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

• No formal rate limits published.
• ECB asks users to be respectful: avoid excessive parallel requests.
• For bulk downloads, use compressed responses (Accept-Encoding: gzip).

Common Headers

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Key Endpoints

1. Get Data (Time Series)

GET /data/{flowRef}/{key}?{parameters}

Query Parameters:

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

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.

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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

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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.

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Common Dataflow IDs

Notes

• The SDMX-JSON format is verbose. For simpler parsing, use Accept: application/vnd.sdmx.data+csv.
• 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=dataonly parameter omits attributes and reduces response size.
• Historical data availability varies by dataflow; exchange rates go back to 1999 (euro introduction).