What is IPUMS-International?
IPUMS-International (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, International) is the world’s largest collection of publicly available individual-level census data. The data are samples from population censuses from around the world taken since 1960. Names and other identifying information have been removed. The variables have been given consistent codes and have been documented to enable cross-national and cross-temporal comparisons. This “integration” process is described more fully here.
IPUMS is not a collection of compiled statistics; it is composed of microdata. Each record is a person, with all characteristics numerically coded. In most samples persons are organized into households, making it possible to study the characteristics of people in the context of their families or other co-residents. Because the data are individuals and not tables, researchers must use a statistical package to analyze the millions of records in the database. A data extraction system enables users to select only the samples and variables they require.
IPUMS-International is very similar to the IPUMS-USA data system, which contains all national-level samples of the United States from 1850 to the present. Scholars interested only in the United States are better served using IPUMS-USA, which is optimized for U.S. research.