Highlighted resource: IPUMS

The IPUMS project, based at the University of Minnesota, provides harmonized census & survey data from around the world. IPUMS stands for Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. Access to IPUMS requires setup of a free account. 

IPUMS international datasets

• IPUMS International. Provides access to harmonized census data from 85 countries.
• IPUMS DHS. Provides access to Demographic and Health Surveys, administered in low- and middle-income countries since the 1980s. 

Additional sources of international microdata:

• Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The PISA database contains the full set of responses from individual students, school principals and parents. Conducted every 3 years beginning in 2000. 
• World Bank Microdata Library. Facilitates access to data collected through census, sample surveys of households or businesses, or administrative data collection processes.
• International Household Survey Network. The IHSN catalog provides searchable metadata from thousands of surveys and censuses conducted in low- and middle-income countries. In many cases links are provided to download microdata online.
• International Social Survey Programme. The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a continuing annual programme of cross-national collaboration on surveys covering topics important for social science research. 
• World Values Survey (WVS). The World Values Survey is a global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life. 
• Global Barometer Surveys (GBS). GBS is the first comprehensive effort to measure, at a mass level, the current social, political, and economic atmosphere around the world.
• World Bank Enterprise Surveys. Enterprise Surveys offers an expansive array of economic data on 131,000 firms in 139 countries. 
• Map & Data Library microdata search