Statista

Finding detailed statistics to answer specific research questions, support arguments, and illustrate papers and presentations has long been challenging for librarians and their patrons. For decades, the free, U.S. government-produced Statistical Abstract of the United States was the go-to source for a wealth of handy tables as well as valuable footnotes to source documents. Though its scope was limited to statistics collected and compiled by the U.S. government, it gave math-challenged individuals a reliable pathway through an often confusing swirl of agencies and numbers. With the Statistical Abstract now privately produced and no longer ubiquitous in libraries, and with the growing demands of twenty-first century researchers for graphics and for international scope, the need for a reliable, easy to use and affordably-priced aid to finding statistics remains. Statista will fit this bill for many libraries. Statista is a continually updated, online resource for current statistical data on a broad range of topics that will appeal to its primary audience of individuals at business and academic institutions. Though there is some unevenness in the geographic coverage, international statistics are more extensive than in similar products. Statista’s interface is highly user-friendly, and the presentation of all statistics in graphical format is its primary strength. The images can be downloaded in multiple formats and are accompanied by numerous links to related topics and related statistics.