Guides: Data & Statistics: Historical (Pre-1960)

Tip: Books, periodicals, and government documents may also contain historical tables of data and include references that will lead you to historical data resources. See a librarian for help finding these.

Resources with Historical Data - U.S.

Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Millennial Edition - updated and expanded online version with data updated to the1990's+ (additional 30 years worth and triple the number of data series than its predecessor).

United States Historical Income Tables: Households
From the Current Population Survey and Decennial Census tables.
Current Population Survey (CPS) - Historical Labor Statistics
From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

FRASER publications This link opens in a new window

Business Statistics of the U.S.
Continues Business Statistics, a statistical supplement to Survey of Current Business.
Historical Time Series data. Earlier editions online.
Also in Print Main Library REF HC101 .A131222 (latest edition, earlier years in stacks)
Value of a Dollar: Prices and Incomes in the United States, 1860-2004
Main Library Reference HB235 U6 V35 2004
Datapedia of the U.S.
Historical statistics for a wide variety of U.S. topics including demographics, economics and business, health, education, crime, agriculture, environment, transportation, politics, and more. Davis Family Library Reference HA202 .K87
International Historical Statistics: The Americas 1750-2000
Print: Davis Family Library Reference HA175 M55 2003 (earlier editions in stacks)

Resources with Historical Data - International

World Economy Historical Statistics (Maddison)
Hard-to-find historical statistics for major indicators (population, GDP, GDP per capita, etc.) going back to the 1800's or earlier for many countries. Online edition from SourceOECD. Choose PDF version. For excel files for tables, click on doi link at bottom of each page. Excel files also available from Maddison Project and original Maddison page.
Other Versions: Davis Family Library Reference, Stacks, Main CD-ROMs HF1359 .M333 2003
Global Prices and Income Group
Based at UC Davis. 'Prices, income, and economic well-being around the world before 1950.'
International Financial Statistics (IMF)
International Monetary Fund (IMF) survey of major financial statistics for countries and regions. Updated monthly. Some indicators available back to 1948. New users see IMF Data Help and Tutorials.
International Historical Statistics, Africa, Asia & Oceania, 1750-2000
Print: Davis Family Library Reference HA4675 .M55 2003 (earlier editions in stacks).
International Historical Statistics: Europe 1750-2000
Main Library Reference HA1107 M5 2003 (earlier editions in stacks)
International Historical Statistics: The Americas 1750-2000
Print: Davis Family Library Reference HA175 M55 2003 (earlier editions in stacks)
Groningen Growth & Development Centre Databases
Historical data (1950+) freely available for download. Databases include Total Economy Database (GDP, Population, Employment, Hours); 60 Industry Database (industrial performance at a detailed industry level for OECD countries & Taiwan). Industry Growth Accounting Database (labour skills, investment, capital services).
Penn World Table
The Penn World Table provides purchasing power parity and national income accounts converted to international prices for 168 countries for some or all of the years 1950-2000.