Finding the seemingly endless myriad facts required to build up a picture of an overseas market can be a time‐consuming task. If data can be found, they are frequently not current enough, can be difficult to interpret and comparisons can be hard to draw. This Euromonitor directory, now in its 34th year of publication and last reviewed in these columns over a decade ago (RR 1999/196), brings together statistical information of relevance to “pan‐regional and international market planning”. The volume focuses on the countries of the Americas, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Oceania. Should your interest extend to the countries of Europe, you need to consult Euromonitor's companion volume, European Marketing Data and Statistics (RR 2004/253).
The statistics are presented in 23 subject areas. These cover general topic areas such as consumer expenditure, consumer market sizes, economic indicators, home ownership, labour, population and retailing. Industries covered include agriculture, automotives and transport, banking and finance, education, energy, environment, health, IT and telecommunications, media and leisure, and travel and tourism. Several tables give only one year's data, e.g. number of hospitals, production of cereals and ownership of household durables. The year here is 2008 – this being the most current available at publication. Where data availability permits, figures are presented across 29 years from 1980 or across 19 years from 1990 thus allowing for detailed analysis of trends. These tables are presented on two pages but not always as a double page spread making these tables slightly more challenging to read. Several quarterly and monthly datasets are included, for example, the assets of deposit money banks, index of consumer prices, gold reserves and electricity and gas production. One niggle with many of the tables is that there are numerous gaps in the data – highlighting perhaps the unavailability of data from emerging markets.
A section entitled “Marketing Geography” presents a half page profile of the 160 countries covered by this volume. Aside from key facts, these highlight the political and economic structure, the main industries and the country's energy needs and resources.
Browsing through the volume, it is interesting – and at the same time, quite astounding – to see how diesel and petrol prices have increased since 1980; and to realise that China will have over 181 million people aged over 65 by 2020 – three times that of the USA. It is undoubtedly a sign of the times that new tables included in this edition look at the obese population and the numbers of health care professionals.
The data contained in this volume are accessible as part of the Global Marketing Information Database from which it is perhaps easier to obtain just the data you need in the format you require them. The published book does, however, present a wealth of data in a convenient format. It remains a useful statistical compendium pulling together figures from a wide range of sources and presenting them in a clear, concise and easily comparable format. It is thoroughly recommended for all reference library collections.
