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ECB Statistical Data Warehouse (SDW) REST API Reference

Overview

The ECB SDW API provides access to European Central Bank statistical data: exchange rates, monetary aggregates, interest rates, balance of payments, banking statistics, and more. It follows the SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata eXchange) RESTful web services standard.

Base URL

https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service

Note: The legacy URL https://sdw-wsrest.ecb.europa.eu/service still works but the above is the current endpoint.

Authentication

No API key required. The API is fully open and public.

Rate Limits

Common Headers

Header Value Description
Accept application/vnd.sdmx.data+json;version=2.0.0 JSON format (recommended)
Accept application/vnd.sdmx.data+csv CSV format
Accept application/vnd.sdmx.data+xml SDMX-ML XML (default)
Accept-Encoding gzip Compressed response

Key Endpoints

1. Get Data (Time Series)

GET /data/{flowRef}/{key}?{parameters}
Component Description
flowRef Dataflow ID (e.g., EXR for exchange rates, BSI for balance sheet items)
key Dot-separated dimension values. Use + for OR, . to skip a dimension (wildcard).

Query Parameters: | Parameter | Required | Description | |-----------|----------|-------------| | startPeriod | No | Start date: YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD | | endPeriod | No | End date: same formats | | updatedAfter | No | ISO 8601 timestamp; returns only data updated after this time | | detail | No | full (default), dataonly, serieskeysonly, nodata | | firstNObservations | No | Return only first N observations per series | | lastNObservations | No | Return only last N observations per series | | dimensionAtObservation | No | Typically TIME_PERIOD (default) |

Exchange Rate Key Structure (EXR dataflow): {frequency}.{currency}.{currency_denom}.{exr_type}.{exr_suffix}

Position Dimension Common Values
1 Frequency D (daily), M (monthly), A (annual)
2 Currency USD, GBP, JPY, CHF, CNY, etc.
3 Currency denominator EUR (usually)
4 Exchange rate type SP00 (spot), EN00 (average)
5 Exchange rate suffix A (average), E (end of period)

Example -- Daily USD/EUR spot rate, 2024:

GET https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/EXR/D.USD.EUR.SP00.A?startPeriod=2024-01-01&endPeriod=2024-12-31
Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.data+json;version=2.0.0

Example -- Monthly GBP and JPY vs EUR, last 12 observations:

GET https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/EXR/M.GBP+JPY.EUR.SP00.A?lastNObservations=12
Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.data+json;version=2.0.0

Example -- All daily exchange rates for a specific date (wildcard):

GET https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/data/EXR/D..EUR.SP00.A?startPeriod=2024-06-01&endPeriod=2024-06-01
Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.data+json;version=2.0.0

JSON Response Structure (SDMX-JSON v2.0):

{
  "meta": { "schema": "...", "id": "...", "prepared": "2024-11-01T12:00:00Z" },
  "data": {
    "dataSets": [
      {
        "action": "Information",
        "series": {
          "0": {
            "attributes": [0, 0, ...],
            "observations": {
              "0": [1.0856],
              "1": [1.0791],
              "2": [1.0834]
            }
          }
        }
      }
    ],
    "structures": [
      {
        "dimensions": {
          "series": [...],
          "observation": [
            {
              "id": "TIME_PERIOD",
              "values": [
                {"id": "2024-01-02", "name": "2024-01-02"},
                {"id": "2024-01-03", "name": "2024-01-03"}
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Note: Observation values are indexed arrays. Match observation index to TIME_PERIOD values in structures.dimensions.observation.

CSV Response (simpler to parse):

Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.data+csv

Returns standard CSV with columns: DATAFLOW, FREQ, CURRENCY, CURRENCY_DENOM, EXR_TYPE, EXR_SUFFIX, TIME_PERIOD, OBS_VALUE, etc.

2. Get Dataflow Definitions (Available Datasets)

GET /dataflow/{agencyID}/{resourceID}/{version}

Example -- List all ECB dataflows:

GET https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/dataflow/ECB
Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.structure+json;version=2.0.0

Example -- Get EXR dataflow definition:

GET https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/dataflow/ECB/EXR
Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.structure+json;version=2.0.0

3. Get Data Structure Definition (Dimensions & Codes)

GET /datastructure/{agencyID}/{resourceID}/{version}?references=children

Example:

GET https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/datastructure/ECB/ECB_EXR1?references=children
Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.structure+json;version=2.0.0

This returns all dimensions, their code lists, and allowed values -- essential for constructing valid keys.

Common Dataflow IDs

Dataflow Description
EXR Exchange rates
BSI Balance sheet items (monetary financial institutions)
MIR MFI interest rates
ILM Internal liquidity management
SEC Securities issues statistics
BOP Balance of payments
STP Structural financial indicators
CBD Consolidated banking data
ICP Index of consumer prices (HICP)
FM Financial market data
YC Yield curve data

Notes