World Bank Country Data

http://www.worldbank.org/data/countrydata/countrydata.html

Probably the best site for basic economic and social data. The Country-at-a-Glance tables shine for country analysis information such as literacy, income, infant mortality, and long-term economic performance. The Data Profile tables have more environmental and social data plus better debt stats.

If you're trying to do cross-country comparisons for a lot of countries, you'll have more luck at the UN statistics division.

And if you're some goody-two-shoes who cares only about poverty, education, gender equity, child mortality, maternal health, disease, and the environment, the Millenium Development Goals site has better country pages. Just don't expect any of those goals to actually be reached.

Similar and even more detailed poverty/health/nutrition indicators are on UNICEF's country pages.

Note that all of the above data comes, in the end, from the World Development Indicators dataset -- an online subscription providing the above and much much more is only a few hundred bucks.

KEYWORDS: growth statistics, budget statistics, foreign debt statistics, health statistics, income statistics, poverty statistics, gender statistics, education statistics