Publications

The World Statistics Pocketbook 2017 edition (Series V, No. 41) is the forty-first in a series of annual compilations of key statistical indicators prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Over 50 indicators have been collected from more than 20 international statistical sources and are presented in one-page profiles for 30 world geographical regions and over 200 countries or areas of the world.

The Pocketbook is organised into 5 sections; general information, economic indicators, major trading partners, social indicators, and environmental and infrastructure indicators.This issue presents data for the economic, social, environmental and infrastructure sections for three reference years ‐ 2005, 2010 and 2017 ‐ when available or the most recent data previous to these years, back to 2000. For the general information and major trading partners sections the reference year is 2017 and 2016 respectively, unless otherwise footnoted. The indicators in the profiles cover the following topics: communication, crime, development assistance, education, energy, environment, finance, gender, health, international tourism, international trade, labour market, national accounts, population and migration, price and production indices and science and technology.

This issue is an update of the previous edition, released in 2016, entitled World Statistics Pocketbook 2016 edition (Series V, No. 40).

Download 2017 Edition Earlier issues

---

Note:, Android and iOS applications remain based on data from the World Statistics Pocketbook 2016 edition (Series V, No. 40), new versions of these applications based on World Statistics Pocketbook 2017 edition (Series V, No. 41) will be released by December 2017.

The special case of small island developing States (SIDS), within the context of sustainable development, was first formally recognized by the international community at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA), agreed at the first Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS in 1994, then the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS adopted in 2005, and most recently the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) held in 2012, continue to highlight the sustainable development challenges faced by SIDS.

This special issue of the United Nations annual World Statistics Pocketbook provides a compilation of basic social, economic and environmental indicators that together comprise a framework for assessing, in quantitative terms, each State's current development situation. Its issuance coincides with the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, held in Apia, Samoa in September 2014.

Download SIDS Edition Infographic

The technical notes contain brief descriptions of the concepts and methodologies used in the compilation of the indicators as well as information on the statistical sources for the indicators. Reference to primary sources of the data is provided for readers interested in longer time-series data or more detailed descriptions of the concepts or methodologies.

Prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the World Statistics Pocketbook responds to General Assembly resolution 2626 (XXV), in which the Secretary-General is requested to supply basic national data that will increase international public awareness of countries' development efforts.