IMF Data API

What you can build

• Revalue open orders when an exchange rate series moves

  The operator reads the Exchange Rates dataflow for the currencies you invoice in. When the latest observation shifts past your tolerance, it proposes a price-list review or a reconciliation note with the reference period attached.

  With Price List Drift, Payout Reconciliation

• Rebase a country forecast on the new WEO vintage

  When a new World Economic Outlook vintage appears, the operator reads the projections for your markets, compares them with the vintage your plan used, and proposes the assumptions to restate, naming both vintages.

  With Demand Outlook, Forecast Variance

• Watch import costs through the commodity and trade flows

  For the goods you import, the operator follows the Primary Commodity Price System and International Trade in Goods by counterpart and proposes a unit-cost annotation when a commodity index turns.

  With Lead-Time Drift, Unit Cost

Requirements

• The agency and dataflow id for each dataset, such as IMF.STA,CPI or IMF.RES,WEO, and the dimension order from its data structure
• Series keys built from the dataflow's dimensions, for example USA+CAN.CPI.CP01.IX.M, with startPeriod to bound the range
• Network reach to api.imf.org and data.imf.org
• Attribution in the IMF form, Source: International Monetary Fund, database name, link to the dataset, and a statement if you materially transform the data

Authentication

None for public data: anonymous requests to api.imf.org/external/sdmx return the published datasets. IMF staff and users with additional access rights sign in through Azure AD B2C and send a bearer token.

Limits

• Series once grouped as International Financial Statistics are served as separate dataflows (CPI, ER, IL, MFS_IR, and others); there is no single IFS flow
• The IMF prohibits bulk download by automated technology without explicit permission and reserves the right to terminate access
• Vintage dataflows multiply the catalogue: each release month adds new ids, so a fixed id can go stale while the undated flow moves on
• Commercial reuse of IMF Data needs permission from copyright@imf.org, and anyone selling the data must tell buyers it is free from the IMF

Questions and answers

Which SDMX versions does the IMF API serve?

Both SDMX 2.1 and SDMX 3.0. Dataflow lists sit at /external/sdmx/2.1/dataflow and /external/sdmx/3.0/structure/dataflow on api.imf.org. The IMF documents access with the sdmx1 Python library, rsdmx in R, MATLAB, and Stata, using IMF_DATA as the provider id.

Do I need to sign in?

Not for public datasets; anonymous requests return them. The help articles also show an authenticated path through Azure AD B2C with a bearer token, meant for IMF staff and users with additional access rights. The swagger page on portal.api.imf.org needs a beta portal account.

May I redistribute IMF data?

The data terms allow downloading, copying, derivative works, publication, and distribution of published statistical data, with attribution to the IMF as source and a statement if the data is materially transformed. Systematic bulk download without permission is prohibited, and commercial reuse needs permission from copyright@imf.org.