LibGuides: Company and Industry Information: Global Markets

Global Markets

Although all business is global these days, some of the databases listed in the company and industry tabs on this guide focus on the U.S. market. The sources listed on this page have a significant amount of content about industries, markets and/or background info and lifestyles for other countries, too.

Country Reports in Databases

Passport (Euromonitor) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides international market intelligence, including economic statistics, on industries, countries, and consumers.
Business Source Complete - Business Searching Interface This link opens in a new window
Reports:

Country Monitor Reports from IHS Markit , and MarketLine Country Profile Series , and Fitch Solutions Country Risk Reports can be found by:

Choosing "Advanced Search" > Search Options > Limit your results > Publication Type > Country Reports
You can just click on "Search" use that to get a list of all the reports, or you can also combine it with name of a country that you add in the main search box on the page and then click on Search.
Also look for
- CountryWatch Country Review reports, with annual summaries going back to 2000 for many countries.
  Covers political, economic, investment, social and environmental overviews.
- OECD Economic Surveys cover mostly Europe, North America, and some of Latin America, Asia, Oceania.
- TIER Reports are for industries in Taiwan and China

WGSN Insight This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Consumer, marketing, retail, and innovation trends.
Students must create a WGSN-specific account and re-activate their account every 90 days.
TIP: Use an incognito browser to access WGSN
Students must create an account and re-activate their account every 90 days: click to create or re-activate account.
Locked out of your account for too many incorrect login attempts? Reset your password here.
To access WGSN Insight:
- login via the proxy and then with your WGSN username and password select the part of the site you wish to use from the top menu
Use an incognito browser to access this resource.

Insight > Menu > Regions > Europe, Middle East & Africa (or Asia Pacific)

eMarketer This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides data, insights and perspectives for marketing in a digital world.
Short video below explains how to search by geography.

Statista This link opens in a new window
A resource for global market and consumer data and statistics.

Look for

COUNTRY OUTLOOKS: Over 150 countries are covered, with 50 of them given more in-depth attention;
These reports, compiled by Statista staff, seem to be based on some of the reliable sources (like the World Bank) that we mention on other parts of this guide. They are especially helpful for background information that can be compared country to country

Other Suggested Sources

Santander Trade Portal; Analyze International Markets
"Reaching the consumer" shows demographics (complied from various governmental and NGO sources) and an outline of:
Growing Sectors
Consumer Behaviour
Consumer Profile and Purchasing Power
Consumer Recourse to Credit
International Growth Practice: PWC
Although PWC is a full-service company that offers the kind of insight you'd want--but at a very hefty fee!--there are some useful articles and reports that summarize some of their finding

See also their "Global Consumer Insights Survey" (June 2023)
Search by country for reports like "Ukraine and Russia: Summary of the Tax, Legal and People considerations" (March 2022)

Why we like these resources:

trusted sources: some combination of acknowledgement as expert in their field, been around a long time, etc
recent information
methodology or other detailed explanations

How to find similar information:

look for official government sources from the country you're researching
NGOs (non-governmental organizations) may have a more open perspective--and often a global/comparative one, too--compared to governmental sources. But d a quick background check/Google search on any organization whose info you want to use so you know what their slant (or possibly hidden agend) might be
a mix of both is great!

WORLD BANK : Several data sources and analysis portals, including

Doing Business [2020] : The World Bank
-Ease of Doing Business Index covers
infrastructure, economic, political and diplomatic factors as they relate to starting or maintain business ties.
-Downloadable free reports e.g. "Doing Business in Nigeria 2018". some with detailed "subnational" (i.e. regions with in a country) info.
"Doing Business studies have benchmarked 510 locations in 75 economies since 2005"
more...less...
https://tcdata360.worldbank.org/
Logistics Performance Index (World Bank)
"The Logistics Performance Index is an interactive benchmarking tool created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics and what they can do to improve their performance. The LPI 2018 allows for comparisons across 160 countries. The LPI is based on a worldwide survey of operators on the ground (global freight forwarders and express carriers), providing feedback on the logistics “friendliness” of the countries in which they operate and those with which they trade. They combine in-depth knowledge of the countries in which they operate with informed qualitative assessments of other countries where they trade and experience of global logistics environment. Feedback from operators is supplemented with quantitative data on the performance of key components of the logistics chain in the country of work."
TCdata360 (World Bank)
Searchable by country and/or indicators such as
-Infrastructure (defined as "information and communication technologies (ICTs), general infrastructure, and ecological sustainability"')
- trade outcomes
- innovation inputs and outputs
- investment "perceived complaints"
-economic and social context

ALSO:

Emerging Trends in Infrastructure 2021 (KPMG) (.pdf)
Not country-specific, but gives ideas of what to look for to evaluate a country's current status and readiness for change.
Forbes: Best Countries for Business
Rankings based on these criteria:
Trade Freedom, Monetary Freedom, Property Rights, Innovation, Technology, Red Tape, Investor Protection, Corruption, Personal Freedom,
Tax Burden
Global Development (Brookings Institute)
Includes insights on developing economies
Preparing for disruption: Technological Readiness Ranking (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2018)
"The EIU ranks 82 of the world’s largest economies according to the quality and attractiveness of their business environments. We have recently updated our Country Forecast service to include an assessment of how well prepared countries are for technological change, across three key categories: access to the internet, digital economy infrastructure, and openness to innovation."
Free report but you must register to download.
Note that report is dated 2018, so look for updates, too
Santander Trade Portal; Analyze International Markets
"Reaching the consumer" shows demographics (complied from various governmental and NGO sources) and an outline of:
Growing Sectors
Consumer Behaviour
Consumer Profile and Purchasing Power
Consumer Recourse to Credit
World Competitiveness Center
Annual rankings (and occasional samples of country reports) are free
World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2020
Downloadable PDF
"The Global Competitiveness Report series has since its first edition aimed to prompt policy-makers beyond short term growth and to aim for long-run prosperity. The 2020 special edition is dedicated to elaborating on the priorities for recovery and revival, and considering the building blocks of a transformation towards new economic systems that combine “productivity”, “people” and “planet” targets."