Explore the dimensions of the GSDB

The newest release of the GSDB comes in two parts: the GSDB-R5, which covers all sanction cases and types, and the GSDB-FS, which zooms in on financial sanctions.

• The GSDB-R5 records 1,794 sanction cases over the period 1949–2025 and disaggregates them by type: trade sanctions (further split into export and import measures, each either partial or complete), arms sanctions, military assistance sanctions, financial sanctions, travel sanctions, and other measures.
• The GSDB-FS (Global Sanctions Database – Financial Sanctions) isolates the 1,072 cases that involve financial measures and classifies them into six subtypes: asset freezes, restrictions on the provision of financial services, aid suspensions, investment restrictions, restrictions on payment and settlement infrastructure (e.g. exclusion from SWIFT), and other financial measures. It is available in case-level and dyadic form.
• Release 5 also improves temporal precision: where the month of imposition or termination can be identified, it is recorded alongside the year. This matters because a large share of sanctions is short-lived, so annual coding alone misstates their duration.
• The GSDB differentiates between multiple objectives of sanctions imposed, related to security issues such as wars or terrorism, and non-security issues such as human rights or specific policies.
• The GSDB distinguishes between unilateral and multilateral sanctions, on both the sending and the receiving side.
• 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 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.