The world is awash in more data than ever before – and a huge amount of it is available completely free for anyone to use! From government databases to corporate data initiatives to academic and non-profit data repositories, there are now thousands of places to access incredibly rich data sets on every topic imaginable.
But with so many options, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. That‘s why we‘ve compiled this list of over 100 of the absolute best free data sources available in 2024. Whether you‘re a professional researcher, data scientist, marketer, academic, or just a data enthusiast, you‘re sure to find some amazing data resources on this list to explore and analyze.
We‘ve organized the list into categories so you can easily browse data sources by topic and industry. Within each category, we‘ve highlighted some of the top sources that offer the highest-quality, most comprehensive data. Here are the types of data sources covered:
- Government & Public Sector Data
- Economic & Financial Data
- Health & Medical Data
- Social & Demographic Data
- Education Data
- Environmental & Climate Data
- Business & Industry Data
- Marketing & Social Media Data
- Geospatial Data
- Transportation Data
- Arts & Culture Data
- Sports Data
For each data source, we‘ll give an overview of the scope and type of data provided, what format it‘s available in (CSV, JSON, API, etc.), and some ideas for how you could use the data for research and analysis. We‘ll also provide step-by-step instructions for accessing certain data sources directly.
One of the amazing things about free and open data is how it enables collaboration, transparency, and innovation across society. By sharing data openly, governments and organizations empower citizens, scientists, entrepreneurs, and activists to make new discoveries, build data-driven solutions, and push society forward. The possibilities are truly limitless!
Here are just a few remarkable examples of the insights and applications being powered by open data in 2024:
- Uncovering racial biases in policing and incarceration using open crime and prison data
- Identifying illegal fishing and human rights abuses on the high seas using satellite imagery and shipping tracking data
- Mapping disparities in access to healthcare, green space, transit, and other city services using open municipal data
- Revealing the flow of money in politics and spotting potential corruption using campaign finance and lobbying data
- Optimizing crop yields and water use in agriculture using open weather and environmental monitoring data
- Accelerating research on cancer and disease using open clinical trial and biomedical research data
The data revolution is providing an unprecedented opportunity to solve problems and generate positive social impact – and it‘s all powered by open data. So let‘s dive into the top 100+ free data sources you need to know for 2024!
Government & Public Sector Data
From the local level all the way up to international governing bodies, government agencies are some of the biggest producers and providers of open data. Here are the top government data portals to explore:
Data.gov (United States)
The US federal government‘s open data portal, with over 200,000 data sets on topics like health, education, climate, finance, energy, agriculture, and more. Provides data in CSV, JSON, RDF and more via direct download and API.Data.gov.uk (United Kingdom)
The UK government‘s official open data portal, with tens of thousands of data sets from central government departments and public bodies. Bulk downloads available in CSV format.European Union Open Data Portal
The central portal for accessing open data from all EU institutions, agencies and bodies. Over a million datasets available on a wide range of topics, in multiple formats including CSV, JSON, XML, RDF and more.Government of Canada Open Data
Canada‘s government-wide open data portal, with over 80,000 data sets from federal, provincial and municipal government agencies. Bulk downloads in CSV, XML and JSON formats.data.gov.au (Australia)
The Australian government‘s central open data portal, with nearly 30,000 data sets on topics like health, environment, communications, science and more. Data downloads in CSV and JSON.National Bureau of Statistics of China
China‘s national statistics agency, providing official government data on economics, population, society, science and more. Data available in CSV, XML and WDS formats.Statistics Bureau of Japan
Japan‘s national statistics agency, offering data on the economy, industry, population, welfare and more. Machine-readable data in CSV, RDF and JSON-stat formats.Eurostat
The European Commission‘s Directorate-General that provides statistical information to EU institutions and promotes the harmonization of statistical methods across member states. Bulk data available in TSV, CSV and JSON formats.The World Bank Open Data
Global development data from the World Bank Group, including data on demographics, economics, health, education, poverty and more for over 200 countries. Bulk data downloads in CSV, XML and JSON.IMF Data
Global financial data from the International Monetary Fund, including exchange rates, balance of payments, trade, GDP and more. Data available in CSV, XML and JSON formats.
Economic & Financial Data
From stock tickers to commodity prices to venture capital deals, there is a wealth of open data to power financial analysis and economic insights. Here are some of the top sources for free financial and economic data:
OpenCorporates
The world‘s largest open database of companies, with information on over 100 million companies and entities in 120 jurisdictions worldwide. Data on directors, branches, filings and more, available via bulk download or API.Crunchbase
Data on startups, VC funding, mergers and acquisitions, and tech company news. The free version offers access to basic company info, funding rounds, and investor profiles. Data accessible via export tool and REST API.Yahoo Finance API
Stock quotes, market summaries, company financial statements, economic news and more. Real-time and historical data available in CSV or via API in JSON or XML formats.Quandl
Over 30 million financial and economic time-series data sets from hundreds of publishers, with new data added daily. Data available via bulk download, API, libraries for Python and R, and more.World Bank Commodity Prices Data
Global prices for over 70 commodities, including energy, agriculture, fertilizers, metals and minerals. Monthly price data available from 1960 to present, in CSV, XML and JSON formats.UN Comtrade Database
Global import and export trade statistics, reported by statistical authorities of close to 200 countries. Free access to billions of records, downloadable in CSV or accessible via API.FRED Economic Data (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
Over 500,000 financial and economic data series from dozens of public and proprietary sources, including interest rates, GDP, CPI, unemployment and much more. Data available in CSV, Excel, and via API.IRS Tax Statistics
Official data from the Internal Revenue Service on tax returns, tax revenues, incomes, and more. Data covers individuals, businesses, charities and tax-exempt organizations. Bulk data downloads available in CSV and Excel formats.Census Bureau Economic Indicators
Key US economic indicator data from the Census Bureau, including retail sales, durable goods, construction spending, new residential sales, and international trade. Data available in CSV, PDF and via API.Zillow Real Estate Research
Housing market data for the US, including home values, rents, inventory, buying activity and more. Data covers hundreds of metro areas and counties, available in CSV format.
Putting It All Together
As you can see, there is an incredible abundance of free data out there just waiting to be explored! This is by no means an exhaustive list – there are hundreds more government portals, academic institutions, scientific agencies, NGOs and companies providing open data to the public.
The key is knowing where to look and how to access the data you need. Forthat, tools like Octoparse can be a huge help. With Octoparse, you can easily scrape and structured data from almost any website, turning messy HTML into clean spreadsheets with just a few clicks. It‘s a must-have for any data hunter looking to tap into new sources and corral all that open data into a usable format.
Armed with this list of 100+ amazing data sources and a tool like Octoparse in your toolkit, you‘ll be ready to start finding fascinating data sets, conducting your own analyses, and unlocking valuable insights. The world‘s data is out there – now it‘s your turn to start exploring!