Science, Industry and Business Library (SIBL) > International Trade

Foreign Market Research and Trade Statistics

In order to sell a product or service, there must, of course, be people who want to buy it. Market research will help you determine how likely you are to find buyers for your product or service. Market research can help you find the largest or fastest growing markets for your product or service, and market trends, outlook, and practices in a particular place. Refer to the Marketing Your Business section of SIBL's Business Owner's Manual for more information on how to effectively research and analyze your prospective market.

Market Research Resources

Market research data on U.S. markets is often difficult to find; market research reports are expensive, and most often not available in a public library. Foreign market data is even harder to come by. Several of the electronic resources at SIBL can help:

  • Globus & NTDB (Section of STAT-USA)
    Maintained and updated daily by the U.S. Department of Commerce, this database is a unique and invaluable source of marketing information covering many industries in many foreign countries, with often extensive reports compiled by U.S. embassies, consulates, information and foreign trade offices. Much of this information is current, detailed and not readily available elsewhere.

  • Export.gov Directory of Market Research Reports Many of the same reports found in Globus & NTDB accessible from home or office. Requires free user registration.

  • Market Research Monitor
    Offers detailed market research reports for many markets in many countries. Though sometimes dated, such reports are generally not available elsewhere.
  • MarketResearch.com Academic
    Online access to over 500 market research reports. Full reports included are a few years behind, however, summaries and data are provided for recent reports that are available for purchase.

  • Factiva (formerly Dow Jones Interactive)
    Searchable full-text and abstracting resource provides global content, including Dow Jones and Reuters newswires and The Wall Street Journal. Includes multilingual content covering 8,000 publications from 118 countries in 22 languages. Sources include general business and industry publications, newspapers, trade journals, newswires, company reports, radio and television transcripts, and images.

  • Investext Plus
    Offers current investment analyst reports, may of which cover foreign and domestic companies or industries.

  • Bloomberg
    Contains a wealth of financial, economic, industry, and investment data, both foreign and domestic.

  • Economist Intelligence Unit Country Reports
    Offers quarterly reports about the economic and political situation of almost every country.

  • Emerging Markets - Internet Securities
    Offers extensive current news, economic, industry, and financial information on many "emerging market" countries.

The library subscribes to a number of business periodical indexes, which allow you to search for articles in hundreds of business periodicals and trade publications. You may find articles discussing your country, your market, or your industry.

Print resources include the reports issued by the publisher Euromonitor such as the titles Consumer Latin America and Consumer China.

If you do not find the market research information you need in our collection of resources, you can consult Findex, an annual "directory of market research reports, studies and surveys" available for sale produced by market research companies. Most of these reports target a specific market but are generally quite expensive to purchase and are not found in public libraries. If you want to go one step further and conduct your own market research, you can hire a firm to do it for you. Such firms are found in the GreenBook published by the American Marketing Association.

Trade Statistics Resources

In addition to market research reports, export and import trade statistical data of particular products and commodities can yield information about the potential of a target market. Researching the export/import statistics for your product or commodity also provides hard data for use in drafting a business plan if you intend to seek financing from a bank or other source.

The Science, Industry, and Business Library offers access to three electronic databases of export/import statistical information produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Bureau of the Census. They are available by reserving a workstation in the Electronic Information Center at SIBL. These databases are:

  • USA Trade Online
  • U.S. Exports of Merchandise
  • U.S. Imports of Merchandise

Export and import commodities are often categorized in these databases by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) number. These numbers are the most precise way of identifying your product. While it is possible to search for a product by key word, it is often more precise and efficient to use the HTS number. You can find these in print in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (available in the library) and on the Internet from the U.S. International Trade Commission.

  • USA Trade Online
    A product of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the detailed statistical data found within this database is current and will help you to determine how much of your product is either being exported from the United States and to where or from where the product is being imported into the United States. Reports can be created based on commodity and time period and can be further limited by foreign country, U.S. port and can be ranked by decreasing value. Reports either can be printed or exported to a spreadsheet.

The FT-900 is the monthly report of the U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services released by the U.S. Census Bureau.  The full report is available in a variety of file formats or can also be accessed by individual chapters, or Individual Exhibits, such as U.S. Services by Major Category-Exports and Exports and Imports of Goods by Principal End-Use Category.  An historical archive of the reports are available back to the early 1990s.  Click on Country/Product Data at the top of the page for other more specific reports.

Among the library's print resources, the Direction of Trade Statistics Yearbook (*R-SIBL HF91.I65) published by the International Monetary Fund and the International Trade Statistics Yearbook (*R-SIBL HF91.U473) issued by the United Nations provide import/export statistics of commodities traded among the world's countries.

Some of the library's statistical publications are more specialized in scope such as the FAO Yearbook Trade (*R-SIBL HD9000.4.T7) published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. It contains export/import data on basic food and agricultural products for all countries and territories of the world.

Country-specific Information and Statistics

Many of the world's most respected publications containing the most current country information are well represented in SIBL's collections. Titles of note include:

  • Europa World Yearbook *R-SIBL JN1.E85
  • Economist Intelligence Unit Country Reports McGraw Desk
  • Economist Intelligence Unit Country Profiles Various call number locations
  • OECD Economic Surveys Various call number locations
  • World Economic Outlook *R-SIBL HC10.W7979
  • International Financial Statistics Yearbook *R-SIBL HG61.I57 McGraw Desk
  • World Competitiveness Yearbook *R-SIBL HF1414.W67
  • CIA World Factbook *R-SIBL G122.U56
  • Country Trade Sourcebook *R-SIBL HF1416.5.C68
  • Craighead’s International Business, Travel, and Relocation Guide to … Countries *R-SIBL HF5549.5.E45.D56

SIBL regularly receives in print the official statistical annuals of most countries of the world that may be useful in furthering examining their markets' potential.


World Wide Web

On the web, the International Trade Data System site maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury provides links to many country specific publications issued by various U.S. federal agencies including the CIA World Factbook, the State Department's Background Notes and the Commerce Department's Country Commercial Guides for selected countries. The CIA World Factbook and the Background Notes are directly available from:

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a United States federal agency, maintains a page called the Investor's Information Gateway which includes many of the same federal government links above plus others from sources such as the OECD and the World Bank grouped into 20 different categories. OPIC is an agency which focuses on expanding American investment into approximately 150 developing nations. Another U.S. web resource is the Library of Congress site Portals to the World that provides links to a mixed bag of informational websites for most countries including areas such as Antarctica and the Panama Canal.

The GlobalEDGE site maintained by Michigan State University's Center for International Business Education and Research provides links to many excellent sources of country-specific business information.

With documents obtained from the World Bank Group and other foreign investment promotion agencies, the Investment Promotion Network (IPAnet) provides "free access to online foreign investment and privatization resources" which include reports covering country-specific economic conditions, investment-related laws, product markets and industry sectors. In addition, its directories provide contact information to over 30,000 organizations and individuals active in foreign investment.

Many countries make their national statistics available online. Both the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics provide links to the central statistical offices of many countries.