The Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB)
The Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB) is a public good that was created in response to demand by scholars and institutions for the study of sanctions in various fields such as economics and political science.
The Global Sanctions Data Base (GSDB) is a comprehensive dataset that documents economic sanctions worldwide from 1950 to 2025. It encompasses bilateral and multilateral sanctions, detailing their types, political objectives, and degrees of success. The GSDB has undergone multiple updates to enhance its scope. The latest release comes in two versions. The GSDB-R5 extends coverage to the end of 2025 and contains 1,794 cases, compared to 1,547 in Release 4: 283 cases were added, while 36 cases from Release 4 were removed after review, either dropped or merged into existing cases. Release 5 also records the calendar month of imposition and termination wherever it could be identified. The GSDB-FS (Global Sanctions Database – Financial Sanctions) covers the 1,072 cases that involve financial measures and classifies these measures into six subtypes, from asset freezes and restrictions on financial services to exclusions from payment infrastructure such as SWIFT.
Which version you need depends on your research question. If you work on sanctions in general and do not need to distinguish between types of financial sanctions, the GSDB-R5 is sufficient on its own. If you want financial sanctions in disaggregated form, you need the GSDB-FS for the subtype classification. Both files build on the same case definitions and identifiers and can be merged directly; the GSDB-FS covers those cases in which sanctioning states employ financial measures, and adds the subtype variables for them.
The GSDB is a public good, its initial development and maintenance took a substantial long-term effort by a number of us. Accordingly, in return for that effort, we expect two things from all users of the GSDB. First, if you use the GSDB please cite the accompanying papers. Second, if you detect an error in the dataset, please inform us as soon as possible at http://GSDB@drexel.edu
Commercial use of the GSDB is prohibited. Please do not pass the data on to others — direct them to this website, where they can request it directly.
Online since: 01.01.2025