International development data · AidData, William & Mary
AidData
University research lab tracking global foreign aid and development finance, with particular depth on Chinese lending.
AidData is a research lab at William & Mary that tracks development finance flows, answering who funds what, where and to what effect. It is best known for its dataset tracking Chinese official lending and grants, covering roughly 31,750 loans and grants across around 200 countries from 2000 to 2023, worth an estimated $2.2 trillion, alongside a dedicated dataset on Chinese-financed seaport projects. Beyond China-focused data, AidData produces geocoded development-finance datasets covering 165 countries and runs GeoQuery, a tool for combining spatial development data with geographic and socioeconomic layers. Its tools and underlying datasets are published free through dedicated web portals, and the lab also produces policy research, working papers and training programs for development researchers and practitioners.
At a glance
| Vendor | AidData, William & Mary |
|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free |
| Free tier | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud |
| Open source | No |
| Best for | Researchers and policy analysts tracking global development finance flows, especially Chinese overseas lending. |
Pricing
Free research outputs and datasets published by a university research lab, funded by grants and university support.
Pricing has not been verified yet — see the vendor's site.
Features
- Dataset of ~31,750 Chinese official loans and grants across ~200 countries (2000-2023)
- Dedicated Chinese seaport financing dataset
- Geocoded development-finance data covering 165 countries
- GeoQuery tool for combining spatial development data with geographic layers
- China Contracts Search tool
- Published policy research, working papers and training programs
Profile last reviewed September 21, 2026