | Online database allowing 'flexible and user-friendly access' to European mortality data at the 3-character ICD code level | This system supplements the (not-to-be-confused-with) European Mortality Database (MDB) [see entry below], which provides mortality data 'only for predefined, aggregated causes of death'. This more detailed database allows two types of analysis: comparisons between various causes of death in one selected country; and comparisons between countries for groups of selected causes. | National only | Online system |
| European Hospital Morbidity Database | WHO Regional Office for Europe | Online database containing hospital discharge data by ICD-defined diagnosis, age and sex for European countries | Online system allows two types of data interrogation: comparisons between various diseases in one selected country; and comparisons between countries for groups of selected diseases. Includes information on hospital in-patient admission rates, average length of stay and day-cases. | National only | Online system |
| European Mortality Database (MDB) | WHO Regional Office for Europe | Mortality data supplement to the European Health For All Database (HFA-DB) | Data on 67 causes of death by age and sex | National only | 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 Eurostat's REGIO database (see entry below under 'R'), some of which is included within their series of annual regional yearbooks (see next entry). | National and regional | Website |
| Eurostat regional yearbook 2010 | Eurostat | Annual Eurostat publication of regional statistics | Examines regional differences under 13 headings including: population, agriculture, GDP, household income, labour market, business, 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 are also available to download as Excel files |
| Eurothine project | EU-funded collaboration | Collaborative project aimed at collating and analysing data from various EU countries to 'develop rational strategies for tackling socioeconomic inequalities in health' | Project final report now available, as well as data files, results of theme-specific analyses, technical documents and teaching materials. | National and regional | Website |
| Health EU Portal | European Commission | The 'official public health portal of the European Union' which includes a 'wide range of information and data on health-related issues' | Data are mainly supplied by the ECHI (European Community Health Indicators) project - see elsewhere in this table for further information | National | Website |
| 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 | Website from which data can be downloaded |
| International Obesity Task Force | Website which is part of the International Association for the Study of Obesity | Includes links to various obesity-related research and publications. | National | Website | |
| I2SARE project | EC-funded collaborative project | Project to develop health inequalities indicators for regions of Europe | Website giving access to over 260 regional health profiles. Profile data are presented in a format similar to Scottish and English community profiles, with 37 indicators grouped under the following headings: demography & socio-economic conditions; mortality; morbidity; risk factors; health services. | Regional (NUTS2) | Online system from which users can download profiles as .pdf files |
| Links to European Health Indicator Databases | WHO | Links to a small number of European national web sites which incorporate online databases (many similar to WHO's Health for All database (see above), but which may also contain regional data) | Set of links | n/a | Web page |
| Links to National Health Related websites | WHO | Links to many Ministries of Health and Central Statistics offices | Set of links | n/a | Web page |
| 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 Data 2011 | 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. Full list of variables. | National | CD-ROM costing around £75 for a single user |
| 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 | Report, but with all data available to download online |
| 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 |
| Population Information Network (POPIN) | United Nations | 'Portal' to various U.N. web sites and resources, including some of those described within this table | Links to databases, publications and web sites. | n/a | Website |
| REGIO Database | Eurostat | Regional statistics from Eurostat, available free of charge on-line | Large volume of regional data covering topics such as demographics (population, population change (births, deaths, births by age of mother, infant mortality)), economic statistics (regional GDP, employment, household income), education, environment, migration, health (mortality, healthcare resources), transport and labour market (economically active, employment/unemployment). | Regions (defined as NUTS areas) | Online database |
| 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 |
| Tobacco Control Database | WHO Regional Office for Europe | Database containing 'data on smoking prevalence and various aspects of tobacco control policies in WHO European Member States. It provides standardised information to track and assess the tobacco-related situation within and across countries in the region' | Country profiles, or country comparison tables can be created containing indicators such as smoking prevalence, smoking attributable deaths & years lost, taxation, licensing, policy and more. | National | Website |
| UNECE statistical database | UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) | UNECE database of national-level economic, gender and transport statistics | Database containing 'internationally comparable' data for countries in Europe, North America and Central Asia. Data are grouped within three very broad themes of 'economic', 'gender' and 'transport' statistics. However, the 'gender' heading includes data on population, households, education, health, mortality, and crime & violence. | National only | Online database |
| UNECE Trends in Europe & N. America 2005 | UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) | Statistical Yearbook (last issue: 2005) of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) | Domains covered include population (including population growth, dependency ratio, birth rate, death rate), families & households (e.g. lone parent households, average age of first-time mothers, abortion rates), education (attainment, expenditure), employment, economy, health (e.g. life expectancy, healthy life expectancy (HALE), infant & child mortality, cause-specific deaths, average length of acute stay, smoking prevalence, alcohol consumption), housing (e.g. tenure), transport (e.g. motor fuel prices, road traffic accidents, car & lorry numbers), energy, environment (e.g. air pollution), communication, participation (e.g. voter turnout), crime & safety (e.g. crime rates, prisoner numbers). | National only | Online set of MS Excel tables |
| Urban Audit | 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) | Subsets of the data can be accessed directly within both city profiles, and an on-line system, from the main Urban Audit All the data is also available from the Eurostat Urban Audit database |
| WHO Mortality Database Web page | WHO | Various mortality related data sets from WHO Member States | Includes tables of numbers of deaths by age, sex and cause, but also allows access to the raw data files for all available countries (but not in a user-friendly format). | Website with access to tables and raw data | |
| WHOSIS | WHO | WHO Statistical Information System | 'The guide to health and health-related epidemiological and statistical information available from the World Health Organisation'. Includes core indicators from world health report, selected indicators by country and topic, burden of disease activities and more. | n/a | Website |
| 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 | Downloadable database |
| World Population Prospects Population Database | United Nations | Population related data, with projections to the year 2050 | 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 March 2011.
- The next review is due to be carried out by end March 2012.