OECD Data
The OECD publishes statistics and analysis on economic performance, trade, employment, education, health, and the environment across its member and partner countries. The data underpins its policy reports and is designed to be comparable across nations.
Two collections stand out for development work: the International Development Statistics, which track aid volume, origin, and type, and the Creditor Reporting System, which records individual aid activities in detail. Data is available online and through an API. OECD terms are generally permissive and allow reuse with attribution, though some third-party datasets carry their own conditions.
Related sources
Eurostat
The statistical office of the European Union, providing official statistics for Europe. Covers the economy, population, environment, agriculture, trade, and more across EU member states, with harmonised figures that let you compare countries on a like-for-like basis.
IMF Data
A gateway to the IMF's global economic data, giving streamlined access to macroeconomic and financial statistics. Includes International Financial Statistics covering balance of payments, interest rates, national accounts, prices, production, trade, and population for more than 200 countries.
Our World in Data
Research and interactive visualisations on global problems, built by aggregating and harmonising data from official sources. Every chart can be downloaded as a ZIP containing a CSV file, JSON metadata, and a README, and the underlying data is available programmatically via an API. Full provenance is documented for every dataset.
SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange)
An open standard for exchanging statistical data and metadata electronically, developed jointly by the BIS, ECB, Eurostat, IMF, OECD, UN, and World Bank. Not a dataset itself but the interchange format many statistical agencies use to publish their figures.