Abstract
In recent years there has been growing interest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and among many other national and international statistics institutes in making microdata more accessible to policy makers and analysts. This paper describes the common trends in microdata access in OECD countries using a 2006 survey and discusses the different approaches across countries as these reflect differences in legislation, technology, attitudes, etc. To fully address the opportunities and challenges of international access to microdata, the OECD is looking for solutions in developing international initiatives together with interested countries and other international organisations.