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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
Use the current Data Portal host above; do not depend on the retired SDW hostname.
Authentication
No API key required. The API is fully open and public.
Rate Limits
- No formal rate limits published.
- ECB asks users to be respectful: avoid excessive parallel requests.
- For bulk downloads, use compressed responses (
Accept-Encoding: gzip).
Formats
Request format=csvdata for tabular output, format=jsondata for SDMX-JSON,
format=structurespecificdata for SDMX-ML structure-specific data, or
format=genericdata (default). Use Accept-Encoding: gzip for compression.
The format contract is documented at https://data.ecb.europa.eu/help/api/data.
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
Append `&format=jsondata` to the query URL.
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
Append `&format=jsondata` to the query URL.
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
Append `&format=jsondata` to the query URL.
JSON parsing: inspect the returned SDMX-JSON structure and use its dimension
metadata to map index keys to series and dates. Do not assume a SDMX-JSON 2.0
data.structures envelope. CSV (format=csvdata) is simpler for flat analyses;
retain TIME_PERIOD, OBS_VALUE, unit and observation-status columns.
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+xml;version=2.1
Example -- Get EXR dataflow definition:
GET https://data-api.ecb.europa.eu/service/dataflow/ECB/EXR
Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.structure+xml;version=2.1
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+xml;version=2.1
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
- The SDMX-JSON format is verbose. For simpler parsing, use
format=csvdata. - When a dimension is unknown, leave it empty (e.g.,
D..EUR.SP00.A) to get all values for that dimension. - Use
+to request multiple values for one dimension (e.g.,USD+GBP). - The
detail=dataonlyparameter omits attributes and reduces response size. - Historical data availability varies by dataflow; exchange rates go back to 1999 (euro introduction).