Economics

Department of Economics
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5330 USA
(269) 387-5535

AFDB Socio Economic Database

OVERVIEW

The AFDB Socio Economic Database is developed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to meet the increasing demand for statistical data and social-economic indicators relating to African Countries. This database provides over 100 indicators from 1960 onwards, covering agriculture, energy, finance, governance, infrastructure, and more. *

*This description is a paraphrased version of the description on AFDB Socio Economic Database website.

Available data file formats

Excel and CSV

Accessibility

This is an open data source that is for public use with free registration.

HOW TO RETRIEVE DATA BY EXAMPLE

Scenario

Suppose you want to compare the value of the total imports of agricultural products for five African regions鈥擟entral, East, North, Southern, and West Africa 鈥攆or the first decade of the 21st century (i.e., 2001-2010). You would like to download the data in Excel form.

Step-by-step

  • Locate the data source. Go to . It would direct you to the following page.

Screenshot of the AFDB Socio Economic Database main page. On the left, there are three filters, Country, Indicator, and Time, from top to bottom by order.

  • Select the regions of interest. On the left of the screen, there are three filters: Country, Indicator, and Time. Under the Country filter, select Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa one by one by clicking on the box in front of each.

Screenshot similar to the image above. Under filter Country, Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa are chosen by checking the boxes in front of them.

  • Select the right indicator. The next step is to find the right indicator for agricultural imports value. Under filter Indicator, there is a search bar. Type in agricultural imports and two indicators will show up. Choose Total agricultural imports (value), which is exactly your indicator. A line chart would be automatically generated on the right with all available data of the chosen indicator. On the right of the line chart, you can change it to many other views, such as table, column chart, bar chart, etc.

Screenshot similar to the image above except under filter Indicator, Total agricultural imports (value), now is added. Also, one line chart on the right side appears, displaying all available data of the chosen indicator for the countries checked. On its right, there are several other chart forms available.

  • Select the right time period. Under filter Time, from the drop-down menu Select mode, choose Range. The frequency of the time series is automatically set and cannot be changed in this case. Then choose Start Date 2001 and End Date 2010. Now the line chart on the right would show the period of chosen data, from 2001 to 2010.

Screenshot similar to the image above except under filter Time, period from 2001 to 2010 is selected. The line chart on the right side changes accordingly.

  • Download your data. In the upper-left corner of the screen, there is a Download button. Click on it and two options will appear.  Select MS Excel, then it would direct you to the registration page (use the green Sign up free button to complete your registration). After registration, you will be able to obtain the data you required in Excel form. Besides, you can also export chart views by clicking the button Export on the left of Download in PDF and PPT forms.

Screenshot similar to the image above. There is a Download button above the filters and the line chart. In the Download drop-down menu, there are two choices, Excel and CSV. On the left of Download, there is also an Export drop-down menu, allowing you to get the data in PDF and PPT forms.

Be sure to consult with the source website on how to properly cite your data. For this scenario, the citation in APA format would look something like:

African Development Bank. AFDB Socio Economic Database鈥揟otal agricultural imports (value) [Indicator]. http://dataportal.opendataforafrica.org/nbyenxf/afdb-socio-economic-database-1960-2020 (Accessed on December 4, 2019)