Getting the big picture on global trends has long been an interest of mine. Over time, I’ve collected resources that help me get a sense of the directions in which the world is shifting, and the way things are today.

Recently I was thinking about the research I would like at my fingertips, but don’t yet have. I’ve included in this post both the resources I’ve found useful, along with the resources I wish I had… You’ll see what’s missing - there’s no link if I don’t have the research/resource. Let me know what you think is missing, too!

There are a whole bunch of indexes out there that attempt to rank/compare countries. None are perfect, but they can help add to our understanding - but only if we know of their existence!

If you find the resources here helpful, please let me know in the comments, as if people find it useful I will endeavor to update this post with new info/research as I find it.

I know that’s strictly speaking more the role of a wiki or other knowledge management tool, but first I want to see if enough people have opinions/ideas about the data I’ve gathered before I spend time creating a community around this kind of information.

Business - Largest corporations - Fortune Global 500 - Size by Revenue
Business - World’s largest shopping malls - Forbes magazine article
Business - World’s largest banks - Euromoney
Business - Global Competitiveness - World Economic Forum research
Business - Fastest growing corporations - Fortune Global 500 Fastest Growing,
Business - Most profitable Corporations - Fortune Global 500 Most Profitable
Business - Largest selling consumer goods -
Business - Biggest media spenders -

Environment - Most/Least polluting nations -
Environment - Most endangered species -
Environment - Most/Least polluted countries -
Environment - Most/Least polluted cities -

Finance - Largest economies -

Geography - Population Density - InfoPlease (quoting CIA World Factbook)

Media (Traditional) - Largest traditional media corporations - The Nation
Media (New) - Largest new media businesses -

Politics - Mass exodus - countries people are fleeing -
Politics - Mass admittance - countries people are fleeing to - Politics - Largest nations - by population - InfoPlease (quoting CIA World Factbook)Geography - Population Density - InfoPlease (quoting CIA World Factbook)
Politics - Largest nations - by per capita wealth - InfoPlease (quoting CIA World Factbook)
Politics - Largest cities
Politics - Largest international agencies
Politics - Nation size by area - InfoPlease (quoting CIA World Factbook)
Politics - Non-Government Organisations (NGO’s) - by subscribers/members
Politics - Non-Government Organisations (NGO’s) - by financing
Politics - Countries hosting refugees - Infoplease
Politics - Main sources of refugees - Infoplease
Politics - Internally Displaced persons - Infoplease
Politics - Armed Conflicts - Recently Suspended - Infoplease
Politics - Ongoing Armed Conflicts - Ongoing - Infoplease
Politics - Countries with Nuclear Weapons Capability - Infoplease
Politics - Largest Military Expenditures - InfopleasePolitics - Arms Sales to Developing Nations - Infoplease
Politics - Most/Least corrupt - Global Integrity Index, Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index
Politics - Most/Least stable - Global Peace Index
Politics - Biggest donors/recipients of foreign aid - BBC (Graph)

Social - Highest/Lowest Literacy - InfoPlease (quoting CIA World Factbook)
Social - Highest/Lowest Infant Mortality rate - InfoPlease (quoting CIA World Factbook)
Social - Biggest threats facing humanity -
Social - Happiest nations - Wikipedia
Social - Faiths / Religions (ranked by followers) -
Social - Faiths / Religions (ranked by wealth) -
Social - Most recognised brands Interbrand/BusinessWeek
Social - Largest employers -
Social - Global top ten jobs -
Social - Most peaceful - Global Peace Index

Technology - Highest/Lowest rate of mobile phone usage -
Technology - Highest/Lowest rate of internet usage -
Technology - Largest data breaches - Boing Boing

Transparency - Global Integrity Index - Global Integrity

Miscellaneous

Also worth checking out…
Time Magazine’s Top Ten Lists for 2007 (most recent to date)
Watch Mojo’s Top Ten Lists - Great resource - watching out for ‘top tens’ published in US media and then documenting them.
Freedom of the press - Worldwide Press Freedom Index
Journalists Killed in Conflict Committee to Protect Journalists
Risk of becoming a ‘failed state’ Failed States Index
Most and Least Livable Countries UN Human Development Index
Most expensive cities Infoplease
National Statistics Agencies - Infoplease
Worldometers
General world statistics - Infoplease

So what’s missing? Be sure to post your thoughts in the comments section!