Data Heaven – World Bank Opens it’s data

Do you like demographic data? Like to make infographics or just love stats? Then I have a fantastic resource for you!

The World Bank has opened up an awful lot of its data. Here are some of the interesting stats from their “World Development Indicators”. There is a caveat, however. The data is out of date since the 2009/2010 data has yet to be released.

Here are some examples from the 2008 version:

Top 10 Countries by Number of Patent Application (by residents)

1. Japan – 330,110
2. USA – 231,588
3. China – 194,579
4. South Korea – 127,114
5. Germany – 49,240
6. Russia – 27,712
7. United Kingdom – 16,52
8. France – 14,743
9. Canada – 5,061
10. Spain – 3,632

Top 10 Countries by Internet Users (Per 100 people)

1. Iceland – 90
2. Sweden – 87
3. Netherlands – 86
4. Denmark – 83
5. Norway – 82
6. Finland – 79
7. Bermuda – 79
8. Luxembourg – 76
9. United Kingdom – 76
10. Switzerland – 76
11. United States – 76

Note: The numbers are rounded. See data.worldbank.org for exact figures. Also bare in mind that was in 2008

Top 10 Countries by cost of Mobile phone subscription plan

This could be used as an alternate to Big Mac index and  potentially for subscription services, which require bandwidth usage. I want to note that countries at the top of the list are there principally because the infrastructure cost is being passed on to customer.

The plan is defined as “which includes the cost of monthly mobile use for 25 outgoing calls per month spread over the same mobile network, other mobile networks, and mobile to fixed-line calls and during peak, off-peak, and weekend times as well as 30 text messages per month.”

1. Brazil – $37
2. France – $36
3. Switzerland – $36
4. Spain – $33
5. Japan – $32
6. Australia – $26
7. Portugal – $26
8. Greece – $25
9. Venezuela, RB – $25
10. Austria – $24
11. New Zealand – $23
12. Cuba – $23

For those interested the UK came in at $20 while the USA $15

Why is this data interesting?

Well, it’s the same data one of the largest data mining groups use to determine how solvent, economically viable, and wealthy a country is. However, it’s also a great snapshot of life in different countries. While it may have no direct use in eccomerce, it can be used to weigh several factors. When entering new markets, determining cell phone costs and comparing them to how much money people have to spend will ultimately tell you how big a market it is.

One of the more interesting sections for me is ‘Economic Rankings‘. It’s a fascinating place for anyone looking to start, run and close companies abroad. Each country is ranked by various factors ranging from how easy it is to set up a company to how hard it is to sue people. This is actually a whole microsite in its own right.

Getting hold of the data

All this data and hundreds of other indicators and economic data is available from data.worldbank.org. They have an API as well as XML, Excel and various other data types including RFD. I can’t wait to see this data being used! Together with the national data sources for the UK and the USA, its never been easier for data lovers to get their fix!