Use of the Bundesbank SDMX Web Service API

1 What is the Bundesbank SDMX Web Service API?

With the Bundesbank SDMX Web Service, the Bundesbank offers a technical REST-API interface that can be used to automatically download statistical data by calling a URL.

Content provided:

Statistical data (e.g. Macroeconomic time series, real-time data)
Metadata about the data
Data formats: SDMX-ML 2.1, SDMX-JSON, CSV
Metadata only as SDMX-ML

Technical basics:

REST API (i.e. communication via standardised web addresses)
Default format: JSON

Access via HTTPS (encrypted).

The API is updated regularly.

For more information on SDMX: sdmx.org

2 Retrieve data

2.1 Retrieve individual time series

Endpoint:

/data/{flowRef}/{key}

flowRef: Identifier of the data flow (e.g. BBEX3)
key: Time series key (e.g. D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000)

Example:

https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEX3/D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000

Wildcard and OR Operator

Wildcard:
Parts of the key can be left empty to query multiple time series.
Example: D..EUR.BB.AC.000 (all currencies against the Euro)

OR Operator:
Use + to specify multiple values in a single component.
Example: M.ISK.EUR+USD.CA.AC.A01 (ISK/EUR and ISK/USD)

2.2 Retrieve all time series of a data flow

Endpoint:

/data/{flowRef}

Example:

https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBBZ1

Note: Depending on the amount of data, the response may take longer.

2.3 Retrieve multiple time series at once

Endpoint:

/data/tsIdList (POST request)

Example Request:

[
"BBEX3.M.DKK.EUR.BB.AC.A01",
"BBEX3.M.DKK.EUR.BB.AC.A02"
]

2.4 Formats for data queries - See chapter 4

3 Retrieve metadata

Metadata on data structures, data flows, codelists, and concept schemes can also be queried.

Datastructure
/metadata/datastructure/BBK/{resourceID}
Example: https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/metadata/datastructure/BBK/BBK_DOES

Data flow
/metadata/dataflow/BBK/{resourceID}
Example: https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/metadata/dataflow/BBK/BBEX3

Codelist
/metadata/codelist/BBK/{resourceID}
Example: https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/metadata/codelist/BBK/CL_BBK_ERX_RATE_TYPE

Conceptscheme
/metadata/conceptscheme/BBK/{resourceID}
Example: https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/metadata/conceptscheme/BBK/CS_BBK_ERX

Parameters

The amount and type of information provided can be controlled using the following parameters:

format: Specifies the format of the response.
detail: Determines the level of detail in the response.
references: Specifies whether references to related metadata should be included.

To retrieve all metadata for data structures, data flows, codelists, and concept schemes, omit the {resourceID} in the endpoint.

4 Data query parameters

Query parameters	Description
startPeriod endPeriod	By passing a date range with the query parameter “startPeriod”/“endPeriod”, it is possible to limit the period of observation. The supported formats are: YYYY for annual data (e.g. 2016) Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBBZ1/A.ZV00.INET.A00.A12.000.IN.DE.N?startPeriod=2012&endPeriod=2016 YYYY-S[1-2] for semi-annual data (e.g. 2019-S1) Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBDB2/H.DE.Y.A.C.IFRS.B.A.K.E.E001.VGH.A?startPeriod=2017-S1&endPeriod=2019-S1 YYYY-Q [1-4] for quarterly data (e.g. 2020-Q2) Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEE1/Q.DE.AAA.XY0AAA.R.AADTB.M00?startPeriod=2019-Q4&endPeriod=2020-Q2 YYYY-MM for monthly data (e.g. 2019-01) Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBDP1/M.DE.N.HVPI.C.A00000.VGJ.LV?format=sdmx_generic_xml&lang=de&startPeriod=2018-06&endPeriod=2020-06 YYYY-W[01-53] for weekly data (e.g. 2019-W01) Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBDE1/W.DE.Y.WAI.A2N400000.A.N.R00.A?format=bbk_csv&startPeriod=2025-W45 YYYY-MM-DD for daily and business data (e.g. 2019-01-01) Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEX3/D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000?startPeriod=2020-11-05&endPeriod=2020-11-10
preparedAfter	The parameter preparedAfter can be used to query all time series that have been updated since a certain point in time. The preparedAfter parameter must be specified in the format YYY-MM-DD'T'hh:mm:ss hh:mm, e.g. 2026-01-01T16:30:00+01:00 Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/bbex3/D..EUR.BB.AC.000?preparedAfter=2026-01-01T16:30:00+01:00
detail	The detail parameter can be used to specify the desired amount of information returned by the web service. Possible options are: full: All data values and attributes are returned (default). Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEX3/D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000?detail=full dataonly: Only data values are returned, without attributes. Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEX3/D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000?detail=dataonly serieskeyonly: Time series keys, without attributes and data values. Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEX3/D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000?detail=serieskeyonly nodata: Time series keys, including attributes, but without data values. Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEX3/D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000?detail=nodata
firstNObservations	The firstNObservations parameter allows the maximum number of observations to be returned per requested time series, starting with the first observation. Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEX3/D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000?detail=full&firstNObservations=27
lastNObservations	The parameter lastNObservations allows the maximum number of observations to be returned per requested time series, starting from the last observation (backwards). Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBEX3/D.USD.EUR.BB.AC.000?detail=full&lastNObservations=12
firstNVintages	The parameter firstNVintages is used to determine how many of the first available computational versions per indicator are returned. This parameter applies only to real-time data. Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBKRT/M.DE.S.P.CM1.PP000.R.I?firstNVintages=3
lastNVintages	The parameter lastNVintages is used to determine how many of the last available computational versions per indicator are returned. This parameter applies only to real-time data. Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBKRT/M.DE.S.P.CM1.PP000.R.I?lastNVintages=8
startVintage endVintage	The startVintage and endVintage parameters define a period from which the vintages for real-time data are to be returned. The supported formats are YYYY, YYYY-MM-DD This parameter applies only to real-time data. Example https://api.statistiken.bundesbank.de/rest/data/BBKRT/M.DE.S.P.CM1.PP000.R.I?startVintage=2020&endVintage=2023

Note:

If more than 200 time series or different periodicities are in CSV format, a ZIP file is returned.

5 Return parameters

The response format is selectable.

SDMX-ML 2.1	sdmx_generic_xml / application/xml	XML-Format
SDMX-JSON	sdmx_json / application/json	JSON-Format
SDMX-CSV	sdmx_csv / text/csv	CSV-Format (max. 200 time series per request)
BBK-CSV	bbk_csv / application/vnd.bbk.data+csv	Bundesbank CSV format
BBK-CSV-ZIP	bbk_csv_zip / application/vnd.bbk.data+csv-zip	ZIP containing multiple CSV files

6 Language of return

de (e.g. "de-DE"): German attributes, otherwise English as fallback
en (e.g. "en-US"): English attributes, otherwise German as fallback
No specification: Complete document

7 Status codes (server responses)

Status code	Significance
200	Request successful, data will be delivered.
400	Incorrect request (e.g. invalid parameters).
404	No matching results were found.
406	Requested format is not supported.
410	Requested resource is no longer supported.
413	Too much data. The data is generated in the background and can be requested again later.
500	Internal error, please try again later.
501	Function not yet implemented.
503	Web service temporarily unavailable.

8 Further information

The API is very flexible and offers many ways to query data and metadata in a targeted manner.

For large volumes of data, the response time may be longer.

For details on SDMX, see sdmx.org .

Tip: Use the examples from this guide and adapt them to your needs. This allows you to quickly and easily retrieve the data you want.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Bundesbank support hotline.