TelluBase Definitions, Use-Cases, Citations & Press Releases

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We bring all TelluBase collected materials together with hyperlinks to our publications repository.

TelluBase Definitions

Here we show what is included in Tellubase.

Data Series

La Torre de TelluBase

We show the contents of TelluBase in a simple 3D “tower”, demonstrating its comprehensiveness. It makes clear what is unique about TelluBase compared to conventional data sources.

En Torre de TelluBase has three dimensions: geographies, years, and data series.

Defining and Quantifing Socioeconomic Levels

The middle class is often talked about but seldom well defined. Before we embark on an expose on trends, we therefore define socioeconomic levels—what we call “Consumer Classes”.

Geographic entities

Cobertura mundial de TelluBase

Este mapa muestra los 218 países, 2600 ciudades y 2500 subdivisiones primarias que cubrimos en Tellubase. Además, cubrimos 25 000 subdivisiones secundarias.

China – Cities and Subdivisions Covered in TelluBase

The map shows how TelluBase covers 425 cities and 342 secondary subdivisions in China.

Note that what many think are cities, the so-called prefecture-level cities (PLC), are not cities at all. They are secondary subdivisions and may contain many cities (at least one; up to eight) and always have rural areas.

Colombia – Cities and Subdivisions Covered in TelluBase

The map shows the 36 large cities and 1100 secondary subdivisions in Colombia.

For each of these entities, we cover economic, socioeconomic, and demographic information, as well as the size of the consumer classes. All this with a view toward the future with data covering 2000 till 2050.

European Union Cities and Subdivisions Covered in TelluBase

Countries typically paint too coarse a picture for the EU. A more suitable way to understand the European economy is to look at cities and NUTS socioeconomic regions.

We cover 504 cities and 349 subdivisions. They are NUTS 0, 1, 2, or 3 levels depending what representants a country best.

Mexico – Cities and Subdivisions Covered in TelluBase

The map shows the cities (92 zonas metropolitanas) and secondary subdivisions (1500 municipios) in Mexico.

Nigeria – Income per Household by Local Government Area

Local Government Areas (LGA) are the secondary subdivisions (below states) in Nigeria. This map shows the income per household for the close to 800 LGAs and the 50 cities with a population larger than 300,000.

Our TelluBase database covers these secondary subdivisions and cities within its Nigeria module.

United States – Cities Covered in TelluBase

States are often too high level for insights in the U.S. Counties are too detailed. The U.S. government therefore developed Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to allow for better policy making. Instead of subdividing the entire country, the MSAs focus on cities.

Our TelluBase database uses MSAs to define cities down to 100,000 inhabitants.

Uses of TelluBase — See the Data in Action

Foundational Papers

¿Dónde está el mercado?

By Dr. Staffan Canback and Frank D’Agnese. Problemas y perspectivas en la gestión, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2008

Finding, measuring and capturing market opportunities in emerging countries are critical tasks for multinational consumer goods companies. Central to these tasks is the need to collect and analyze income distribution data within a globally coherent framework and to move beyond income metrics based on national averages.

This article describes a new framework and dataset that achieves this goal and demonstrates how income distribution data, combined with consumer and marketing data, can be incorporated into demand models.

Uses of Tellubase

How are TelluBase data used? We highlight six examples in this Quick Read. They cover a wide range of industries and applications.

Raw Data Collations

Pure extracts with no analyes beyond what ids already in the database.

TelluBase Fact Sheets

We provide free TelluBase data to select public institutions and media through the Tellusant Public Service Series. These are small, but important, subsets of the full product. The following countries are currently covered.

The World’s Cities by Köppen Climate Zones

The map shows the Köppen climate zones for the 2600 cities we cover in TelluBase.

The World Countries by Köppen Climate Zones

El mapa muestra las zonas climáticas ponderadas por población según el país. Es decir, el clima del lugar donde vive la gente, en lugar del clima de la zona geográfica (por ejemplo, Argelia tiene clima mediterráneo, no desértico).

Nota: Sólo unos pocos países tienen zonas climáticas difusas (sobre todo EE.UU. y China) donde no hay un clima realmente dominante.

China según las zonas climáticas de Köppen

China as a whole covers many climate zones. Here we show them at the secondary subdivision level (prefecture or equivalent).

Esta variabilidad da lugar a diferentes preferencias y culturas de consumo en todo el país. La más famosa es la división entre trigo y arroz.

Single-dimension analyses

By single dimension analysis, we mean TelluBase data on their own, not interacting with other data series.

La clase media mundial

¿Cómo evolucionará la clase media mundial en los próximos 20 años? A un ritmo vertiginoso, pero con diferentes regiones a la cabeza.

Time for expert to replicate:2-5 years, maybe impossible

The City Middle Class Compared to Country GDP Growth

En los mercados emergentes, las ciudades suelen crecer más deprisa que sus países, y la clase media (y superior) crece aún más deprisa. Tomamos las diez ciudades más grandes de América Latina para ilustrar este punto.

Time for expert to replicate:2-5 years, maybe impossible

El riesgo de las naciones

¿Cómo debemos considerar el riesgo de un país? Presentamos el riesgo de las naciones basándonos en un análisis cuantitativo. Dividimos el riesgo en componentes financieros y de mercado (demanda). Considerar el riesgo de esta manera da una definición estricta de lo que se entiende por riesgo. Coincide con la observación de Frank Knight: El riesgo es una distribución de probabilidad conocible.

Time for expert to replicate:3-5 months

Recession Pressure by Country

What is the probability of a recession in a given country? We analyzed data for all (218) countries at the subnational level to find out. The map shows the the results.

Tajikistan has the lowest recession probability, Yemen the highest. Most of the affluent counties have higher than average probabilities; emerging countries do better, with some notable exceptions.

British Middle Class Distribution in 2025

See how British cities and subdivisions vary in size and density of the middle class.

Time for expert to replicate:40-80 hours

A Tale of Two Chinas—The Rich vs Poor Split

La disparidad de renta per cápita entre las zonas urbanas y rurales es grande en China. Hemos utilizado nuestros datos de TelluBase para crear este mapa que muestra la clara división.

Time for expert to replicate: 80-120 hours

Analyzing Data-Poor Countries: The DR Congo Example

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) may be the world’s third most difficult country to analyze (after North Korea and Eritrea). This brief shows that every country’s economic conditions can be quantified at the sub-national level.

Time for expert to replicate: 80-200 hours

The Emerging Significance of the Nordic-Baltic Eight

The NB8 region is tightly integrated economically and politically and has a GDP almost of Italy’s size. The total population is around 35 million and given the high standard of living, it ranks fourth in the Single Market (EU + 4) by GDP, ahead of Spain and just behind Italy at third.

It is tightly integrated economically. For example, the top countries Sweden exports to are, in terms of share of those countries’ imports, the other seven NB8 countries.

Time for expert to replicate: 60-120 hours

Spanish Middle Class Distribution in 2025

See how Spanish cities and subdivisions vary in size and density of the middle class.

Time for expert to replicate: 80-200 hours

Utilizar la métrica macroeconómica correcta: Evitar el PIB per cápita

Es una mala práctica evaluar los mercados de bienes de consumo basándose en el producto interior bruto (PIB) per cápita. ¿Por qué debería tener algo que ver el PIB con la demanda de los consumidores?

Time for expert to replicate: 20-30 hours

Multi-dimension analyses

Multi-dimension analyses use TelluBase and at least one other data series with interactions determined statistically (such as income elasticity of product demand).

Subnational ICT Opportunities in South Africa

There is a strong trend among global companies toward understanding markets at subnational levels. They always face local players who have a keen sense for subnational opportunities. We take this approach on the South African information & communications technology (ICT )sector.

Time for expert to replicate: 120-200 hours

Income Elasticity: The Global Beer Example

How does demand for a category or industry change with disposable income and how do you go from analysis to strategic implications? We use global beer demand to illustrate.

Time for expert to replicate: 80-120 hours

Predecir los tipos de cambio

¿Cómo podemos estimar los tipos de cambio futuros (XR) con fines estratégicos (a 3-10 años vista)? La respuesta es que un modelo de paseo aleatorio es el que mejor funciona. Comprender la lógica de los tipos de cambio futuros puede parecer difícil, pero no lo es. Sin embargo, tendemos a dificultarla.

Time for expert to replicate: 40-60 hours

Greenhouse Gas Productivity

Climate change is the problem of the century. How do countries differ in their ability to manage the greenhouse gases (GHG) that cause it?

We emit GHG to stimulate economic activity. Not the other way around (we have economic activity to emit GHG). This view allows us to think about GHG productivity: How much economic activity, GDP, does a unit of emitted GHG create?

Time for expert to replicate: 60 hours

Las exportaciones suecas en un entorno empresarial desfavorable 🇸🇪

Världens handelsmönster håller på att stöpas om. Att USA ökat tarifferna för att minska importen är tydligt. Men Europeiska Unionen har också ökat tarifferna mot Kina under flera år. Kina kommer svara på bägge. Sekundära effekter uppstår för alla. Hur ska ett exportberoende land som Sverige agera för att bibehålla och öka sin export?