The IMF International Financial Statistics (IFS) is a compilation of financial data collected from various sources, covering the economies of 194 countries and areas worldwide, which is published monthly by the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

(IMF).

Methodology and scope

The IFS is the IMF’s principal statistical publication, covering numerous topics of international and domestic finance. It includes, for most countries, data on

exchange rates In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

, balance of payments, international liquidity,

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money ar ...

and

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, interest rates, prices, etc. Most annual data begins in 1948, quarterly and monthly data dates back to 1957, and most balance of payments data begins in 1970. The IMF compiles the data from various sources including government departments, national accounts, central banks, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

(UN),

Eurostat Eurostat ('European Statistical Office'; DG ESTAT) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide stati ...

, the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

(ILO), and private financial institutions.ESDS International, dataset guide

Accessing the data

The Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) International provides the macro-economic datasets free of charge for members of UK higher and further education institutions. In order to access the data, users have to be registered, which can be don
here
Alternatively, the data is available to explore and download free of charge on th
IMF data portal
In addition, the IMF offers an API based on the

SDMX SDMX, which stands for Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange, is an international initiative that aims at standardising and modernising ("industrialising") the mechanisms and processes for the exchange of statistical data and metadata among intern ...

standard for automated downloads.

References

External links

International Financial Statistics online

About ESDS International

SDMX - Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange

Methodology and scope

Accessing the data

References

External links

See also